Tag: Gratitude
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“What we speak becomes the house we live in.” ~ Hafiz
“Words are things, I’m convinced. You must be careful about the words you use or the words you allow to be used in your house.” -Maya AngelouThink about how profound that is, especially if you are a parent.
Words bring out the best or the worst in us. You can uplift people or tear them down with words. You can empower or disempower both yourself and those you share words with. And that is why it is so important to pay close attention to our words.
Words are seeds that do more than blow around. They land in our hearts and not the ground. Be careful what you plant and careful what you say. You might have to eat what you planted one day.-unkown
We are all human and lose control of ourselves from time to time but for the little humans we are raising, it’s imperative that they hear words that encourage, uplift and even heal. So the next time you have something to say, speak with intention. It all goes back to being mindful.
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There are mornings when I wake up and the reality that I have lost both of my parents hits me hard! My heart falls into my stomach, I feel sick and so lost. To be without them always feels like a punch in the gut. It still takes my breathe away. My father is gone a year and four months, my mother passed away almost a year ago. It’s a pain that I would never want for anyone to experience, yet we all will. Some morning I feel completely paralyzed, unable to accept that they are both gone, until I hear my 12 year-old call out to me. Her voice helps me to refocus and be grateful for her existence.
It’s not easy to deal with loss, especially when you suffer multiple losses. Regardless of my pain, I put a smile on my face and try to begin my daughter’s day on a positive note. We chat as she gets ready, some mornings we are frantic, trying to get out the door. After I drop her off at school, I return and often find myself unable to leave the couch.
I try to enjoy and be mindful of my first cup of coffee. It always puts a smile on my face. I thank God for my husband, who almost never leaves the house without making me coffee. That’s love.
As soon as I allow myself to feel gratitude, my heart gets lighter. I am grateful for the people I have in my life. Today is a present.
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Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It’s a great time to really focus on being with family and counting our blessings. Being thankful has become a daily practice for me and has lifted my life in so many ways.
I woke up the morning of thanksgiving feeling grateful for the people in my life. I felt the need to reach out and send messages to friends who bring love and happiness into my life. I wanted them to know just how much they mean to me. I tend to do this often because I think it’s important to tell the ones we love how we feel about them. I then started cleaning my house, preparing for our thanksgiving feast. My husband always does the cooking. This year my 9-year-old prepared dessert all by herself. Her Chocolate lava cakes were delicious. Again, I felt thankful to have such a great human being as my husband and such a wonderful daughter. I also felt thankful to have my parents, my aunt, one of my siblings and my cousin come by to share our thanksgiving meal. I thought about my loved ones who are no longer in this world. I thanked God for the ones who are still with me. I choose to focus on what or who I have.
I choose to live a life of gratitude. That means I want to experience life to the fullest. I’ve learned that it’s important to live my life being grateful for what I have. It’s a choice I make which in turn brings me to a place of peacefulness and happiness.
So how do I do it? It’s not easy but it’s pretty straight forward.
- I take part in activities that bring me joy.
- I read inspirational articles and sit in contemplation every day.
- I spend time with people I love who want to spend time with me.
- I stay away from negative people. They bring me down and spread negative energy.
- I just focus on what I have, not what I don’t have..
Being thankful for what you have is one of the simplest and easiest ways to lift your mood. To give your motivation a jolt and to live a happier life. No matter who you are, where you live in the world or if today is Thanksgiving or just a Thursday in your life. Ask yourself these two questions..
- What are 3 things I can be thankful for in my life today?
- Who are 3 people I can be thankful to have in my life and why?
If you don’t come up with 3 people and 3 things each day then that is OK. One thing or person is great too. But if you can, try to not repeat yourself too often. Instead, think of more people and things to be grateful for, day by day, expand your thankful view of your world.
Express your thankfulness to the people who matter to you. This will make their lives happier. And as their faces light up with a smile you’ll feel happier too. Look towards yourself too. You are important and valuable, appreciate that. Ask yourself what are 3 things I can be thankful for about myself? It could be that you were a good friend and impacted someone else’s life. You helped bring a smile to your mother’s face or gave a much-needed hug to your sister.
Be thankful for the things you may take for granted. Like a roof over your head and a warm home. The fact that you don’t have to go hungry. And that you have loving family members and wonderful friends. Start or end your day with thankfulness. Make it a habit that sticks, find a regular time for it in your day.
For me, writing down what I am grateful day each day helps me continue to be thankful. It just takes a small commitment to see the positive impact on your life.
I’m thankful that you have spent time reading my blog. I hope it helps you become more grateful for all that you have.
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Every year, since my daughter started school I have taken pictures of her first day of school. The start of pre-school was such an emotional day for my husband and I. Sending our baby out into the world for even a few hours without us was daunting. I remember sitting in the parking lot of the pre-school the entire three hours for the first couple of days. Maybe that’s a little crazy, but she cried so hard when I left her I couldn’t go home. I just stayed in there, my heart felt like it would come out of my body. I waited, just in case they needed me to calm her down. Thankfully, it took a few minutes for her to stop crying and then she was ok. That part of my life feels like yesterday, and yet it was six years ago!
My nine year old just ended another school year. Another summer is here for us to spend together. I keep thinking about how when we first had her everyone told us not to blink an eye, because before long she will grow up. Well it’s happening, I wish I could slow it down but I can’t.
All I can do is to stop being preoccupied with things that don’t matter and focus on my child. Stop stressing about unnecessary things and enjoy the moments. The moments I spend with my parents who are in their 70’s. The moments I spend with my all my loved ones, the people that matter to me.
We often use up the present moments of our lives, longing to be someplace else, doing something else. We waste present moments feeling guilty about the past or apprehensive about the future. Slipping away from the present happens because we are living our lives with an attitude of depreciation rather than appreciation. We need to learn to pay attention to what’s going on in the inner world of our thoughts.
Our present moment is the only thing that is real. We can either make use of these precious moments in a state of thankfulness and appreciation by being fully in the now, or wish to be anywhere but here. When all is said and done, now is all there is, and all there ever has been.So when you notice that you are wishing you were somewhere else bring yourself back to a state of appreciation for where you are.
For right now, nothing is more important to me than the people that I love. Spending time with them is my priority. I don’t want to look back and have regrets. I just want to give my all while I have it all.
