Michelle ma Belle Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 "Gratitude is the most passionate transformative force in the cosmos." - Sarah Ban Breathnach When we offer thanks to God (or whatever you may call it) or to another person, gratitude gifts us with renewal, reflection and reconnection. The ordinary begins to look and feel extraordinary the moment we shift our focus to being more grateful. I practice this everyday and it has profoundly changed my life for the better. So, what are you grateful for today? 5 Link to post Share on other sites
SillySilly Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 "Gratitude is the most passionate transformative force in the cosmos." - Sarah Ban Breathnach When we offer thanks to God (or whatever you may call it) or to another person, gratitude gifts us with renewal, reflection and reconnection. The ordinary begins to look and feel extraordinary the moment we shift our focus to being more grateful. I practice this everyday and it has profoundly changed my life for the better. So, what are you grateful for today? I'm grateful for my upbringing. I was taught how to forgive and to maintain positive relationships with all of my siblings. I'm grateful for the sacrifices my parents made to take care of me. I'm grateful for my gifts. I'm grateful for a beautiful planet. I'm grateful for the Dharma. Just to name a few. One of my favorite lines of poetry is "your depression is connected to your insolence and your refusal to praise". That is, to be insolent is to refuse to recognize the authority of the forces greater than oneself. To refuse to praise is to forego gratitude. And if you cannot see outside of yourself long enough to appreciate what's there, you will be isolated and depressed. So remember to praise! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Anela Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 That my mother is a lot better than she was two weeks ago, although I still worry. My Dad is still here, too. That I still have two dogs, and my cats. I have food to eat (too much, at the moment), a large garden to sit in, and enough room to grow my own food, that I can walk, and take care of myself. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Potz4prez Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 "Gratitude is the most passionate transformative force in the cosmos." - Sarah Ban Breathnach When we offer thanks to God (or whatever you may call it) or to another person, gratitude gifts us with renewal, reflection and reconnection. The ordinary begins to look and feel extraordinary the moment we shift our focus to being more grateful. I practice this everyday and it has profoundly changed my life for the better. So, what are you grateful for today? Actually, this is genius. I think we focus on the everything negative in our life too much. Then again, that's how we improve. Guess we need a happy medium. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Tayla Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 One of my favorite activities is to count ones blessings. ! retaining a job, having two puppies that comfort and delight the household. Grateful For Grandkids that validate that the future is theirs and I get to partake in this cycle of life. Forever blessed to have had a mother who encapsulated the true meaning of nurturing, loving and guiding. Her passing is an ongoing process of gratitude and remembrance. I'm grateful to have those memories. Thank you for this topic~! I am grateful that you practice it 1 Link to post Share on other sites
littleplanet Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 A lovely thread. Me mum taught me this little trick at a very young age. I was stubborn with it at first, but she was smart enough to know I'd grow into it one day. oy........it's a long and winding list, now. (deep breath) all my senses are alive and well, all my best friends are alive and well, all my kids are alive and well, my teeth are good, my appetites are strong, my heart still measures the worth of humanity, my fingers are still nimble upon the instruments of play, my brain's still as active as a child's, the planet's still beautiful, I still posses the language that allows me to converse with the holiest of ghosts, a lotta love grows ever longer, the confidence I will not go so gentle into that goodnight, and my dawg still comes when I call. (aye, too short a list) A wee story: When I was but a lad, me mum in her most profound wisdom, on an ordinary day clipped and scotch taped a short poem and stuck it on the bathroom wall. She taped it to the very place across from the 'throne' where it would reside just there at eye level. As the years rolled by, that poem was read countless times. Then I left home. But one day about 20 years later, I suddenly recalled the thing. And discovered on the spot that I remembered, line for line. Upon which realization, discovered that I'd lived my life according to its simple notion. (ahem) The Poem on the Bathroom Wall The clock of life is wound but once and no-one has the power to tell just when the clock will stop at late, or early hour Now is the only time you have So live, love, toil with a will And place no faith in tomorrow For the clock may then be still. anon (thanks, mum) 2 Link to post Share on other sites
learning_slowly Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 I am grateful for positive topics in this forum. A lot are negative, but maybe it is because of a lot of people's state of mind. This is a positive topic What else am I grateful for? The main thing is the opportunity to change what is wrong in my life. Everybody can start easily by trying to change one conversation per day to being more positive e.g. If you are having a disagreement with somebody, try to treat the person with love and respect. Sometimes we treat the ones closest to us worse than people we dislike! Overall try to turn as many negative conversations in to positive ones. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
hasaquestion Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 I love this thread. I am grateful for: My mom, who never lets me get off the phone. My pops, who doesn't know what second best feels like, and somehow doesn't let it get to his head. My brother who's gay and I couldn't be more proud of him. The moron who gave me a job. The morons who continue to employ me. My friends, the time we share, and all the muscle snapchats and borderline homoerotic man-love that comes with them. Having a car, and with it the privilege to give Arabic princes my money (I don't know what they'd do without it, birth control for 15 must be expensive). 1 Link to post Share on other sites
lavenderlove Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I am grateful for: -that I had the most inspiring childhood full of travelling that broadened my mind -my mother and grandmother who aren't with me anymore, but through the way they lived their lives thought me how to love -my father whose optimism is so contagious -all the biggest crisis situations I have gone through because those made me the person I am today -the fact that I can afford to eat healthy food and live on my own and have a beautiful view from my window and have the cutest cat wake me up with his purring every morning -that I believe that I met the love of my life a few weeks ago -that I have been blessed with artistic talents that make my life meaningful -and finally I am glad that I look all right, meaning if I look after my body and mind I am an attractive person without any defects -that I feel free in this life because I know that I shape it by being who I am, which is also the biggest challenge and source of frustration, but still I have the choice. And finally thank you for this thread:-) 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Anela Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Tonight, I'm grateful for tylenol. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Snakechammah Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Thank you Michelle for this thread. “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” ― Cicero I'm grateful for everything in my life, both good or bad. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
M30USA Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I'm grateful for the 6 weeks I get to spend with my boys this summer. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Eclypse Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I am grateful for my parents for leaving their ****ty war torn country and moving to Australia when I was young. I'm grateful for my intelligence, which allowed me to do very well academically and land an excellent job which has allowed me to buy sports cars and other fancy toys which bring me happiness. My genetics, which resulted in me being fit and healthy with no medical conditions. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
todreaminblue Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 my life in multiple.......everything i cant think of in one sentence and everything i do and what I forget to be grateful for , because my little heart cant hold it all.......all the good all the bad and the wisdom to see the difference......and for posing llamas and bumble bees and penguins and squid i am eternally grateful for gods sense of humor...for when i dotn have anyone anymore...i only have to spy something r a creature of and in nature that makes me giggle....like cockatoos with muted tones actually whisper up close and chuckle..... who scream at you for walking away....little attention seekers wanted to dance for me and whisper more they chuck;led like this....heh heh heh more whispers heh heh heh and on......and on./.....love birds.... .Do Not Worry (Luke 12:22-34) 25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. ............deb for that scripture i am grateful too...to give me humility in knowing its not up to me just be grateful for what i do get and have and keep and see and...that i breathe in general...so life i am grateful for and wouldnt have another if i could....i have but one life to live it and i am gonna live it......deb 2 Link to post Share on other sites
scooby-philly Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 I am grateful for - 2 Brothers, 2 Sisters-in-law, and 5 nieces/nephews that make me smile, though I don't see them a lot. - The chance to have lived in the middle of nowhere Napa Valley on top of a 10,000 acre winery estate. - The chance to have traveled to 8 countries and 16 states thus far. - The chance to have been a teacher and to help others - The ability I have to put aside my fear and meet new people, learn new jobs, and grow Link to post Share on other sites
carrie_o Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 I'm grateful for my two kids. They provide a reason for me to strive to be the best person I can be. They are the reason I wake up in the morning. They are the reason I try to be productive during my day. They give me a reason to think about people other than myself. I'm grateful for the opportunity to move to another state. It is hard to be away from everything and everyone I grew up with, but now I have a chance to see if I can make it without help. I'm grateful for my family for providing help when I did need it. I would never have graduated from school if it wasn't for their help. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
yessy21 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 I'm grateful for my healthy child... and for my good health. I'm also grateful for the struggles I have to face daily.... it has build my character. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
SadNLonley Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 "Gratitude is the most passionate transformative force in the cosmos." - Sarah Ban Breathnach When we offer thanks to God (or whatever you may call it) or to another person, gratitude gifts us with renewal, reflection and reconnection. The ordinary begins to look and feel extraordinary the moment we shift our focus to being more grateful. I practice this everyday and it has profoundly changed my life for the better. So, what are you grateful for today? I could not have come across this on a more perfect day! See, I have been depressed for a year now over a breakup and just knew there was some kind of lesson the universe wanted to teach me, but for the life of me, couldnt figure it out. I started doing affirmations, reading self help books, and recently started meditating. During this quiet time in my mind, i asked the universe (i know sounds cooky) what it was that I was supposed to learn. What were they trying to teach me???? I woke up this morning got ready for work and on my way to work it just hit me..... I think i needed to realize that I need to be grateful instead of taking things for granted. Then i started thinking about the things to be grateful for and then thought about how I took my relationship for granted and for some reason, I think thats what my lesson is.. Be grateful for everything you have and dont ever expect things to just happen for you. Today, i actually feel a bit giddy over this. I haven't felt like this in a long time. Whether this is the lesson i was meant to learn or not, i realized something very important today, and I hope the giddy feeling lasts a bit longer. It sure beats feeling down on myself! So, thanks for posting this!!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Ruby Slippers Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 I'm grateful that my dad and I are making amends and the process is going so well. I wish this had been possible years ago, but I understand we weren't ready until now. I hope he has many more healthy years so he can walk me down the aisle and meet my kids someday 3 Link to post Share on other sites
lino Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 I'm grateful for the excellent family I have 2 Link to post Share on other sites
dichotomy Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 (edited) I am grateful for my youngest daughter and the perseverance and science that brought her to me. I am grateful for my late mother and fathers love and care for me - even if they were deeply flawed humans who made some terrible mistakes. I am grateful for my choices in my career I am grateful for my wonderful small town, and the ability to serve it as a leader and make it better place for all residents. I am grateful for Loveshack and other very special places on the internet, who allowed me to see there are others out there who have struggled with the kind of special or unique issues like me, had thoughts and feelings like me - and to learn and understand others and their views and experiences - that I never would have the opportunity to know. WTF did we do before the internet? Edited July 6, 2014 by dichotomy 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Haydn Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 kiddies! My luck in my career and my collection of over 50 pairs of trainers. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
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