(I would start it about 3 min in)
Gratitude
When everything is going well, it is easy for us to remember to say “thank you”. When everything is going “wrong” the last thing we think to do is say “thank you”. Have you ever thought about the possibility of the importance of those “wrong” times in our lives? If only to help us realize when things are going well, these tough times are important.
The elderly gentleman in this video says that everyday if a gift, everyday is unique, and everyday is important. So many times we go through our days stuck inside our own heads missing the life and world around us. The people around us, nature around us, everything around us is living in the same way.
My challenge is for us to say “thank you” for everyday - the days that are slow, the days that are hard, the days that are happy, the days that are sad, the days that are uplifting. I expect life to be more fulfilling when we take sometime to say “thank you”.
Here is a recipe for Gratitude.
1 cup of smiling at others
1 cup of looking people in the eye
2 deep breaths of satisfaction
5 tbls. of curiosity
Mix smiling at others and looking people in the eye. Add curiosity. When the mix gets tough add in the deep breaths of satisfaction (be sure these are of satisfaction and not of frustration otherwise the dough won’t rise). Bake for one hour while enjoying world around us. Don’t forget to top it all off with a generous amount of “thank you”s.
To start off this blog, I feel like we all need a clean slate. We all have imperfections, insecurities, mistakes that we hold on to, things we need to let go of in order to forgive ourselves and others and find real happiness in our lives. There are certainly ways in which I have failed myself. I hold onto these things all of the time. I have found that it is easy to continue to make the same decisions that I am not proud of when I am still holding onto the guilt. There are also relationships that I have let slip by because of grudges and hard feelings. The fact of the matter is, we need to learn a hard lesson about forgiveness before we can move any further. We are all more than our mistakes. We need to focus on the things in life worth fighting for, working through, and being proud of in order to survive. Otherwise, these things like leaches will attach themselves to our hearts and continue to suck the life out of you. We only have so much energy that we can afford to use when forcing ourselves to be happy. It’s time to be truly happy so we don’t have to work so hard to pretend.
My recipe this week is
Forgiveness… life’s natural Detox
2 pts. Humility- to admit when we are wrong
2 pts. Vulnerability- to admit when we are weak
4 pts. Honesty- to admit when we are hurt
Whole Lotta Love- to show how much we care
Instructions: (Humility) First, write out all of the things that you wish you had done better, find ways an easy way to start changing each behavior, commit to those things. (Vulnerability) Next, write out all of the things that you are struggling with, now write out who can help you get through or get past these struggles, ask for help and guidance. (Honestly) Now, write out the things that are still hurting you, analyze what actions could be taken or what information could be discovered in order to eliminate or reduce these pains, identify the people who need to be involved in order to eliminate or reduce these pains, and act. (Whole lotta Love) Lastly, remember to do all of these things with LOVE. Love for the people involved, love for yourself, love for the relationships at stake, love for even the strangers who may be able to help you. Appreciate the fact that there are people out there who love you and who you love. Each of us owe it to these people to strive for true happiness. Bake in your heart for as long as it takes at 200% commitment. Top it all off with some letting go.
