"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle."
~Albert Einstein
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."
~Melody Beattie
And so I have come full circle. It has been a little over 365 days since I began this adventure...a year of living in gratitude, taking time every day to focus on things that I am grateful for. What miracles of wonder I have discovered on this journey! Miracles of wonder that surround us every day. It's easy to pass right by them if we're not looking. I am amazed at how much I missed before I put the close-up lens on my camera of perception. In the course of the last year, my heart has opened in gratitude for so many blessings—the healing balm of friendship, the gift of imagination, laughter, the wisdom of our dreams, love, romance, food glorious food, trees, flowers, birdsong, poetry, music, film, rainbows, the miraculous workings of the human body, the gifts of forgiveness and compassion, and even the gifts that are revealed through the heart opening process of grief and loss—to name but a few.
As I look back on the journey, I celebrate with a joyful heart the many wonderful changes that have occurred in my life in the last year. I find I am embracing life with a new sense of openness and curiosity. Friendships have deepened, and I feel more deeply connected and at home in the universe. Fears and worries are dissolving and being replaced with courage and willingness to try new things, like singing, and skiing, and expressing myself creatively through a blog...and falling in love.
I am grateful to have had this forum to share my journey with you all. It has been deeply nourishing to my soul, and what a joy it has been to hear from some of you that you have been appreciating it too.
If you've been thinking about starting your own gratitude practice, allow me to plant some seed ideas to help you grow your own garden of blessings:
1). Start a gratitude journal or blog. Whether you do this every day or once a week, make it a regular practice to contemplate deeply something you are grateful for and write about it. What do you appreciate most about this thing or this person? What would life be like without them?
2). Make use of the time you spend in your car commuting to work or running errands, to count your blessings. Every day list 5-10 things you are grateful for. It is guaranteed to make the time fly and to lift your mood. For starters, you can be grateful for traffic lights or paved roads or flowers planted along the highway...and be sure to thank your trusty vehicle for getting you safely where you need to go :-)
3). Write a letter to someone who has been important in your life. Make a list of the top ten things you appreciate about them, and share it with them.
4). If you are facing a difficult or painful time in your life, no matter what is going on, find at least ONE thing you are grateful for. This creates an opening for grace to enter, and shifts energy toward a positive flow.
Blessings to all! In abundant gratitude always,
~Joanne
As I look back on the journey, I celebrate with a joyful heart the many wonderful changes that have occurred in my life in the last year. I find I am embracing life with a new sense of openness and curiosity. Friendships have deepened, and I feel more deeply connected and at home in the universe. Fears and worries are dissolving and being replaced with courage and willingness to try new things, like singing, and skiing, and expressing myself creatively through a blog...and falling in love.
I am grateful to have had this forum to share my journey with you all. It has been deeply nourishing to my soul, and what a joy it has been to hear from some of you that you have been appreciating it too.
If you've been thinking about starting your own gratitude practice, allow me to plant some seed ideas to help you grow your own garden of blessings:
1). Start a gratitude journal or blog. Whether you do this every day or once a week, make it a regular practice to contemplate deeply something you are grateful for and write about it. What do you appreciate most about this thing or this person? What would life be like without them?
2). Make use of the time you spend in your car commuting to work or running errands, to count your blessings. Every day list 5-10 things you are grateful for. It is guaranteed to make the time fly and to lift your mood. For starters, you can be grateful for traffic lights or paved roads or flowers planted along the highway...and be sure to thank your trusty vehicle for getting you safely where you need to go :-)
3). Write a letter to someone who has been important in your life. Make a list of the top ten things you appreciate about them, and share it with them.
4). If you are facing a difficult or painful time in your life, no matter what is going on, find at least ONE thing you are grateful for. This creates an opening for grace to enter, and shifts energy toward a positive flow.
Blessings to all! In abundant gratitude always,
~Joanne
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