Gratitude Archives | Page 2 of 2

“People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation. To be entertained is a passive state–it is to receive pleasure afforded by an amusing act or a spectacle…. Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one’s actions.
Source: The Wisdom of Heschel” ― Abraham Joshua Heschel

December is a month of celebration – of parties, presents, friends and family. But what about celebrating you? Celebrating all the hurdles you’ve jumped through, all the new things you’ve learned, all your triumphs, big and small.

So often, we think of the outward part of celebrating. But what of your inward journey. What new ways of being have you embraced this year? And it doesn’t have to be big to count. In fact, it’s the small baby steps we take each day that add up to our big giant leap into NEW.

So let’s celebrate YOU. What baby steps have you taken this year?

Can’t think of any? If you keep a journal, flip to December 1^st of last year and read about who you were then. Do you recognize that person? What’s changed since then? Think big and small. Have you switched from coffee to tea in the morning? Do you have a new job or a new home? Are there new people in your life or new ways of being? Did you take up an art class or are you actively involved in something new?

Or review your social media posts for the year to catch a glimpse of who you were then and who you are now. By bringing our attention to our triumphs, we live in a state of gratitude and abundance. We know that like attracts like, so the more we celebrate our steps forward, the more we attract similar vibrations into our life.

Here is an exercise to build your celebration muscles so that your body and mind will expect triumphs:

My Year of Big and Small Steps

On post-it notes write down at least three things to celebrate from this past year. Small stuff counts.
Place each of your post-its in different rooms of the house so that you are surrounded by your accomplishments. Examples: Place one on your bathroom mirror, another by your phone’s charger, and another on your nightstand. Surround yourself with reminders of all that you have accomplished this year.
Smile to yourself as you read them at least once each morning and once each night.

Celebration is food for the soul. Be in gratitude for every bit of your forward progress- big steps and small.

Now – take a picture of your post-it notes and share below so we can all celebrate with you! (Here’s mine)

roaddamageSept2013 This has been a week of gratitude for me. I live in Boulder, Colorado and we’ve just experienced what has been called “The 100 Year Flood”.

While my family and I are fine, some of my friends are experiencing a little bit more devastation. The photo to the right is of the road into our home.

It doesn’t rain very often in Boulder. Forest fires are our main concern, so the rainy summer was a blessing.

But then came the monsoon.

We had five days of continuous rain, filling our culverts and overflowing the banks of our rivers.

The streams have become torrents and the rivers are raging, boiling forces of destruction.

As I’ve gone about my week, I continually remind myself to stay away from the energies of fear and panic.

There are plenty of pictures and videos that graphically portray the devastation. You’ve all seen flood pictures before. You know what it’s like. But what has become apparent to me this past week is the resiliency of community.

Neighbors are helping neighbors. We are caring for each other. We help each other rip out soaked basement carpeting, share community meals by candle light, and revel in the feel of warmth and closeness that disasters sometimes generate.

We know that houses are just wood and steel, and while expensive to rebuild, they can and will be fixed. Roads will be put back together whether we are in panic mode or quiet mode.

We have a choice, every minute of every day. We may not be able to control the weather, but we can choose how we react to it. I am the only one who can determine how I experience an event.

I can focus on the destruction, or I can focus on the positivity. I can focus on what I have lost, or I can focus on what I still have.

I choose the lens through which I see the situation – and I choose gratitude, love and community.

Celebrate You

The 100 Year Flood and Gratitude