Thankful Thursday

A few years back as I was catching up with an old college friend and his wife,

they kept telling me that they were now living simply.

It really seemed to be a main theme in our conversation,

but I have to honest; I wasn't really sure what they had meant.

Living Simply?

It really can mean so many things.

To me it's more than just de-cluttering our stuff and our minds.

It's more than using only what you need and reducing your waste.

It's really truly living gently.

It's living with intention, respect, and awareness.

It's showing gratitude to the Earth and those that also inhabit this beautiful place with us.

However the most important aspect of a simple life to me is

wrapping my head around what is right for me and my family and what is not.

Once we have chosen what is not right for us, for our home, for our lifestyle, for our belief system,

we simply put it aside without judgment or criticism.

For someone who decides that living a grateful and simple life,

the realization that not all people find happiness and satisfaction in the same things is 

the greatest enlightenment.

Let go of what is not for you.

Put it aside.

Do not judge.

Do not complain.

Just let it be.

My life and my theories are not perfect, but I am grateful for them all.

Be grateful & inspire.

Thankful Thursday: Let's get happy

For my summer vacation read I picked up the best selling book

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

I felt a little silly a first reading it.

I am not much for the "self-helpy" books, but this had a different undertone to it.

It wasn't all woe is me. 

Instead I found myself totally relating to Gretchen's explaining of 

her quest to be more happy, not less miserable.

Now mind you I am not but only half way into the book, and I still have lots of reading to do.

But, after spending some amazing quality time with my 

family last week a certain thing about happiness occurred to me.

My Dad, Step Mom, and sisters all flocked to the lake.

Some of my sisters even brought some friends.

It was a week of lots of girls, 8 of them to be exact.

Eight women under one roof...

It was like a sorority house with a 30 year age gap.

When there are that many personalities in one cabin, 

and mother nature is playing the "rain on your vacation" game,

some truths about people start to really come out.

The passages I was reading kept making more and more sense.

Not everyone's happiness looks the same.

For me, in that moment, my happiness was being surrounded by 

my parents, my sisters, the serenity of the lake, the little 

details that I was capturing on our adventures and the big laughs we left along the way.

I found myself grabbing onto every single moment and then found 

myself dealing with a bit of sorrow when that moment was over.

I never want it to end.

While some found the greatest happiness in a drive alone through the country,

others found the most joy in the uncertainty of what tomorrow would bring. 

My point is this.

It is impossible to look at someone and know what makes them happy.

All we can do is be grateful that there are so many different kinds of people that make the 

huge happy place go round.

One can not define the terms of happiness,

but only recognize it when they see it.

So see it.  Look for it.  Share it.  Emote it.

The happier you are, the happier those around you will become.

Be Grateful & Inspire

Thankful Thursday

Praying before meals in something that rarely happens in this house.  It's pretty much limited to Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas dinners.  It's not that we don't know how, or not that we don't care to, it is really just not our practice.  Grace before every meal was something that I grew up with, and frankly grew out of.  I feel kinda terrible actually admitting that.

Upon recently enrolling the boy in a religious based VPK (because they don't offer VPK at military schools), I decided that I had better start prepping him for praying before his lunch.  His school that he will be attending come fall says a prayer before eating, does a small bible study daily, and they go to chapel once a week.  You can imagine the sudden feeling of indigestion the hubs is feeling about all of this. ha. 

But, if I was going to teach my child to "pray" before meals...it was going to be my way.  No thanking God for the food that's on the table, rather just giving "thanks" for the meal.  In short just a series of "I am thankful for...", a few from me, and a few from the boy.

So we sat to eat, and I said:

"Tonight we are going to say grace."

the boy: "Grace."

me: "No, we are going to say grace."

the boy: "Grace."

me: "Seriously, let's say grace."

the boy (now much louder and a bit  frustrated): "GRACE!!!!!"

That was when I realized that this had turned into a fun little game of "who's on first".

The point being that we did it.

I eventually realized that he had no idea what I meant by "saying grace", so I went first, and told him what I was thankful for that day.  He followed with some silly almost 4 year old ramblings about being thankful for "butts, and dogs, and poopoo caacaa", he then got THE LOOK and scraped together some appropriate things to be grateful for.

After doing this for a few days in a row it is starting to become obvious that the boy is gaining and understanding of what it actually means to be thankful as opposed to just saying "thank you".  I am teaching him young the importance of living a gracious lifestyle.  Showing him that the more gratitude that you display the happier you will be.

Teach your children to be grateful through your actions and words.  Let them follow you in expressing their thanks, and maybe the future generations will learn to live humbly instead of living with entitlement. 

For now, Happy Thankful Thursday!

Be Grateful & Inspire

Thankful Thursday

I do believe that since we have all spent the week glued to CNN, 

that the above quote is really truly enough said.

Be Grateful & Inspire

Thankful Thursday

What would happen if tomorrow you woke up,

and all you had were the things that you were thankful for today?

What would be left?

 Would you be left with nothing?

Or would there be an overwhelming amount of things?

Would those 'things' be material possession?

Or would you be so full of gratitude and thanks that your insides would burst?

As I sit here and reflect on this thought, I am left to wonder what I would have.

I consider my self to be a pretty thankful person,

but I am not a "prayer".

Which begs the question....

If I am not taking the devoted time to bundle all my "thanks" into a 

quick synapsis for someone to hear,

does anyone know that I am thankful for the gifts in my life?

I remember the nights of my childhood, knelt down beside my bed.

Every night before climbing in between my sheets I would do the run down:

"Dear God,

Thank you for my Mom and Dad.

Thank you for my Grandparents.

Thank you for my Sibling.

Thank you for my awesome toys.

ect..."

So, since I don't take the 10 minutes before bed to hit my "Thank You" quota...

What would I have left in the morning if all that was left was the acknowledged?

Honestly, I am not sure that anything would change.

And do I believe that you have to say those "Thank You's" out loud to mean it? 

NO.

Being grateful is a way of life,

and if you are....everyone will know.

Would I have enough?

Would my life still be full of joy?

I can answer these two with certainty.

YES.

Just because I don't kneel down and rattle off a list of things and people that I am thankful for,

doesn't mean that I am not oozing with gratitude.

So think about it.

What would be left for you?

Where would you be?

And who would you be there with?

Would anything change? 

Or are you living a life of gratitude to ensure that everything that you have is enough?

Don't focus on the negative.

What has happened has happened.

It's the past.

Nobody knows what tomorrow has in store for us.

We can only go into it with a positive attitude, ready to be thankful.

Today is all we can control.

Today is a gift.

Be thankful TODAY, right now, right this very instant, 

for tomorrow it could all be gone!

Be Grateful & Inspire

Thankful Thursday....late again

So, I decided that Thankful Thursday was going to be a bit of a change this week.  Instead of my super insightful words of wisdom random ramblings about why we should show gratitude towards others, I am just going to give a great big opened armed thank you of my own....laced with a bit of levity.

For the past few months I have been dying to go to Thursday night yoga 

at my gym.  The instructor has substituted my normal friday morning class a few times and is always amazing.  Due to scheduling conflicts with bed time and the hubs work schedule,

I had never found the time to make it to that 8pm session.

Well this week was different.

When I asked the hubs if I could go, his answer was "of corse".

While the class I normally take is definitely difficult,

the Thursday night class was a whole new world.

The age demographic and amount of strength possessed by the other participants was 

a bit intimidating.  But I found myself challenged in a new way that I wasn't sure existed inside me.

I stretched further, breathed deeper, and was more focused than normal.

All of that yoga talk about radiating light and transferring energy all really made sense.

It was no longer just talk, I really felt all of those things.

I was able to hold poses that I didn't know were in my practice,

and also came across a few that I didn't know existed and have new goals to conquer.

In our final shavasana I really was at peace.

I am normally having an internal argument with the voices in my head telling them to shut up so I can have a still and peaceful mind. Ha.

When it was all said and done it was the best yoga class I have ever taken,

and I have the hubs to thank for that.

So darling, Thank you for always making my dreams come true.

To everyone else, sorry this was a day late...

I was too busy nursing my sore body back to life last night,

and 'thanking' my husband for being so awesome.

And a brief note on the above video.

Fog and Smog produced these hilarious music videos on YouTube.

You really should check them all out! 

Yoga Girl has been stuck in my head since the first time I saw it, 

and I can't help but hum that little tune when in my down dog.

Thankful Thursday...er Friday

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After coming off of my funk from missing my best friend and NYC combined with the punch in the gut news that I received in the middle of the week, I am starting today with a new foot forward.  This week I have spent a lot of time reflecting and my mind keeps wandering back to one simple notion.

 Ego vs Gratitude vs Society.

If there was ever a microcosm of todays society that lived and breathed and sustained it would be New York City.  The amount of 'daily lives' that buzz around that city are unreal, yet there was an underwhelming sense of gratitude and human connection being shown.  As a matter of fact I was laughed at by my best friend and her husband about how kind and happy I was towards the locals.  Truly, it's just second nature to me now.  You treat people kind and fair.  You give that stranger an extra second to say hello.  An excuse me on the subway can prevent ruining someones train ride.  A gentle touch and warm glance can provide that much needed human connection.  Celebrating someone for just being can be one of the most rewarding gestures.  Now I must side note here....I don't want you guys to think that I am some sort of freak who went around the city with a cheesy smile pasted on my face, touching every stranger, and making small talk with every passer by...they have a special name for people like that...it's called crazy.  Instead I just continued my daily practice of showing people that 'I cared' in a place where no shits are given about the person next to you.

All of this thinking about a lack of human connection and perception of down right anger makes me think.  What causes people who are by nature supposed to be happy, to be so unhappy?  I have gone back and forth on this weighing out the possibilities of 'why', and it really boils down to one thing.  Ego.  We are trapped in a reality where people have a tendency to believe that their problem are the most important. Their shit stinks more than your shit.  They have had a harder day. And here's where the Ego really kicks in.....NONE of this is their fault.  The professional Ego centric maniac has no problem passing all of that blame of their own hardships right onto someone else's plate.  Anyone else's to be frank.  Where does all of this lead us?  In my opinion, downfall.  I truly believe that living an Ego centric life is the downfall of society.  And you can scale that 'society' on many different levels, it could be a family society, work, community, city, country, ect. In short if you live on the top of your ivory tower thinking that the reason that you shit stinks is due to everyone around you, at some point everyone is going to get tired of smelling your shit and move on.

The moral of this increasingly long winded story is this.  If you choose to be Ego centric that is your prerogative but know this, you are choosing a life of solitude and your microcosm of society will crumble around your shity smelling pedestal.  If you decide that that life stinks then you must remove your head out of your own ass and choose to live a life of gratitude.  I choose that life. 

Reconnect with the human connection.  Be grateful and Inspire.

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday

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Today, 

on a lovely play date with some of our best friends,

I witnessed something that really shook me.

As we were wrangling up our kids,

packing up our bags,

and cleaning up our picnics 

Brenda, Lori, and I were stopped in our tracks.

We stood there and watched as two other mothers 

across the park cackled and laughed at their two children,

probably ages 11 and 6, pushed and kicked two large trash cans

back and forth until all of the garbage was strewn about.

Instantly I was 

Irate. 

Disgusted.

and Shaking.

How could these women just stand by with their iPhones

video taping and encouraging such idiotic behavior.

And don't even get me started on the littering part.

I started to get a little bit....

"Oh hold me back Ladies!!!",

but then I realized that for lack of a better term,

her ghetto-ness/white trash would our match me any day.

Myself, being someone who has never been in a physical altercation,

would have never stood a chance when push came to shove.

I did want to go bananas on her though.

I had to get out of there! 

Fast!

If I said something on the was past them to the car,

I knew it wasn't going to be pretty.

As we past and all of our children gave them a 

"what the fuck are you guys doing?"

look, I walked proud knowing that not one of 

my boys friends was stupid enough to do something like that.

No worries though,

the above mentioned mothers-of-the-year

made their hellions clean up the messes that they had made.

For the past few hours since the horrific public display of parenting,

I have not been able to stop thinking about it.

Did they really clean up the mess? 

All of it?

Did those kids touch a homeless persons urine?

Exactly how much bacteria was growing in that can?

Yuck!

Did they was their hands before dinner?

Have they ever eaten a vegetable?

The shit cycle has been churning non stop since seeing the whole thing go down.

Let's face it...

(cover your ears!)

those Bitches ruined my day.

Why?

Because negativity will posses your life.

Negative people.

Negative thoughts.

Negative situations.

The negativity took over for me today.

I have had a headache, and I have been tired and frustrated.

I must flush the yuck out and breath in the positive.

Because positive thinking will always lead to positive living.

Be grateful & Inspire

thankful thursday

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Today was one of those days.  I felt it in my bones.  My joints ached before ever making myself vertical out of my bed.  Getting both feet on the floor was like moving a ton of bricks. 

I got a bit cynical thinking about "thankful thursday".  Gratitude shamtitude.  I would be grateful for a few more hours of sleep and no responsibilities for the day.  Well, once I decided to get over my one person pitty party and face the facts...well, lets just say, it all starting spinning out of control.  And by "it" I really mean the boy.

You see when he's not feeling well, he's wild.  He doesn't listen, acts out, and tortures anyone and anything that gets in his path.  It's hard to feel sorry for the little bugger,  but you have to do what you have to do.  By about 3pm, I wasn't sure who was going to snap first...me or the poor dog (she been taking a beating from the boy lately - although, that bitch....she can go hid and take a nap whenever she wants).

So 3pm.  We've all lost our cool.  The boy is crying for no reason at all, the dog is hiding, and I wanted to find myself in the fetal position in the corner rocking like a crazy person.  And the it occurred to me....THE BEACH! Here comes the gratitude bit.

I quickly strapped on the suits, slathered the sun screen, and dragged the boy out the door.  It was time to send all that crazy out with the tide.  Something about the ocean, the waves, the sand in unmentionable places, the sun, it heals us both.  We took a day that could have defeated us both and turned it into one of the best evenings.

There is not much that can't be cured with a little salty air and being buried in the sand up to your neck.  Today I am so thankful that I have to ocean to wash away the weight of the world.

thankful thursday

Sharing happiness...now there is a novel idea.  

We are currently neck deep in political propaganda and slander.  You can't turn on the television, radio, or internet without being slapped in the face with someones negative opinions about someone elses opinions.  Personally I can't wait for it all to be over.  

But to help me get through I am going to focus on spreading my light.  I have plenty of joy to give, so if anyone needs some, just reach out!  To let you all in on a little secret, the more your share your happiness, the more you receive! Happy thankful thursday everyone! Go spread the love!

Thankful Thursday

How often do you stop to take in the majesty of our planet? Like really stop, reflect, and take it all in.

One week ago today, it all hit me. I live in a beautiful part of Florida, surrounded by beaches and tropical wildlife.  But that's my normal. I am so used to it that it has lost it's "awe" if you will. But there is so much more out there, beyond the palm trees and flat wet lands.

I was on a very very early morning flight across the country to spend an amazing long weekend in Lake Tahoe working with my best friend. So things were already looking pretty good for me... but then flying high somewhere between Ft. Lauderdale, FL and Houston, TX I decided to pry open my tiny window and was blown away with the amazing sight out side.

We were being chased by the rising sun.  A beautiful orange glow was breaking through sheets of purple haze and white blankets of clouds.  From this point on I was glued to that window.

I have always loved looking out the window on airplanes, but i think before it was an escape from the claustrophobic cabin.  This time I was taking it all in! Every second of the decent into Houston the  picture outside changed and filled my head with inspiration and awe.

The sun began to break through the clouds and pour streams on light over the land making long shadows and pools of orange and gold.  The patterns and textures created by the fields and streams we all set a glow by the early morning sun.

Maybe it was the 3am wake up time mixed with more coffee than should be consumed by one human that early, or maybe it was being chased by the rising sun, but the whole thing became a very existential experience.

I could go on and on for days about the amazing sights of Lake Tahoe, but today I wanted to share just one thing.  As if someone or something was trying to put a picture to a perfect ending of the day, this was the sunset that i was privy to viewing after a long day of traveling with the rising sun.  I am pretty sure this is where the lyrics "purple mountain majesty" come from!

So to sum it all up, today's thankful thursday is dedicated to the wonders of our beautiful planet, the amazing family that I have who always support my travels and adventures, and having the worlds best friend who was able to share all of these breath taking moments with me.  Never overlook the beauty all around you and shout it from the mountain tops how thankful you are!

thankful thursday

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recognition. just how aware of your own happiness are you? how aware of your expressions of gratitude are you? is all of your recognition of thanks and praise kept in a selfish place? tucked deep down inside so that you don't have to share it with the world? who benefits from that? 

hiding your gratitude does nothing. no one will ever know that you appreciate the things that you have, the things that are done for you, or just life in general.  i have a problem of really wearing my emotions on my sleeve, but this emotion, i urge you to put this one out there.  why not share it with everyone you meet. 

there is a novel idea...sharing gratitude. pass it on. maybe someone needs the acknowledgement more then you know.  the lovely ladies over at 365grateful, whom i find everyday inspiration from, have come up with an amazing challenge this month. HUGS! why not? they are challenging us to 8 a day. read here to find out the reasons why. it's science folks.

meanwhile, shout it out from the roof tops! if you have something to be happy or thankful about, tell someone. hug someone. tell someone while you are hugging them.  and be warned, if you are within arms reach of me, brace your self for a hug. 

thankful thursday

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"life is full of little pleasures", and playing in the rain is one of my new favorites.

i was so excited for our zoo playdate that i decided that some rain clouds were not going to stop me from attempting a super fun day with the boy and the burton girls. we got to the zoo and within the first few moments of being there the sky opened up and really gave it to us! i mean we didn't even make it in the front entry way...soaked.

mind you we were meeting up with brenda and her three girls.  this thankful thursday is truly dedicated to her.  let me just give you a mental image here... twin 3 year olds, an increasingly independent 16 month old, brenda - hair done and looking adorable as usual...oh and did i that she's 31 weeks pregnant?  anyone else would have bowed out from this playdate as soon as the rain started falling. but nope, not this woman. we ran for cover and the kids splash and ran in the rain until they were covered in goose bumps and shivering.  she so effortlessly and gracefully stuck it out to ensure that her kids were having an amazing time. (i think she had fun too!)

when there was a break in the rain we made a dash for the covered picnic area and changed into dry-ish clothes and ate some lunch.  all in all the day was full of laughs, purple lipped toddlers, and hot chocolate.

so what is it that i am thankful for here? simple. i am so thankful that i have friends in my life that are so willing to roll with the punches.  there are great moments in the day that can unfold if you are willing to stick it out through the rain.

thankful thursday

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ok, here it is, i have skirted this issue for quiet some time now. for what reasons, i am not sure. it's no secret that i am not super religious, despite being raised in a traditional catholic family, you know church every sunday, sunday school on sunday and wednesday, and when i was staying with my grandmother....well she went to church everyday. needless to say, i spent a lot of my childhood trying to understand religion, not just understand all the rules and memorizing all the things that we had to memorize.... what i was trying to understand is why you 'had to be religious to be a good person'.

now i know that many of you at this point are wanting to stop reading, but let me reassure you that this is not a rant about religion being bad or good, or any of my personal beliefs. simply it is going to focus on one thing....gratitude.

in my recent research for my weekly "thankful thursday" i have found an overwhelming common denominator....God.  why is it that the majority of the quotes regarding gratitude have such a religious undertone?  while i have no problem and somewhat understand....you know the whole message of the bible thing, the problem that i have is the lack of non-religious material about giving thanks. where is the support from the other side? i'm feeling a bit out numbered here folks.

today's quote nailed it! "your beliefs don't make you a better person, your behavior does".  i really couldn't have put it better myself.  so many people look at my husband and i and assume that we must be bad people....you know all covered in tattoos, nose rings, and alternative appearances and lifestyles...but give us two minutes to actually get to know us and you will find that there is much more to us.  we are some of the most caring and gracious freaks out there! hehe.  our religious beliefs, or lack their of, do not determine how we treat people and the world around us.

as a society we need to get past 'giving thanks' being something that we only do at church (or on turkey day) but something that we live everyday, where ever we are. behave in a manor that others know you appreciate the things around you. and on the flip side of that....some of you bible thumpers need to take a good hard long look in the mirror and practice what you preach.

the moral of the story is this: be good to people, give thanks for what you have, share your gratitude with others. plain and simple, religion or not. living a gracious lifestyle will bring you to a better place.

thankful thursday

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go to the grocery store and find the sugar aisle.  now go ahead and take out your calculator because you are going to need it. start counting the endless amounts of artificial sweeteners. there are so many. fake. full of things that don't really exist.  all with one thing in common...they are all trying to make us happy.

now apply this to your life. think of all the fake thank you's, the empty mass "wishes", and half assed praises.  do any of these make us truly happy? gratitude is the purest of ingredients. it comes straight from the soul. share your graciousness with others and soon you will find yourself living the sweetest life. and always remember....it is not the happy people that are thankful, it is the thankful people that are happy.

thankful thursday

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this little quote is coming into my life on a day that i really need it. it's funny how those things happen.  

i am sitting hear on the verge of pulling my hair out over the boys insane behavior lately. i find myself at wits end wondering what to do. i feel like i have tried everything.  but then i stop. think. reflect. there are so many things about the boy that i have to be thankful for! 

i am the proud parent of one strong willed and brilliant little boy. he must be brilliant because he's found a way to make his zen mommy loose her cool! haha.  

amongst all the craziness and timeouts there are these moments where i look at him and think about the miracle of this little creature that the hubs and i created. the boy is healthy, strong, intelligent, and so stinkin adorable.  he has these dance moves that make me giggle every time, he has the ability to make strangers laugh, and a serious love for nature. he's everything i ever dreamed of, minus the tantrums....which (fingers crossed) will pass.

and on a totally different topic...you never realize how much you enjoy the little things until they are gone! i am doing little at home experiment to determine if my swollen lymph nodes in my armpits are due to  a reaction from my deodorant.  i have decided to go au natural today....and peee ewww! how i do enjoy and miss you deodorant....even if you are giving me armpit cancer. 

for the rest of you that can not smell me....enjoy the little things! be grateful! and have a wonderful week!

thankful thursday

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you know i tend to think of gratitude projects as just that....a project. and the truth of it all is that sometimes the larger the project becomes the less impactful it is.  but instead why don't we focus on the smaller picture. you know "doing little things for others".  

i don't want this to turn into a "chivalry is dead" conversation, but when thinking about this subject i tend to go directly to holding the door for others. have you ever been leaving a store with your arms full and the person in front of you lets the door go right in your face? it happens to me all the time. it's infuriating! it's become something that bothers me so much that i will go out of my way to make sure that i hold the door open for people. 

another on of the "little things" that comes to mind are notes in the mail. i have a very good friend who is exceptionally good about sending "thank you for no reason" cards. i cherish them. as a matter of fact one is sitting on my desk right now to help me remember that you don't need a reason to be thankful.

so when approaching your next opportunity to show gratitude towards another remember that it doesn't need to be some big project. hold a door, drop a note in the mail, help a friend with a heavy load, pick up the phone just to say hello.  sometimes the littles things go the farthest. they hold the biggest places in the hearts of the grateful.