Month: November 2015

58 Things We Can All Be Grateful For

Today’s Affirmation:

My life is filled with one positive experience after another. I make use of every experience in my growth.

Here are 58 things to be thankful for. Some may seem counter-intuitive. However, even the negative sometimes is worthy of our thankfulness. I’ve probably left some off my list. Leave a comment today and let me know what you are thankful for.

  1. Sun – without it’s warmth and light we could not exist.
  2. Earth – the beautiful planet that sustains us.
  3. Water – the sauce of life.
  4. Life – each and every morning we wake up is a new chance to be the person we want to be.
  5. Shelter – something to shield us from the elements.
  6. Children – the happy nature and innocence of children remind us how we are meant to be.
  7. Food – an absolute blessing for those who struggle for it and something to be more appreciative of for those of us who never worry about our next meal.
  8. Faith – our faith in ourselves and in something greater than ourselves.
  9. Minds – the power to think, to reason, to grow, and to adapt.
  10. Lines – for making us slow down and enjoy where we are.
  11. Compassion – for getting over ourselves to consider and understand someone else.
  12. Hope – reminds us there is a potential upside to every situation.
  13. Giving – when we give we remember that nothing truly belongs to us and it frees us from our attachments.
  14. Receiving – the opportunity to have our needs met while allowing others to give.
  15. Fear – for teaching us love, strength, and humility.
  16. Work – whether a career, a hobby, or community work; the sense that we have something to do when we get up in the morning is something to be thankful for.
  17. Sleep – for providing a way to rest the body.
  18. Friendship – those people who choose to spend key parts of their lives with us.
  19. Family – those people we wound up with by fate, but stay with out of love.
  20. Anger – for teaching us the benefits of peace.
  21. Peace – peace within and as much peace without as we can muster.
  22. Sight – the ability to see the beautiful world we inhabit.
  23. Love – the glue that holds us together.
  24. Difficulty – for making us strong and giving us something to compare with the heights.
  25. Stars – the wonder and glory of the night sky.
  26. Hatred – for reminding us to love (may we need ever-less reminding)
  27. Surprises – the wonderful things in life that we didn’t expect.
  28. Visionaries – people who see the world not as it is, but as it could be.
  29. Change – the ever-present possibility of improving ourselves and the world.
  30. Purpose – the plan to achieve something in this life and the firm belief that you can.
  31. Wind – a source of comfort, energy, and a metaphor for change.
  32. Music – the soundtrack of our lives.
  33. Possibility – the memory that something more and different is out there.
  34. Today – an opportunity to make the most of what we have.
  35. Tomorrow – the hoped for opportunity to continue our dreams.
  36. Sorrow – for making joy possible.
  37. Joy – the deep and intense happiness about being alive.
  38. Freedom – the ability to think, act, and be who you are.
  39. Acceptance – the ability be at peace with how things are for the moment.
  40. Learning – the opportunity to enhance our potential.
  41. Success – the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of our work.
  42. Adversity – for reminding us how strong we can be.
  43. Grass – for carpeting our planet and being a nice place to lie and look at the sky.
  44. Soil – a medium to grow food and plants.
  45. Moon – the most beautiful object in the night sky and the timepiece marking our lives through its phases.
  46. Innovation – for improving our experience of life.
  47. Dreams – the fuel that drives us through tough times and gives a reason to aim high.
  48. Options – the ability to choose.
  49. Sharing – the opportunity to pool our talents and resources.
  50. Flowers – they add beautiful sights and smells to our world.
  51. Clouds – for bringing the rain that cleanses and for helping me appreciate the sunshine.
  52. Mountains – they provide beauty, challenge, and the ability to see a long way.
  53. Oceans – beauty, unimaginable power, source of life and transportation.
  54. Competition – the opportunity to test ourselves and to improve.
  55. History – for teaching us the lessons we need to learn over and over until we get them.
  56. Future – for giving us the opportunity to try again.
  57. Death – for reminding us of life’s value.
  58. Meaning – the search for which makes our lives the journey that they are.

Stay inspired!

Ray

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Releasing Stress on National Stress Day

Today’s Affirmation:

“I become aware of the little things that are stressing me out and develop strategies to deal with them effectively.”

Overworked business man.Today is National Stress Way – a perfect opportunity to discuss ways to destress.

We often attribute the stress in our daily lives to what is happening on the outside. “My schedule is so busy” or “Work is a bear right now” are common reasons we give others and ourselves to explain the stress we feel.

No doubt, these things contribute to our stress. However, some of the extra “weight” we carry around is mental. It’s all the little unresolved problems and distractions flittering, as they do, at the edges of our awareness that create stress in our lives disproportionate to their actual importance.

Collectively, these little stressors create murky, undefined sense of dis-ease that can permeate our days and lessen our enjoyment of life.

Awareness

How do we deal with these minor hindrances? Well, the first we have to do is to become aware of them. Can we identify them and name them? It’s almost impossible to address them unless we know what they are.

One effective way for surfacing these issues is to spend a little quiet time alone at some point in the day. Just allow your thoughts to flow freely without evaluation and take note of the concerns, worries, or issues that arise.

These small issues are like children clamoring for attention. They will usually make themselves known when you listen.

Action

Once you identify an issue, you can:

  • Estimate its importance.
  • Take steps to resolve it.
  • Recognize its relative insignificance and let it go.

Perspective 

These pesky stressors are the puff fish in our lives. You may be familiar with this kind of fish. It has the ability to blow itself up to appear much larger than its actual size to intimidate would-be predators.

Especially when we have an emotional investment, these little issues can cast a longer shadow in our lives than is warranted by their actual importance.

The key to breaking their hold is perspective. Here are three strategies for getting that perspective.

  1. Deja-Vu – we have probably faced situations similar to the one we are stressing about now and it probably came out OK. Most of the things we stress ourselves about never happen or are not as bad as we imagined them to be. Think of two or three examples of times when similar things worked out fine and your worrying did not alter the outcome. Then let go.
  2. The 30-Day Test – ask yourself whether this issue will still have the significance you are giving it now in 30 days? In six months? A year? If not, it probably is not really as important as it seems right now. Do what you can about it and then let it go.
  3. The Quasar Comparison – this is the “big scheme of things” approach to releasing the issue. Our problems, as big as they seem to us sometimes, are mostly insignificant in the big picture. Quasars are very powerful and distant objects at the edge of the visible universe. They are billions of light years away and a reminder of our universe’s sheer scale. A picture of a quasar can easily be found online. I keep one nearby to remind me how small my problems really are compared to the vastness of space and time. When realize this may not be as life and death as we are making it out to be we can let it go.

In closing, I am certainly not advocating avoidance of real problems in our lives. What I am saying is that our quality of life can improve when we find ways to jettison those annoying little stressors that hold us back.

I’d love to hear from some of you about strategies you use to reduce stress.  Leave a comment.

Have a peaceful and prosperous day!

Ray

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