Gratitude Archives - Page 53 of 57

Wonderful People Are A Blessing

Posted on October 9, 2020

If you have someone wonderful in your life, cherish them. These types can be hard to find. Wonderful people are a blessing and you must remember that every day.

What would be even better than remembering this every day? Ideally you would remind them of how you feel about them every day too. That is somewhat of a two-for-one deal. When you remind them of it, you reinforce that point in your own mind.

Even though I am fortunate to have a number of wonderful people in my life, I am thinking of my wonderful wife today. We’ve had a fabulous time since meeting 26 years ago at university. And today is her birthday. ?

We have travelled extensively together, exploring six continents with open eyes and enthusiasm. She had an exciting career before focusing on raising three fabulous children. In recent years, Roxane has been the main driver behind building our property business which has given us much more free time and financial freedom.

Roxane is a wonderful wife, mother and friend. She is also a determined and excellent businessperson.

Regardless of what is going on and how busy life gets, she is always there to make things a little better. The children and I hope she has a wonderful birthday and she enjoys the very exciting year ahead!

Wonderful people are a blessing. Let people know how you feel.

Gratitude Health & Fitness Reframe your thoughts

Rain Can Cleanse Your Soul

Posted on October 7, 2020

Listening to the rain land rhythmically on the rooftops is like a serenade. If you’re dry, warm and comfortable, the sound of the rain can cleanse your soul.

I love hearing the rain fall and make that pitter-patter sound as it lands. There is something very base and refreshing about it. Even the air is a little different when it is raining. Getting cozy really helps.

Now I am not always that fond of being out in the rain. This is especially true when it is cold. Also when you are trying to do something outdoors and the rain isn’t helping.

Growing up on a farm, we had to use the weather to our advantage. You have to plant at the right time and cut hay during dry days. You don’t want to get your tractor stuck in the mud. Nor do you want to have rain on your hay before you bale it up and put it into storage. Wet hay is not good to have.

But I love a rain storm. Flashes of lightning illuminating the sky. Thunder rolling across the vast heavens above. Drops of rain pounding buildings and the ground. Storms always seemed too short. This just kept you wanting more.

Rain can cleanse your soul. Get absorbed by it and appreciate it’s primal power.

Gratitude Think About It Time

Has Life Become Too Easy?

Posted on October 2, 2020

The Mayflower took 66 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean in the autumn of 1620. Concorde took only 2 hours and 52 minutes to cross. Has life become too easy?

On the Mayflower there were about 30 crew and 102 passengers. You could fit about the same number of people on Concorde.

The ship was challenged by rough seas and difficult winds. The passengers spent most of those two months seated and seasick. One person was washed overboard. Hard to imagine what the dining service was like.

Meanwhile, the Mach 2 turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner had seatbelts, champagne and a very good reputation.

Also, in the Mayflower era, it took about 3 months to get a message to a transatlantic loved one. Today, you can simply FaceTime, Zoom or Skype them. With these video calling options, people can actually speak to, see and hear their dear friends and family in real time. Amazing!

There is so much efficiency and so little effort required today. This may be getting our expectations way ahead of our realty. This creates the ER Gap. This can be quite a dangerous place. It can even bring with it various mental health challenges.

Has life become too easy? Perhaps for many it has.

Gratitude Observe Time

Dealing With Disappointment

Posted on October 1, 2020

I’m sure we have all had an expectation which wasn’t met. Therefore, dealing with disappointment will have been a factor in our life, whether it was a grade at school, sporting challenge, friendship or dining experience.

We all deal with disappointment differently. Some of our coping mechanisms will have been learned observationally through watching our parents. Some will have come from friends, books and strangers.

As with anything, we should strive, with an open mind, to find the best techniques and tips. There may be 10-20 options to choose from. Some will work well for us and others will be less effective.

Regardless, it’s a good skill to learn and develop. Improving on our ability to be resilient is a very good idea. This is an important point as, generally, as we grow older, the problems can become more significant with greater implications. So it is ideal to learn very good skills early on and hone them for when the big challenges occur.

Today I went for my quarterly blood donation. I’ve recently adjusted my diet a little and it seems I was just a tad low on iron. So I was thanked for coming and told to try again in three months.

I was more disappointed than I thought I should be. However, dealing with disappointment like this is good practice for the big stuff in life.

Action Gratitude Observe Reframe your thoughts

Catch People Doing Something Well

Posted on September 9, 2020

It’s so easy to criticise. Especially if you continue to practice doing it. Of greater benefit to one and all is to catch people doing something well.

I think I read about this in a parenting book many years ago. It really struck me. Although we want to guide our children and others well, it can mean we provide a disproportionate amount of negative feedback.

What builds confidence and leads to greater capability is hearing good and positive feedback. For most kids, they will do 99% of things in the good zone. Check whether you are giving 99% of your feedback on those good things they are doing.

This is the same with colleagues, other family members, the government, health care workers, police and teachers.

Every day, one hundred thousand things have to go right, at the right time. That’s just for things to go smoothly. If one thing isn’t right, try not to focus on that. Focus on all the other things going well.

There are various ways to address this. One is to recognise several of the good things that they have done, especially any they did particularly well. Often you can leave it there. A lot of times they already know what they could have done better.

Catch people doing something well and you’ll see more smiles.

Gratitude Reframe your thoughts Time

That Is A Lot Of Birthdays

Posted on September 8, 2020

Every once in a while, people we know celebrate their birthday. Today, roughly 21.4 million people will celebrate. That is a lot of birthdays!

The world population is now over 7.8 billion according to Worldometer. It really is hard to imagine that number of people. And they are all quite similar to you. They breathe, eat, use the loo, require sleep and have some income or way of sustaining themselves.

In addition, more than than 7.8 billion will celebrate a birthday in the next 12 months. The reason for this is that the world’s net population growth is currently about 81,000,000 each year.

So where could you host a big party for all of the people celebrating their birthday on the 8th September? Imagine the largest stadium you have ever been in. Was it an 18,000 seater arena? Maybe a 100,000 seater football stadium?

Let’s imagine the 100,000 seater stadium. There are only 11 of these in the world. Stadiums like Michigan, Tiger and Motera along with the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Camp Nou, Wembley and Twickenham are massive but don’t have a 100,000 seat capacity.

Picture how big those stadiums are. And all the people in them. Now picture 214 of those stadiums filled to capacity. That’s how many people would be celebrating their birthday on a given day.

That is a lot of birthdays!

Gratitude Reframe your thoughts

Life Is A Value Hierarchy

Posted on September 6, 2020

Throughout your life, you will need to choose between two or more options of value. Life is a value hierarchy and you are the constant decision maker.

A simple example of this is what to eat for breakfast. You may have the luxury of choosing between eggs royale or Cheerios. Some people will have more exciting choices and some far fewer. Some don’t have anything to choose from.

Whatever your situation, you then need to make a choice. First you make a choice of your preferred meal. Second, you make a choice about how you see your situation. What’s fascinating is how people perceive their situation.

Some will have all the best cooked, freshest food in the world and be happy. Others will find something to disparage. Those with poor, few or no choices, can find happiness or discontent too.

Extrapolate this out to all of the decisions you make in a day. You are constantly deciding what is more important and less important. Then you decide how you feel about it. Be careful though. Those decisions about how to feel about things, soon will become a habit.

You might not notice, but you may stop appreciating your moments of good fortune. Things may start to seem commonplace. You may become disenfranchised with imperfection.

Life is a value hierarchy. But you are at the controls.

Action Gratitude

Loving The Great Outdoors

Posted on August 28, 2020

It’s great to get back outside and enjoying the spaces, sounds, smells and sights our world has to offer. Loving the great outdoors can be a very easy thing to do. Though sometimes the conditions have to be right.

Despite having done some exciting outdoorsy things, I tend to be a fair weather outdoorsman. I can handle some pretty big extremes. However, I do enjoy my creature comforts.

I’ve endured skiing in -40 Celsius conditions in Eastern Canada. I’ve also picked grapes in 40+ Celsius weather in the outback of Australia. Night diving on The Great Barrier Reef was exciting. As was hiking to the top of Africa by reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

I’m generally a fair weather camper. Though listening to tonight’s rainstorm from inside our tent was fascinating and a real delight.

Hearing the wind howl and rain lash down and sweep across the tent was quite something. It’s not often enough that we stop and just admire the natural world.

Although nature can be tough, cruel and destructive with its hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires and hailstorms. There is such awe in those things and beauty in its kinder, gentler aspects.

The wind and rainstorms are more exciting when you’re not stuck out in them. So from inside my tent, I’m loving the great outdoors.

Gratitude Observe

These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things

Posted on August 16, 2020

Do you have a list, or lists, like this? Somewhere that you group all of your best stuff? ‘These are a few of my favourite things’ could be the heading.

Over the years I have written these lists of favourites. Some I have kept as I find them interesting to look back on. It’s fun to look at what ‘old me’ liked. Though I guess it could be seen as ‘young me’ instead. Or maybe even ‘previous me’.

I’ve created the favourite list for songs, albums, photos, destinations, movies and activities. Of course there are other lists too. You could have favourite memories or actors, musicians, foods, restaurants or books. It all depends on what you like to collect, curate, or catalogue.

Sometimes I’ve made a quick list. And other times it is more thoughtful. I know that some lists I have misplaced and others I have thrown away. Perhaps this has been the case for you too.

When I look at a selection of my favourite photos from years ago, it can feel quite distant because you see the changes. However, if I play a song from 35 years ago, I can feel myself in the moment. I am transformed.

What are some of the lists you have made? How do they make you feel?

Action Gratitude Think About It

Here To Help

Posted on August 7, 2020

Perhaps our highest purpose is in helping others. Even if you set out to simply make money, you usually need to help others to do it. We are here to help others on their journey.

People assist others whether through charity, providing a service or product or at random moments. If someone looks lost, you give them directions. When someone has been hurt, you will come to their aid or find someone who can.

And although you can look at many things as ‘only doing it for the money’, that is just a viewpoint. Most people aren’t brutally honest with themselves about their own motivations. How do they think they can assess what someone else is thinking?

Landlords help people find homes to live in. Car companies help people get around. Computer companies help people have access to information, communication and speed. Restaurant workers assist people in getting food and drink without the effort of sorting it themselves.

Think of almost any job and you can see how the person’s work aids other people.

There is a spectrum of people that moves from totally not helpful to exceptionally helping. But apart from allowing for a handful of super hard core non-helpers, everyone else helps to some degree. They do so with time, effort, money or kindness.

How are you helping people today?