A week of Gratitude

I have been nominated by a good friend Teresa Roy to write a post each day for the next week listing 3 things for which I am grateful. The goal of these kinds of challenges is to quietly and slowly change the way we see our world; shifting away from the consumer-oriented “more stuff equals happiness” towards the centered, inward focused appreciation of all that surrounds us on a regular basis. By taking stock of the abundance around us which we often take for granted, we can change our perspective and our clarity and ultimately manifest a more balanced interaction with our world.

It is easy to do these types of personal inventories with little regard to their outcomes or to quickly write down the first things that pop into your head (not a bad way to begin if you’re stuck) or to hide behind the cover of humor instead of really digging into who we are and learning more about what makes us tick. We’ve all been guilty of doing this at one time or another. It is far easier to just skim the surface of a personal reflection than to get in there and do the heavy lifting. But we’re only cheating ourselves if we take the short cut.

If you’ve been following my Random reidings for any period of time you know that I’m not usually afraid to dig deeper into those dark recesses of my self to expand my understanding of my world, and on the way by, draw conclusions and summaries of what I’ve seen or pieced together hoping you can find some greater understanding of yourself through my observations. I have always seen and watched my world through some observational role, constantly making notes of everything; processing it all on subconscious levels, finding patterns, drawing conclusions, testing theories – without once thinking about it. It’s what I’ve always done, it’s what I’ve always known.

And you wonder why I get migraines?

So in that vein, come with me over the next 7 days as I dig down into what I am really grateful for in my life. No, this won’t be just a quick three line post each day – I think you know me better than that by now. I’ll provide some depth and reflection to this to help take advantage of the exercise and to cement those feelings of gratitude so they become real, daily reminders of the important things around me. And hopefully I’ll jog something in you on the way by, something that causes you to stop and reflect and notice things more closely. If you can, don’t just read and then like my post, but comment on it, provide some feedback and some context so we can discuss things as we go. That way we can all progress together.

Because really, that’s my ultimate goal: To help everyone around me (by starting with myself first) grow and learn more about themselves and each other so we can all move forward together making our world a better place as we go.