365 Days of Gratitude & Simplicity Day 5

November 14, 2010

*All content has been taken from SImple Abundance. Some content has been shortened for the purpose of 365 Days of Gratitude.

The Woman You Were Meant to Be

"Many women today feel a sadness we cannot name. Though we accomplish much of what we set out to do, we sense that something is missing our lives and fruitlessly search "out there" for the answers. What often wrong is that we are disconnected from an authentic sense of self. ~ Emily Hancock

Has this ever happened to you? You are washing your face, and sudden you do not recognize the woman staring back at you. "Who is this?" you ask the mirror. No reply. She looks vaguely familiar but bears little resemblance  to the woman you were expecting to see there. Psychologists call this a "displacement of self," and it usually occurs during times of great stress. (Ha! Isn't this everyday?) 

Perhaps our melancholy is that we miss the woman we were meant to be. We miss our authentic selves. But the good news is that even if you have ignored the overtures for decades ("wear red" "cut your hair" "study art in Paris" "learn the tango") your authentic self has no abandoned you. 

Start listening. 

Today's challenge & exercise: List some of the things you've ignored your authentic self saying to you in the past. What things have you avoided pursuing because you were not able to silence the world and listen to yourself? 

Write down you gratitude for the day.

Gratitude: How's it going?

Just checking in on those of you following along with the extensive version of 365 Days of Gratitude. 


If you started with me, we are on Day 4. No problem if you didn't. I was just telling a friend that the great thing about everyone starting at a different time is that this activity never really ends and THAT is my goal. Spread the word, share the gratitude, see what happens. 


I'm so thrilled that in one week so many people have joined in a an activity that I thought might be too much for most. I see people sharing my blog site, sharing the FB group, tweeting, and exchanging gratitude. 


Bottom line: No matter what happens to you, what you're going through, how you feel about yourself or others, there is always SOMETHING to be grateful for. 


Just like learning to ride a bike, use a new computer or phone, or learning to walk or talk - practice, practice, practice. 


Most times our minds don't get the same practice that we got when we were younger. Teachers, parents, friends would challenge us or teach us and so we were always using our minds. If they weren't challenging us, we were probably challenging them. 


Then came adulthood, kids, jobs, chores, responsibilities, lack of sleep, health issues and so we get bogged down with that and our minds are on a continuous rotation thinking of all those same things day after day. 


I needed the challenge again. I needed to think outside of my regular box. I needed to see that even in my thirties all things are possible - anything can happen. I needed to be reminded that in the day to day routine, I have so much abundance in my life that is more than surface deep. 


So - how are you all doing? 
Did you get a journal to write down your gratitude and see them in black and white in your own writing? 
Are you learning how to stop and breathe? 
Are you writing down your questions, hopes, and dreams? 
Are you posting on FB, 365 Days FB group, or twitter? All of them? 
How many people are you influencing and have joined in this activity b/c of you? 
Are the days, challenges, and activities too long or are you finding you have 5 minutes to read, write, and be thankful? 


Post a quick comment, question, or thought. 


What a legacy that will be for us to leave with our loved ones, children and friends. 


"Because a thankful heart is a happy heart." 

365 Days of Gratitude & Simplicity Day 4

November 13, 2010

*All content has been taken from SImple Abundance. Some content has been shortened for the purpose of 365 Days of Gratitude.

This isn't a Dress Rehearsal

"When you perform . . .you are out of yourself - larger and more potent, more beautiful. You are for minutes heroic. This is power. This is glory on earth. And it is yours, nightly. ~Agnes De Mille

Like an actress conserving her creative energy and focus for opening night, we hold back. Perhaps you save the pretty china for when company comes; perhaps your rarely dress up when home alone. 

It does take more effort to set an inviting table, but enhances our experience of eating. 

We all feel better when we take those few extra minutes to fix our hair and put on makeup, but what's more we act different. 

Today's challenge & exercise: Find something and give it an extra 5 minutes. Table setting, getting dressed, cooking an new side dish. 

Write down you gratitude for the day.

365 Days of Gratitude & Simplicity Day 3

November 12, 2010

*All content has been taken from SImple Abundance. Some content has been shortened for the purpose of 365 Days of Gratitude.

Simple Abundance: The Inner Journey

simple, adj. 1: without embellishment; 2: clarity of form and thought; 3: fundamental

abundance, n.1: an ample quantity, profusion; 2: wealth; 3: plentifulness 

simple abundance, 1: an inner journey; 2: a spiritual practical course in creative living; 3: a tapestry of contentment

Today's challenge: Today become aware that you already posses all the inner wisdom, strength, and creativity needed to make your dreams come true. This is hard for us to realize because our personal power gets buried so deeply beneath the bills, the dirty laundry, chores, running kids to and fro. Somehow our perceptions are flawed to conclude that happiness and fulfillment come only from external events. We have to learn to be catalysts for our own change. 

Today's exercise: The six principles to use as a guide for us over the next year. Read them, add them to today's journal entry. 

1. Gratitude - doing daily spiritual and mental inventory reminds us that we are rich

2. Simplicity -clear out, pare down, realize we only need the essentials; with simplicity brings..

3. Order - both internally and externally

4. Harmony - provides inner peace 

5. Beauty - With #1-4 we realize the beauty in even the simple things

6. Joy - #1-5 opens the joy in abundance

Be still. 

Write down you gratitude for the day. 

365 Days of Gratitude & Simplicity Day 2

November 11, 2010

*All content has been taken from SImple Abundance. Some content has been shortened for the purpose of 365 Days of Gratitude. 

Loving the Questions

"You only live once - but if you work it right, once is enough." ~Joe e. Lewis

How often have you turned away from all that is unresolved in your heart because you feared questioning?
What if you new that a year from today you could be living the most creative, joyous, and fulfilling life you could imagine? 
What would that life look like? 
What changes would you make?
Where would you begin?

Today's challenge: Ask yourself the questions above. Be comfortable asking the questions. Be comfortable with the "not knowing" the answers. 

Today's exercise: Ask yourself the questions again. Write them down even. The answers to your questions will eventually come. 

Write down you gratitude for the day.

365 Days of Gratitude & SImplicity Day 1

November 10, 2010
*All content has been taken from SImple Abundance. Some content has been shortened for the purpose of 365 Days of Gratitude. 


A Transformative Year of Delight and Discover


"There are years that ask questions and years that answer." ~Zora Neale Hurston


A fresh start. A new chapter in life waiting to be written. New questions to be asked, embraced, and loved. Answers to be discovered and then lived. 


Today's challenge: Find yourself a journal. Something pretty, sparkly, if you like. Something in your favorite color. Something that makes you smile. This is where you'll record your daily gratitude. This is where you'll do the following exercise. 


Today's exercise: Today carve out a quiet interlude for yourself, pen in hand. 
Only dreams give birth to change. 
What are your hopes for the future as you reflect on the past? 
Write down your most private aspirations. 
Write down one thing you are grateful for today. 


Take a leap of faith and believe in yourself no matter where you are in this moment.

365 Days of Gratitude & Simplicity

Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things or more money, in order to do what they want so they will be happier. The way it actually works i the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. ~Margaret Young


It was the end of 2001. I was a new mom with an almost one year old. I was a new teacher and a newlywed. I lived in a new place with family far away and was desperately trying to rediscover the new me. 


Years prior, I knew who I was: cheerleader, small town girl, high school and college grad, daughter, friend, care-free and trying to find my way to my adulthood. 


Once I became mom, wife, and working woman I felt as though I had no control over anything. I had transformed in many ways and my mind had no time to catch up. I looked in the mirror and did not know myself. Not. At. All. 


I did not feel that anyone understood my struggles. Most of the older women in my life had not had to work full time and raise children. Some waited to work when children were older, others only worked full time briefly, or had a number of extra hands or helpers at their disposal. That was not me. 


So, one day in late 2001, I happened to turn on the TV to Oprah. She was visiting with  an author who discussed the power of gratitude and simple abundance. Thus, my true journey with gratitude began and flourished. 


I went out and bought the book SImple Abundance - A Daybook of Comfort and Joy  ~Sarah Ban Breathnach


Excerpt from Foreword: "I began to barely recognize the woman I once was. Simple Abundance has enabled me to encounter everyday epiphanies, find the sacred in the ordinary. . . fully enter into the sacrament of the present moment. " 


"This book is organized as a walk through the year. The Simple Abundance journey is an exhilarating and earth-rumbling awakening that makes the authentic self visible." 


For the entire year of 2002, I read daily the quotes, ideas, and did the challenges presented. I was disciplined in taking that time for myself. As I did this, I slowly began to watch the extra baby weight pounds melt away, my image of myself took a positive turn, my life became manageable and began to take shape, and for the first time ever I really felt like I was discovering who I really was meant to be. The metamorphosis was amazing and I felt better physically, mentally, and emotionally than I ever had in my life. 

I've decided that I, personally, need to take this 365 day journey once again. I need to challenge myself. I need to remind myself, especially after a new baby, that my children need me to take this journey as much as I need it. 


I've decided to share my journey via FB, twitter (hash tags #gratitude #simpleabundance), and my blog. That in itself is a huge time commitment, but necessarily, if only for me. 


I would love for those of you who joined me for 40 Days of Thankfulness and who are ready to take their gratitude to the next level to join me for this new journey. If you choose to join, please comment, text, message or contact me some way, so that I can make a list of everyone and we can cheer each other on! 

This journey is not for those with a skeptical mind. It is not for those that feel "forced" to participate. If you feel like you are in a similar place as I described above and want a challenge. If you believe it will work, help you, allow you to grow, it will. 

365 Days of  Gratitude and Simplicity for me will begin November 10, 2010.