365 Days of Gratitude & Simplicity Day 12

November 21, 2010

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

There Is No Scarcity

"When money is plenty this is a man's world. When money is scarce it is a woman's world. When all else seems to have failed, the woman's instinct comes in. She gets the job. That is a reason why in spite of all that happens, we continue to have a world. ~Ladie's Home Journal, October 1932

When you worry about someone's health - yours or a loved ones there is a sudden clarity about what is important. Living is important. Everyday is a gift. 

But when we worry about money it mocks us. Those worries steal our joy and follow us around like a dark shadow. 

Money ebbs and flows in our life. We must accept that and find gratitude no matter what our situation is at the time. 

Today's challenge: Concentrate on what you have today. Not what you lack. Accept what you can change and do not allow worry to take over what you cannot. 

Today's exercise: Write down 10 things you are grateful for in this moment. 

365 Days of Gratitude & Simplicity Day 11

November 20, 2010

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

Is It Recession or Depression

"No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit." ~Helen Keller

I, personally, am finding it ironic that the Simple Abundance book has discussed recession at this time. The book was first published in the late 90's and as I read the entry for today, I realize that it is still applicable. 

Perhaps the recession has personally affected you and yours. Millions of women are scaling down their expectations of what constitutes the good life, redefining their values, reordering their priorities and accepting the challenge of making a virtue out of necessity. However, it's very easy to surrender to emotional depression when a financial one occurs. 

It's time to put the thoughts of lack behind us. We will have to make a change. Change does not happen overnight. Lasting change happens in small increments at a time. We will slowly learn to become optimists. 

Today's challenge: Smile at everyone you meet. Make eye contact when you smile. Expect something good to happen no matter what happened yesterday. The past can no longer hold you captive. Let it go. 

Today's exercise: Write down 10 things you are grateful for in this moment. 

"The past can only continue to hurt you if you hold on to it." 

365 Days of Gratitude & Simplicity Day 10

November 19, 2010

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

Until It Is Carved in Stone

"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth - and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up - that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had. ~Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

In one of my favorite plays of all time, Our Town by Thornton Wilder  a deeply poignant scene takes place in a graveyard. Ghosts comfor teh young heroine, who has recently died from childbirth. Emily, still longing for the life she has just left, wishes to revisit one ordinary, "unimportant" day in her life. When she does, she realizes how much "the living take for granted." 


It eventually becomes too much for her to bear and she begs to leave one last time. ". . . goodbye clocks ticking, goodbye sunflowers, goodbye sleeping and waking. . . "

Today's challenge: This is the season of epiphany. Today seek everyday epiphanies. Give them a voice. Say out loud to someone which "unimportant" experiences you're thankful for and have previously taken for granted. 

Today's exercise: Write down 10 things you are grateful for in this moment. 

"Appreciate the authentic moments of happiness in the everyday." 

365 Days of Gratitude & Simplicity Day 9

November 18, 2010

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

What Is It You Truly Need

"Ini my life's chain of events nothing was accidental. Everything happened according to an inner need." ~Hanna Senesh

Do you have everything you need right now? What about your wants? 


Most of us are hungering for something more in our lives, but do we really think it can be found in a glossy magazine or on the television?

In order to live the life we were intended, it's crucial to distinguish between our wants and our needs. 


Today make peace with the knowledge that you cannot have everything you want! 
It's most important to get everything we need. 

Today's challenge: Be courageous and ask yourself : What is it I truly need to make me happy? The personal answers to this will be very different for each of us. "It is inevitable that when one has a great need of something, one finds it."

Today's exercise: Write down 10 things you are grateful for in this moment. 


"What you need, you attract." 

365 Days of Gratitude & Simplicity Day 8

November 17, 2010

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

The Underrated Duty

"There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world." ~Robert Louis Stevenson

"I'll be happy when I get a bigger kitchen." 

"I'll be happy when I get a better paying job."

"I'll be happy when I find the perfect someone." 

I call this "I'll be happy when" syndrome. It tricks us. Yes, these things can make us HAPPIER,  they do not plant the seeds of happiness. 

Happiness is not a possession to be prized. It is a thought, a state of mind. 

No one can force you to be happy each day that you wake up. 

Let's adopt a new state of mind. Let's stop thinking that things outside of our control will bring happiness. 

We must tend our inner garden and take time to uproot the weeds of external expectations.

Happiness is a living emotion. We must be willing to pursue it and make it a priority. It IS  intimidating, but be gentle, start small. Climbing a mountain looks  difficult, but if you take it step by step and day by day, you will find yourself at the top and looking up! 

Today's challenge: Today take time to think of 2 things in your past that you thought would bring you happiness - that you depended on to bring you happiness. Write them down. Did they make you happy for long?

Today's exercise: Write down 10 things you are grateful for in this moment.

365 Days of Gratitude & Simplicity Day 7

November 16, 2010

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

How Happy Are You Right Now? 

"Perhaps if one really knew when one was happy one would know the things that were necessary for one's life." ~Joanna Field

How happy are you right now? Do you even know? 

Most women know what make their parents, partners, or children happy. But when it comes to an awareness about the little, specific things in life that bring a smile to our faces, we often come up short. 

In 1926, a young Englishwoman, Joanna Field, began to keep a journal in order to discover what specifically triggered the feeling of delight in her daily life.  

Today's challenge: Today take time to experience moments of happiness. Savor the small, authentic moments that bring contentment. Try a new cookie recipe. Take time to arrange a bouquet of flowers. Sip a cup of tea on the porch and enjoy the sun. Pause for 5 minutes to pet a purring cat. 

Today's exercise: Write down 10 things you are grateful for in this moment. Write down a moment when you savored an small, authentic moment. 

365 Days of Gratitude & SImplicity Day 6

November 15, 2010

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

Standing Knee-Deep in a River and Dying of Thirst

"The thirst after happiness is never extinguished in the hear of [woman]. ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Kathy Mattea sings of friends who had been taken for granted, sweethearts she had known, and a wonderful world of strangers just waiting to make a connection with us (while we turn our eyes away)

There is so much we are taking for granted. We must try to stop living unconsciously. 

The revelation that we have everything we need in life to make us happy but simply lack the conscious awareness to appreciate it can be as refreshing as lemonade on a hot summer day or as startling as cold water being thrown in our face. . 

Are you going through your days parched and empty, when you are really standing knee-deep in the river of abundance? 

Today's challenge & exercise: Write down 10 things you are grateful for in this moment.