Gratitude Tuesday
Thanks to an inspiring post from Zen Habits, and to encourage myself through a period of drastic changes in my life, I’m designating today “Gratitude Tuesday.” To me, nothing is real unless it gets out of our heads and into reality. I need to voice (not just type) my appreciation as I feel it (to myself or others) or as I remember to. Like forgiveness this is as much for me as it is for the person I’m acknowledging. It improves our quality of life.
Like Zen Habits pointed out, we are all incredibly rich…and right off have many things that the rest of the world doesn’t have - like enough food to eat at any time day or night. We also have a lot of money which means responsibility. Because…”the way we handle our money reflects how we feel about other people and our lives in general. Therefore, an important part of living gratefully usually includes a commitment to regularly help others with our financial resources.” You invest money in others’ lives.
So with that, I’m grateful for…
- The amazing people I’ve met through my job at OrangeSoda, including my boss Michael (he should coach other bosses), clients, and coworkers.
- The way my employer treats their employees, and most especially the goodwill they’ve shown me from the beginning. It really is remarkable.
- The exposure I got from Shoemoney’s blog. I can’t keep up with the responses, but the people I have connected with so far are a privilege to know (like uPlej).
- uPlej - I know some people criticize them for making money for helping others, but the point is they’ve created a platform that makes giving automatic and affordable. Nonprofits tend to lag behind on technology. Just like people, organizations that struggle to provide the basics aren’t able to help others who are struggling. I’ve been there. It’s tough to work on a cause when you don’t know if your paycheck will be good so you can feed your own family. It’s in everyone’s best interest to provide dependable platforms and methods of giving. I love that you can leverage your network for a bigger cause than just being popular.
- My finace Stephen who makes me better than I am without him. He builds me up. He is a master at making things seem seemless and providing a good experience for others. He works with people and looks out for their best interest, not his own, even if that means a tradeoff and he doesn’t sell as much. He’s someone I trust and who has high integrity. He’s been my friend for a few years and to everyone it seemed to come out of the blue that we’re getting married. But they don’t know how much actually went into making this decision or just how afraid of being married again I am. Thanks for smoothing the path for me! He loves my quirkiness and doesn’t get mad if I get lost from time to time - it’s part of the adventure.
- My condo that sold in two weeks when there is a lot on the market and most had to lower their prices. This was a huge stress. One call. One offer. Now we just have to close and I have a temporary residence until I move in with Stephen (after we’re married).
- My friend Vicki who convinced me to trade her organization coaching with my blog and web coaching. She transformed my life by teaching me what to her is obvious. I love the extra space we created and the sense of peace I have from having room and being organized. I met her at an event I spoke at and she convinced me not to wait. It took us over 10 hours but I’m sure it helped me sell my place. It also prepared me for marriage because Stephen is organized. I wasn’t born with that personality strong point, but I’m learning it.
What about you, what things are you grateful for right now?
10 Responses to “Gratitude Tuesday”
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June 17th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Hi Newspaper Girl, thanks so much for the link and for taking up the gratitude theme. It’s great to hear about all the things you are grateful for.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I am very grateful for my family my brothers who have aided me in getting through a divorce and my mother who encourages me to grow in new ways
June 17th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I think that’s your best post yet!
June 18th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Congrats Janet on your upcoming marriage and all the wonderful things that are happening in your life. Each day I take a minute or two and think of all I’m grateful for so here it goes (and I tend to repeat a lot of it daily):
I’m thankful for my life, my health, my husband,my family and friends, my rewarding job, my spunky cat and the roof over my head! Alright, that’s good for today!
June 18th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
I am grateful for SOOO many many things and thank God for that as well, but for the sake of this blog I will say that I am grateful that you are getting married and will have another major “cheerleader” in your hubby ! For your sake and mine ! LOL ! He sounds like what you need and a great guy ! Congrats again !
June 18th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Love the post, except for the part: “To me, nothing is real unless it gets out of our heads and into reality.”
A healthy society will have people chasing down false leads just to identify options. For every idea that we make real there should be a thousand left on the table.
It is very easy to squander wealth by making ideas real. For example, our country recently made the idea of invading Iraq real. We are stuck in a multi-year occupation because a small group of people realized that toppling Saddam Hussein would be a breeze. They pushed to make it real, and here we are.
The pressure to make ideas real can be a negative. This is especially true when people feel obliged to cut corners or pull tricks to make their idea real.
Wealth is best enhanced when people go through the deliberative process of having thousands of ideas and carefully selecting which ideas to follow.
My amendment to the post is that I am thankful for the wealth of ideas that afford us the opportunity to decide which ones to follow.
June 18th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
@Kevin,
I’m far too tired to get that philosophical (try moving twice, getting married, being a parent, and getting married all in 3 weeks time!).
I meant that if you appreciate someone or something and don’t say it out loud, it’s in your head. You don’t get the benefit. If it involves someone else, they don’t either. So make it real by saying it.
@Tawnie, Yes you can relax a little knowing that Stephen is my #1 fan and cheerleader. Thanks for years of cheering and support! You can still be my blog cheerleader though
Janet
June 19th, 2008 at 6:51 am
Grateful…well pleased at any rate…to have come across your site on Twitter.
June 22nd, 2008 at 2:04 am
interesting article. reflects your emtions on life very well. i’m grateful for having a very supportive family and loving boyfriend, together with a bunch of close friends whom i can count on
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:03 am
Good article. Thanks for sharing this inspiring story.