As my vacation and I guess "hiatus" comes to an end soon here in Fargo, ND, I have learned a few lessons that at times were unexpected. I cannot begin to find the words that will ever describe what this time alone meant for me or the experiences I am taking home. However I can say that from now on my life will be forever changed and everything I do from now on will be too.
I am re-inspired by the events that have occurred!
I have a new found respect for my parents!
I have realized things about my sister and her magnificent boyfriend, things that I never knew about them; and in that aspect they have taught me a few things about myself and the kind of relationship I want with my husband.
I have a thirst for knowledge. One that I have never known before. It is something at this stage in my life that I am not questioning "why this is happening" or "Why now?" I just know that I must do it!
I truly believe that if we live our lives from a state of gratitude, from a state of being thankful for what we have at this current moment in our lives, unexplainable things will begin to unfold. This is something I personally have experienced. It is a state of being where we do not dwell on the things we don't have or the things that did not happen to us. It is being thankful and grateful for what we do have. Sounds "oh so simple" but something we will always have to work at and be conscious of.
I started a gratitude journal many years ago. Yes, Oprah herself is part of the reason I began it, but before I had hear this term, to me, it was just a journal I was writing in. The passages were nothing more than everyday junior high and high school drama and trials and woes of the average teenager. I certainly was not writing a New York Times Bestseller let's be honest about that. But one thing I did notice over the years of looking back on my entries was a lot of "bitching and complaining." I wrote some horrible things. Things that I now would never think were that big of a deal, all the while not realizing the tremendous things I possessed in my life; the people, the home I lived in with my family, the schools I attended, my health.
I stopped journaling for many years. It wasn't until I moved to Las Vegas that I began writing again. However, I was still bitching and complaining and cursing those that had done me wrong; plotting a way to get even, revenge. "What an awful person I had turned in too," I thought to myself. I also noticed I was complaining pretty much about the same stuff, nothing new or Earth shattering. How could I change this pattern. That will be answered in a future post, but until then.....
Fast forward to present day and time: Thursday May 10, 2012 2:14 a.m. in Fargo, ND (as I glance to the bottom of right screen on my laptop).
It is important for me to live in a state of gratitude and thankfulness in a world of much chaos and mess and drama and misplaced blame. So I will share just a few things that I am currently grateful and thankful for in my life, at this current moment in time. I hope that this will inspire you to share either with me or just simply with yourself in your own gratitude journal. These can be things that are major forces in your life or just simple everyday things as you will read.
I am Grateful/Thankful for:
- my husband who works tremendously hard for us
- the person who invented coffee
- my dad for buying me this laptop a year ago for school (the one I am currently typing on)
- my sister and her safe arrival to Greece
- the freedom to express my thoughts and publish them
- the girl who made my Starbucks coffee today
- my cousin Luther for giving me the biggest hug and saying "I'm proud of you."
- my grandmother for telling me I could become "the next Dior" (one of her favorite designers I found out).
The main thing I try to focus on is to never ever use a negative word or a pharse like "I hope" or "I did not get..." or "I wish I had..."
It is so easy for us to complain about things we do not have or the things we wished we had or the thing someone did to you. Let's really be honest, most of us do not want to hear about your problems or woes or the bullshit someone did to you or "that it's not my fault." However, this does not mean we should not care about mankind and our family and friends and that their feelings are not justified. Think of it in this term: Wouldn't you want to hear only the amazing things and positive experiences in our friends' and family's lives?
Try to live in a state of being grateful and thankful for what you have right now at this exact moment in your life. You will be surprised as to the events that will follow in your life!
Love, Light and Energy,
Justin
I am re-inspired by the events that have occurred!
I have a new found respect for my parents!
I have realized things about my sister and her magnificent boyfriend, things that I never knew about them; and in that aspect they have taught me a few things about myself and the kind of relationship I want with my husband.
I have a thirst for knowledge. One that I have never known before. It is something at this stage in my life that I am not questioning "why this is happening" or "Why now?" I just know that I must do it!
I truly believe that if we live our lives from a state of gratitude, from a state of being thankful for what we have at this current moment in our lives, unexplainable things will begin to unfold. This is something I personally have experienced. It is a state of being where we do not dwell on the things we don't have or the things that did not happen to us. It is being thankful and grateful for what we do have. Sounds "oh so simple" but something we will always have to work at and be conscious of.
I started a gratitude journal many years ago. Yes, Oprah herself is part of the reason I began it, but before I had hear this term, to me, it was just a journal I was writing in. The passages were nothing more than everyday junior high and high school drama and trials and woes of the average teenager. I certainly was not writing a New York Times Bestseller let's be honest about that. But one thing I did notice over the years of looking back on my entries was a lot of "bitching and complaining." I wrote some horrible things. Things that I now would never think were that big of a deal, all the while not realizing the tremendous things I possessed in my life; the people, the home I lived in with my family, the schools I attended, my health.
I stopped journaling for many years. It wasn't until I moved to Las Vegas that I began writing again. However, I was still bitching and complaining and cursing those that had done me wrong; plotting a way to get even, revenge. "What an awful person I had turned in too," I thought to myself. I also noticed I was complaining pretty much about the same stuff, nothing new or Earth shattering. How could I change this pattern. That will be answered in a future post, but until then.....
Fast forward to present day and time: Thursday May 10, 2012 2:14 a.m. in Fargo, ND (as I glance to the bottom of right screen on my laptop).
It is important for me to live in a state of gratitude and thankfulness in a world of much chaos and mess and drama and misplaced blame. So I will share just a few things that I am currently grateful and thankful for in my life, at this current moment in time. I hope that this will inspire you to share either with me or just simply with yourself in your own gratitude journal. These can be things that are major forces in your life or just simple everyday things as you will read.
I am Grateful/Thankful for:
- my husband who works tremendously hard for us
- the person who invented coffee
- my dad for buying me this laptop a year ago for school (the one I am currently typing on)
- my sister and her safe arrival to Greece
- the freedom to express my thoughts and publish them
- the girl who made my Starbucks coffee today
- my cousin Luther for giving me the biggest hug and saying "I'm proud of you."
- my grandmother for telling me I could become "the next Dior" (one of her favorite designers I found out).
The main thing I try to focus on is to never ever use a negative word or a pharse like "I hope" or "I did not get..." or "I wish I had..."
It is so easy for us to complain about things we do not have or the things we wished we had or the thing someone did to you. Let's really be honest, most of us do not want to hear about your problems or woes or the bullshit someone did to you or "that it's not my fault." However, this does not mean we should not care about mankind and our family and friends and that their feelings are not justified. Think of it in this term: Wouldn't you want to hear only the amazing things and positive experiences in our friends' and family's lives?
Try to live in a state of being grateful and thankful for what you have right now at this exact moment in your life. You will be surprised as to the events that will follow in your life!
Love, Light and Energy,
Justin
