My Gratitude Journal

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As the New Year unfolds I am drawn once again to  Sarah Ban Breathnach’s book Simple Abundance and her thoughts on the ‘tapestry of contentment’. For those of you that have followed me over the years, you will recognize the following passage:

There are six principles that will act as guides as we make our inner journey over the next year. These are the six threads of abundant living which, when woven together, produce a tapestry of contentment that wraps us in inner peace, well-being, happiness, and a sense of security.

First there is gratitude. When we do a mental and spiritual inventory of all that we have, we realize that we are very rich indeed. Gratitude gives way to simplicity – the desire to clear out, pare down, and realize the essentials of what we need to live truly well. Simplicity brings with it order, both internally and externally. A sense of order in our life brings us harmony. Harmony provides us with the inner peace we need to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us each day, and beauty opens us to joy.

~ Sarah Ban Breathnach ~

God has given us all that we need to be happy and content. In Mark 9:23 Jesus says “Anything is possible if a person believes”.

How are you going to begin the weaving process of your tapestry?

For me it will be to daily acknowledge the many things I am grateful for.

My Gratitude Journal 2009

Today I am grateful for: DVR….that way we don’t have to watch all the commercials during the two hour live American Idol. God Bless America.

Today I am grateful for: WalMart’s Southwest Black Bean and White Corn Salsa…I’m off to sit on the big blue comfy couch with a bowl of it and some bite size tortilla chips. An excellent way to start Saturday evening wouldn’t you say?

Today I am grateful for: my husband. I would probably still be lost and unhappy if it weren’t for his love for me.

Today I am grateful….that my husband has a passion for fishing.

Today I am grateful: that I am keenly aware of what I value. This equips me to make better decisions for myself and my family.

Today I am grateful: for the opportunity and flexibility to homeschool Miss Sam.

Today I am grateful for: springtime in Florida. There is so much to appreciate before we head into our air conditioned homes and hibernate all summer.

Today I am grateful:

  • I am able to take that one day during the work week off to catch up with my life (today is that day)
  • That I have a passion for knowledge. This week the two books I bought were Lee Strobel’s The Case for Faith and Victoria Osteen’s Love Your Life. As soon as I hit the “Publish” key I will be heading to the thrift store to pick up an awesome bookcase I found there yesterday.
  • That we are able to afford groceries at today’s inflated prices.
  • Today I am grateful for: a bright sunny spring day that has my green thumb itching.
  • Today I am grateful for: income tax refunds.
  • Today I am grateful for: the freedom that my husband I have in our job situations to take tomorrow off to celebrate our ‘baby’s” fourteenth birthday!!!!!
  • Today I am grateful for: the new modem that Brighthouse installed last night so that our computers and digital phones have a flawless/uninterrupted connection. Hopefully my blog posts won’t disappear into cyberspace anymore.
  • Today I am grateful for: not having any appointments on the calendar for today.
  • Today I am grateful for: the beautiful spring like weather we have been having. It inspires me to go outside and continue cultivating my garden ‘happy spot’.
  • Today I am grateful for: a nice big backyard that is able to have many functions.
  • Today I am grateful for: the flexibility of my counseling job.
  • Today I am grateful for: having been a professor for five years. It means that I pretty much have my lectures under control with just a little tweaking to meet the needs of the current class demographics.
  • Today I am grateful for the opportunity to make my own choices. I choose to believe that I already possess all the inner wisdom, strength, and creativity needed to make my dreams come true.
  • Today I am grateful for: friends like Jana who take the time out of their busy schedules to help someone they have never met ‘get their ducks in a row’ and ‘quacking’.
  • Today I am grateful for: friends that love and care for me despite my shortcomings.
  • Today I am grateful for: rainy days that have no errands scheduled. We have a storm rolling in and Mr. John is going to pick up that can of carrots I need for tonight’s recipe so I can stay home today and sit out on that wonderful screened in porch and watch the rain fall and make a mudslide out of my backyard where the dogs have dog several holes to China or is that Australia?
  • Today I am grateful for: being able to go to the grocery store and being able to purchase what we need.
  • Today I am grateful for: My screened in patio (or lanai as we Floridians so pretentiously call it). Even though I have to vacuum it and wash it down with pine cleaner as the dirt and dust from the dog’s playing field (aka the backyard) seems to seep it’s way into every corner of it. That’s my task for this Saturday morning. It was on the schedule for yesterday but we played ‘hookey’ from school and chores and went book/game shopping instead (grin).
  • Today I am grateful for: a husband and daughter that honor my need to go to bed at 7:30 pm because I chose to be a ‘weekend warrior’ with housecleaning this weekend.
  • Today I am grateful for: McDonald’s new promotion – .59 cheeseburgers!!Yippee. They did this last summer and every Wednesday on my way home from teaching I would stop and get 10 (that’s the limit they set…durn) cheeseburgers…no pickle. This would be Miss Sam’s lunch for the rest of the week/weekend. I know…I know…what a good mommy I am. Of course the nutrition board of health will be knocking on my door once again as I head out to take full advantage of this promotion!
  • Today I am grateful for: the psychic capabilities of my mother-in-law. About a week ago she generously purchased a new toilet for our guest bathroom (which was working fine but a little on the old and worn out side). It is on order. How did she know that this week the toilet in that bathroom would not work anymore?????? I’m off to Lowe’s this afternoon with Mr. John to see if the new toilet has come in. Sharing one bathroom is no fun – especially with a teenage daughter.
  • Today I am grateful for: my counseling job. It helps me step outside my comfort zone and I learn something new about myself every day. I used to tell my own therapist ‘I’m tired of growing!!’ but yet as I grow I like myself more and more.
  • Today I am grateful for: time alone. Miss Sam has gone with her Aunt and Cousin to see Hotel for Dogs. And since it is much too cold to fish, Mr. John has done the next best thing: gone to a class to learn how to fish (grin).
  • Today I am grateful for: my mother-in-law paying not only for the toilet but also for the installation!!! It is the first time in our married life that the installation of a household appliance has been done professionally. We have always been fortunate to have family or friends offer to help but it was just so nice to not have to bother anyone because of our mechanical deficits when it comes to installing household products.
  • Today I am grateful for: the fact that Snickers is now sleeping through the night!!! DID YOU HEAR ME!!!! Yippee….and you can be assured that if Marbles could type he would be putting in his HOORAY also as Snickers will not go outside without him (grin).
  • Today I am grateful for: my husband meeting me at WalMart after he got off work to help me with the grocery shopping. We used to do this all the time when we were a military family and shopping at the commissary and I am so thankful that some things never change.
  • Today I am grateful for: did I mention warm weather????????
  • Today I am grateful for: having a flexible schedule. I had to reschedule my Thursday clients to Monday and Tuesday because of Miss Sam getting her braces off on Thursday (did I mention that awesome event????). However, I came down with the sniffles and a sore throat yesterday – which has me switching today’s clients to tomorrow. Hopefully just hanging out in my photo studio (aka office) will allow me to rest up. That and drinking a gallon of orange juice and gargling every hour with salt water will hopefully get me on the road to recovery by tomorrow.
  • Today I am grateful: That we don’t have any Jack in the Box restaurants around these parts as people won’t be losing their jobs to faceless voices.
  • Today I am grateful: that I misunderstood at Miss Sam’s last orthodontist appointment about having to pay $160 for her retainer. Yesterday we learned that it was all included.
  • Today I am grateful for: being able to take a nap in the afternoon. I have a cold (it’s this dang crazy weather we are having here….8o degrees one day……27 degrees the next) and I spent last night on the couch sleeping (or trying to) sitting up (my nose was stopped up and I was out of Breathe Right strips…you can bet I stocked up today..and the only way it would stay semi-unstopped was by either walking around the house or sitting up). Anyway, needless to say I did not get much sleep last night but the nap was awesome.
  • Today I am grateful for: the rain. It will keep me inside working on what I love …. my photography.
  • Today I am grateful: that I am still recovering from this nasty cold that left me without a voice. It made for an excellent reason for canceling my counseling appointments for today. After all, how can I effectively counsel if I can’t talk?????
  • Today I am grateful for: my sense of humor. It’s quirky but it’s uniquely mine.
  • Today I am grateful for: my voice. It’s not back to full capacity and I still have to baby it….but I can at least communicate more effectively than I have been for the past two weeks.
  • Today I am grateful for: some much needed downtime to take what is brewing inside my head and bring chaos into my studio and maybe I might get to those dishes.
  • Today I am grateful for: the Swiffer company. I know, I know, I can hear you yawning as I once again rave about their products. But honestly, I was able to mop all three tile floors in my home and dust my ENTIRE home in under an hour…..now is that not something to be grateful for??????? God Bless Swiffer!
  • Today I am grateful for: Turbo Tax. We have used them for several years now and are completely satisfied with how painless they make filing taxes.
  • Today I am grateful for: my jobs. With so many individuals losing theirs I am grateful that I still have an income.
  • Today I am grateful for: that my husband never complains about all the books that I accumulate to feed my addiction.
  • Today I am grateful for: that the robins are back!!! They make such a beautiful racket as they land and cover every inch of our front yard. I hope to be quick enough this week to capture a photo of them.
  • Today I am grateful: that my computer is not totally toast and that we have Miss Sam’s. I am also grateful for all my blogging friends that stopped by and provided some much appreciated support as I navigate these mere bumps in the road.
  • Today I am grateful for: my hairdresser!!! She is such a kindred spirit. When I walked into her salon today it was merely for my usual color and trim. However, staying true to some of the lessons I am learning while weaving my tapestry….I decided to take a risk today and explore my own personal sense of style. I didn’t get a trim….I got a cut. I didn’t get color…I got color and ‘peek-a-boo’ mahogany highlights. It was so much fun!!!