Gratitude

Sometimes life is just plain hard. Sometimes it's bliss. Sometimes we feel stressed out, anxious, fear, and pain. And sometimes we feel joy, contentment, peace, and gratitude.

We all know that giving of ourselves to others, helping others, can really bring out feelings of gratitude and love. But this particular post is kind of an inward-focused blog post, what I've done inside myself and for myself that helps me feel gratitude. In turn, when I'm feeling this way, I'm much more able to reach out to others who might need a hand. And then it just continues.

In spite of all the garbage that happens in life, I really do feel so damn fortunate sometimes. When I look up and assess things instead of being weighed down by responsibilities or worries, I really am in a good place. But sometimes, I need reminders to myself to just look up and stop feeling stressed. So here are some things that help get me to that place of "looking up," which brings out the gratitude in my heart loud and clear.

First, some info about some resources that are kind of related to this blog post

In the past couple of weeks, I've attended two different seminars. The first seminar was taught by my friend Deb Jones Pope, who is a school counselor. Her seminar was titled "Changing Anxiety into Power that Works for You." She offered suggestions on how to "ground" yourself and how to be in the moment and how to cope. Below is a link to the recording of her class that I took with my phone (it's about an hour total):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXbCk3dTnkqySDC965ZjlW6L_Xzd724O8

The other seminar was taught by Joey Klein, and it was an introduction to a weekend seminar about managing emotions (I attended only the Friday night class). We practiced changing fear-based emotions into love-based emotions. I chose to practice changing anxiety into gratitude. It made me have tears in my eyes. Gratitude is my favorite emotion, so I need to practice it more. :-)  Here's a link to his web site and Facebook page:
http://conscioustransformation.com/
https://www.facebook.com/joeykleinfreedom/

The Color Purple - My Gratitude Go-To Songs

So far, my favorite musical of all time is "The Color Purple." I've seen it on Broadway in New York and in Salt Lake City and somewhere else (I can't remember!). There are many things that you can get out of that musical, but the main messages to me are strength and gratitude.

I won't rehash the story, but I want to share two songs with some of the lyrics. If I ever really need a "gratitude pick-me-up," these are two of my go-to songs.

"I'm Here" - sung by Jennifer Hudson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxu9rjei-Ss
Got my house
It still keeps the cold out
Got my chair
When my body can't hold out
Got my hands doin things like they s'post to
Showing my heart to the folks that I'm close to
I got my eyes though they don't see as far now
They see more 'bout how things really are now
And I'm thankful for each day that I'm given
Both the easy and the hard ones I'm livin'
But most of all
Yes I'm thankful for lovin' who I really am 

"The Color Purple" - sung by Jennifer Hudson and Cynthia Erivo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DiWTwC6Ek8

God is inside me and everyone else

That was or ever will be.

I came into this world with God

And when i finally looked inside, I found it,

Just as close as my breath is to me.

I don't think us feel old at all.

I think this is the youngest us ever felt.

My happy places

In the past few years, I've discovered that the places where I feel the most peace, gratitude, and connection to all things spiritual is in nature. It can be as simple as a walk in my neighborhood, or it can be a 6-mile hike in hot and humid weather, or it can be on a mountain trail, or it can be walking barefoot along a beach. I always carry my phone and take photos along the way. Recently, I've started using an app on my phone to create a quick movie of my hike or walk. It's simple, but it keeps me grounded, and it fills a need that I have to connect with something bigger than myself. It is healthy for my body, mind, and soul. Most of the time, I do these hikes and walks by myself, but sometimes a friend will come, or I'll join a group and do a "yoga hike" in which we combine hiking, yoga, and meditation. (I'll include some links to a few of my movies at the end of this post.)

Sometimes, I'll just take off in my car on a spontaneous day trip and explore and take photos with my phone or tablet. I feel like I need to live about 500 years more to do everything and see everything that I want to. :-)

What I've learned in my (very basic) yoga practice so far

For the past few months, I've attended a beginner yoga class every week or so, and it has given me some tools to deal with life's stresses. Some phrases that I've come to love are:
"Come to stillness"
"Notice your breath"
"Set your intention, or dedicate today's practice to someone or something"
"Do this if it's available to you"
"If you want to go further, do this"
"Give gratitude to yourself for showing up"
"Give gratitude to those who shared the space with you today"
"Give gratitude to your body for doing the things that it does"

When you spend 60 minutes investing in yourself like that, just being in the moment and setting your worries and to-do lists aside, it really helps you to manage everything better. I get so much benefit from those 60 minutes.

My family

As I've mentioned in previous blog posts, it was just my daughter and me for a long, long time. No husband, no other kids. But we sure made it work. I loved (and still do) being a mom. And then she got married and had children. Oh, those grandchildren. There is almost nothing more heartwarming than the grandchildren exclaiming, "Grandma's here!" when they come to my house, and then they run to me from across the room for hugs and kisses. I feel so much gratitude and love for them.

My friends

I'm learning to invest more in my friendships. For years, I didn't have the time to do this much. And neither did some of them because we were all still raising our kids in our different worlds. But now, even though many of us still have full-time jobs, we have the time and to nourish those friendships. I'm grateful for that. It's not bad to be an empty nester. :-)

Being kind to myself

I've mentioned this in a previous post as well, but I am learning and getting a lot better at being kind to myself. I tell myself that I'll thank myself later if I do this or do that. I'm getting better at making choices based on self-love instead of doing things begrudgingly because they take some effort. And then later, I really do thank myself for doing those little things, even something as silly as putting away laundry now instead of later, or something more lasting, such as going to the gym because it will extend my quality of life, and hopefully even extend my life. (Midlife crisis, anyone?!)

There are definitely hard days or hard hours in the day

Some days, the best I can do is to get through it day by day or even hour by hour. If there's junk going on at work that I can't control, I'm finally getting better at replacing anxiety with gratitude. At least for now, I've still got my job, and I'm still good at what I do, and I can still work from home. I've still got health insurance and a salary. Maybe I won't have all of that in a few weeks, or maybe there will be something better. But it's a waiting game, and for now, I just breathe through it when nothing else works.

Gratitude for others who show me strength and courage

Whether it's someone I know personally or someone that I hear about, I'm grateful to see others who handle their difficult challenges with grace, strength, and courage. And I want to emulate those kinds of people.

My heart aches for those in my circle that are currently having some really hard things. I can't list everyone here, but I'll mention a few. My aunt, who recently suffered a massive stroke and will be disabled for the rest of her life and living in a nursing home way before she had planned to. My young mom friend, who is in hospice and will be parting ways with her young family soon. My friends who have been diagnosed with various forms of cancer. There are many of them. Other friends and family who suffer from illnesses that you can't see, whether physical or mental. Others who have suffered tremendous loss of their loved ones, or their health, or being devastated financially. But in each case, they are all handling things with dignity and strength and even gratitude in spite of the hard stuff.

Gratitude leads to hope

Perhaps gratitude is my favorite emotion because it leads to hope. If we can face things with a grateful heart, our burdens can sometimes seem a little bit lighter. Not easy by any means, but lighter. And maybe that'll be a blog post for another day.

I'll end this post with a couple of memes that remind me to be grateful (and hopeful) in spite of dealing with hard things, and then I'll share links to a few of my most recent hikes.

A few of my recent hikes that reset my gratitude meter

Pennybacker Bridge - Austin:
https://www.magisto.com/video/YVkEY1QJCzJpWAZiCzE

Spicewood Canyon Trail - Colorado Bend State Park:
https://www.magisto.com/video/a1kSYVoHHTZuVEViCzE

Spicewood Springs Trail - Colorado Bend State Park:
https://www.magisto.com/video/LFkfakYNFW4tVBpiCzE

Yoga Hike at Pedernales Falls State Park:
https://www.magisto.com/video/LVADNEsZRysrDhFiCzE

Yoga Hike at River Place Trail, Little Fern Trail - Austin:
https://www.magisto.com/video/LwREMl9aGGEtBERiCzE