Gratitude Discussion Group

@cjtimmerman - Wow! So happy you found us. First, welcome to Connect. It's a great group of people who are so supportive and caring - not to mention interesting. Glad you are here. Can you share more about what you do in your gratitude practice. I'm fairly new to it.

I have had one of those “accomplished nothing” days. I am grateful to be accepting of thus.
@debbraw I am hoping to get back into CBD oil the 1st of the year. It was a good thing for me.

Today I'm going with the "parade" theme. I am grateful that there are people who will go out in the rain to make a parade for a little town! I am posting a photo from our St. Augustine, FL parade. Look at the man in front. Obviously, he is struggling with his decision to participate - but he showed up. Good for him. Sometimes that's all we can do.

Having said that, @gingerw - I am so impressed that you were part of the Rose Bowl Parade. How exciting! I think anybody who is part of that is practically famous! Thanks for sharing that. And @jodeej - I LOVE that you made a snowman with your new friend who never saw snow. What a generous, childlike heart you must have. And I mean childlike in the best, magical, loving sense of the word. And finally, @hopeful33250 - Teresa, I am writing down your words "good enough." I used to have a boss who said "Don't let excellent become the enemy of good." Maybe it came from some famous person, I can't attribute it to anyone, but I had forgotten it and your words brought it back. I'm going to use that in my gratitude journey.

@debbraw On 1 Jan look for the Donate Life float, titled "Rhythm of the Heart", It Is Africa themed. Big native drums and colors. The theme of the parade this year is "Music of Life". I couldn't help but think about the art as healing posts we've had here on Connect. Since everything on the flats are natural materials, it is astounding how many thousands of hours are needed to complete the plans.
Bless those parade participants for donning plastic capes andcontinuig - that's dedication!
@parus @hopeful33250 - today you are good enough to be good enough to today. Remember that.
Ginger

@parus this was an energe day for me I baked bread pudding and biscuits now Im resting

@ginger when I see the float I,ll envision you putting all those flowers ,petals ,stems on everyone!

@debbraw it was such fun. It made me feel like a kid again. I hope to make one with my grandson this winter. 🙂

@debbraw For me, the first step was realizing that I needed more positivity in my life. I found an online Gratitude Circle (this could be another similar group) and started reading the posts of others. Many people post daily gratitudes... some in the morning, some at night. At first I was only posting if something significant had happened. Then I realized that despite my illness, I really did have a lot to be grateful for. Maybe my surgery went well... or I was grateful i had good medical insurance, or the ability to work from home, etc. One day, someone else said they were "committing" to a daily gratitude practice and that encouraged me to commit as well. Since then, I've tried to make a point of looking for things to be grateful for every day. Big or small, personal or public, there really are so many things in life to be grateful for. Most days i post gratitude online. Usually I post in the evening after I've been able to find things to be grateful for during the day. Every one begins with "I'm grateful for".... Some days it may seem hard to come up with something, so then I can be thankful for the basics... food, shelter, loved ones, pets, etc. I also bought a pretty box at a craft store and started to write gratitudes on small pieces of colored paper and putting them in the box. I haven't done it all year, but I will still look at them at year end to remember some of the good things from this year. I recently learned of another practice to help start the day better: When you first wake up, think of 5 people you are grateful for and slowly, one by one, express your gratitude and love for them, while slowly and deeply breathing. This is a much better way to start your day than worrying about things. I also found that being more in the moment and being present allowed me to see so many more things to be grateful for. I don't think there is a bad way to express gratitude.

I have days like plenty of times.i have osteoarthritis when pressure gets lowthey hurt

@rosegold I have OA too. I feel like a living, breathing barometer. I am grateful when the weather settles. @cjtimmerman I have been working on living more in the moment and it is not always easy even though it sounds thus. Gratitude comes in many shapes and sizes.