Gratitude Discussion Group

Posted by Debbra Williams, Alumna Mentor @debbraw, Nov 24, 2018

Hi everyone! Just before Thanksgiving @michellegraffradford posted a blog called Gratitude Changes Everything. She suggested three techniques to help incorporate gratitude into our daily lives:


  • Start the Day with Gratitude (before getting up think of three people you are grateful for)

  • Maintain a Gratitude Journal to record times when you are grateful

  • Count Blessings – not sheep! (Review the day and remember moments of gratitude)


Her blogpost was so inspiring that a lot of us decided we wanted to form a Gratitude Group to keep the attitude of gratitude going. The blogpost area is not an ideal space for a big discussion group so I am moving the discussion over here to the “Just Want to Talk” Group. Let’s use this space to share and discuss our Gratitude Journey. I’m going to suggest that we each try to take a minute from the day and post here what has made us feel thankful today. It can be as small as a stranger’s smile on the bus or as large as fulfilling a major life dream – or anywhere in between. We can also discuss how we are doing with the three techniques. Sometimes it is easier to form new habits with support from others.

Michelle's full blogpost is at the link below. You may want to review it or print it out to help get started!
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/page/living-with-mild-cognitive-impairment-mci/newsfeed/gratitude-changes-everything/

I look forward to hearing from others in the Gratitude Group and to having others join us here! Thanks to those who already shared great stories. If you haven't yet, what gratitude will you share today?!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Just Want to Talk Support Group.

@contentandwell

@jakedduck1 if you lived close to Hermosa Beach, where my son lived, I’d think you were the cookie thief!

The post office has gotten so slow recently that if I sent cookies they would probably be stale by the time they arrived. I mailed something to my son last Friday (not cookies) in Denver and they said it would probably not arrive by this weekend! That’s ridiculous.
JK

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@contentandwell
That is slow. You could have driven them out and stopped by to drop off some for me and been back home by now. If they are stale when your son gets them he can forward them to me.
Jake

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@jakedduck1

@contentandwell
That is slow. You could have driven them out and stopped by to drop off some for me and been back home by now. If they are stale when your son gets them he can forward them to me.
Jake

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@jakedduck1 No cookies in this package, I sent him his waterski gloves.
He’s so fitness conscious that he rarely eats sweets these days, plus his wife has made an incredible transformation from a non-cook to almost a gourmet cook!
JK

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@contentandwell

@jakedduck1 No cookies in this package, I sent him his waterski gloves.
He’s so fitness conscious that he rarely eats sweets these days, plus his wife has made an incredible transformation from a non-cook to almost a gourmet cook!
JK

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@contentandwell I ordered some slacks end of July not here yet

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@lioness

@contentandwell I ordered some slacks end of July not here yet

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@lioness. That’s crazy! I hope they come soon.
JK

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I have some good news to report..... for the first time since breaking my ankle 4 months ago, I was able to walk into Mayo to see my orthopedic surgeon for a followup appointment instead of using one of the hospital's wheelchairs. Not a perfect walk, but more of a hobble with some assist from my crutches. It was the first time I saw the parking ramp at St. Mary's instead of being dropped off at the door. Progress is slow and a lot of muscles are still on vacation, but I am getting steady progress in weight bearing, building strength and range of motion in physical therapy. The cause was a freak horse back riding accident when the horse I was riding was spooked by a loose dog while out trail riding. It's been a long and somewhat painful recovery, but that is going well and I am making good progress. Full recovery may take a year and I'm making small but solid improvements in learning how to walk again correctly.

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@jenniferhunter

I have some good news to report..... for the first time since breaking my ankle 4 months ago, I was able to walk into Mayo to see my orthopedic surgeon for a followup appointment instead of using one of the hospital's wheelchairs. Not a perfect walk, but more of a hobble with some assist from my crutches. It was the first time I saw the parking ramp at St. Mary's instead of being dropped off at the door. Progress is slow and a lot of muscles are still on vacation, but I am getting steady progress in weight bearing, building strength and range of motion in physical therapy. The cause was a freak horse back riding accident when the horse I was riding was spooked by a loose dog while out trail riding. It's been a long and somewhat painful recovery, but that is going well and I am making good progress. Full recovery may take a year and I'm making small but solid improvements in learning how to walk again correctly.

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Now that's gratitude worth celebrating @jenniferhunter. Congratulations for small but solid improvements.

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@colleenyoung

Now that's gratitude worth celebrating @jenniferhunter. Congratulations for small but solid improvements.

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Big congratulations that you are up and walking. Your physical therapy program and your equestrian spirit will help shorten your recovery progress. 🤞

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@helenfrances

Big congratulations that you are up and walking. Your physical therapy program and your equestrian spirit will help shorten your recovery progress. 🤞

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Bet you will be back in the saddle sooner than predicted and riding a gentle horse.

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@helenfrances

Bet you will be back in the saddle sooner than predicted and riding a gentle horse.

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I will write later and tell you about my close call when a neighbor’s horse that I was riding reared!🐎
This is how I felt: 🦥

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@helenfrances

Bet you will be back in the saddle sooner than predicted and riding a gentle horse.

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@helenfrances Ellen, yes you are right! I will be riding a gentle horse soon... my own older horse. He was not sound enough to go on a trail riding trip with the girls, so I borrowed a horse from one of them that had been a brood mare but she wasn't ridden much, and didn't have prior trail experience except for the training we did with her riding local trails this spring to get ready for the trip. My horse is broke to death and would not have spooked at a loose dog and the accident would not have happened. I had to ride in last place because the mare was kicking at other horses which put me in position for the dog to come up behind me. I never saw the dog and there was no barking... no more green horses for me. I can ride my horse on the farm where he lives a little bit. He's such a fun guy who will unzip my jacket to look for the bag of carrots that he previously saw me stuff in there. I laughed when he did that. He follows me around wherever I go even off lead in the arena and he comes when I call him from the pasture. If you go to page 26 of this discussion, there is a photo of my horse and my cats are on page 19.

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