Attitude of Gratitude – a whole month of Thanksgiving; Day 15

I almost forgot to post today! I have been caught up with my new smartphone! And, yes – it’s my FIRST smartphone. Baby’s all grown up… I celebrated by sending friends (who have tried to send me emjois over the years and failed continuously) a whole long chain of silly and meaningless emojis. It was pretty awesome. My roommate has been entertained all day by shouts of: “what?!?! These phones DO this?” or “This is CRAZY!!!” or “(insert un-yogaish language here) I don’t remember ANY of my passwords for these sites/apps. ARGGGHHH now I have to change them ALL!!”and then tons of questions… “but wait. HOW does it do that? Does doing THIS use data? If I were to want to do this… WHERE do I find that?”

It’s been a roller coaster, folks! And, let me tell you, the 21st century is NOT for sissies.

BUT gratitude still prevails:

  1. I am grateful for all the ways in which my new smartphone will make my life easier, more efficient, and full of silliness much easier to convey through images.
  2. I am grateful for how long I held off on my smartphone – As excited as I am, when I started working for myself, I had to set some serious boundaries about where, when, how much, etc. For example, my computer is not allowed in my bedroom anymore. I used to wake up in the morning and start ‘working’ but it would bleed into just scrolling through Facebook and before I knew it, half the day was done and I was still in bed and hadn’t REALLY gotten anything done. I would also stay up too late. Now that I have a phone that does these things – the rules are still the same. No screens or interneting in bed. It affects my sleep and productivity too much. Also, when being with friends I will still BE with them. This new technology is awesome, but it will require some awareness to make sure I’m still balancing my life in the ways that serve me best and I’m glad I got time without it to start to learn those lessons.
  3. My students tonight at yoga. Such willingness, such breath, such humor, such strength and grace. It always touches me, but tonight I felt it a little more deeply.

Attitude of Gratitude – a whole month of Thanksgiving; Day 14

Well, today was one of those days where everything seemed to take longer than it should have and I wasn’t able to really buckle down. I choose to not beat myself up over it. I DID work a lot during my ‘day-off’ yesterday… Today I am grateful for:

  1. The warm sun on my skin and a good conversation with a friend
  2. The ability to laugh when things get frustrating
  3. Jigsaw puzzles and groovy tunes

What are you grateful for?

Attitude of Gratitude – a whole month of Thanksgiving; Day 13

Today is my day off – so what did I do? I worked! Ha! I mean… oops… BUT I’m finding a steady rhythm and making sure I give myself play time – not only on my days off, but sometimes on my ‘work’ days, too. It’s all about balance… Today I am grateful for:

  1. No rush to get out of bed in the morning and a good book to keep me there for a few chapters longer.
  2. Getting better at prioritizing – I have a long to-do list (and when you’re self-employed, it’s a mix of work and adult needs), but I’ve been very successful recently at breaking it down daily into what NEEDS to be accomplished and about being more realistic about how much I can actually do so I feel more successful and can see progress being made.
  3. The opportunities to share yoga around and in different ways – so many exciting opportunities to teach different places and different ways coming up. It’s never dull and always different and I am always learning.

Now – it’s time to go play! I’m thinking jigsaw puzzle, yoga practice… maybe a craft project… but something without screens in front of my eyes!

Attitude of Gratitude – a whole month of Thanksgiving; Day 12

Today has been a day of moving gently through the world. I am grateful for:

  1. My yoga family – smiles, laughter, trust, and breath. We support each other and are supported by each other.
  2. A body that moves with strength and grace – it’s been a long time since I’ve danced regularly. Today, I took a friend’s expressive movement workshop and it felt GOOD to move my body in a creative way!
  3. The generous support of my parents – letting me walk my own path, but helping me out occasionally in small ways that add up to something bigger, so I can keep following my dreams.
  4. The bangin’ dinner I cooked tonight – so satisfying!

Attitude of Gratitude -a whole month of Thanksgiving; Day 11

(In place of a photo today: this song, an old favorite of mine) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntExC9aJ0iM

I got sucked down the wormhole of social media today – reading all kinds of articles/blogs about Paris and Beirut and terror and politics and humanism. And some times it’s hard for me to not judge the views that to me seem limited, overly simplistic, too black and white. Today, my practice was feeling compassion all of it. Start with compassion and eventually, figure out where my voice needs to land in it all. In the meantime, I choose to let me life be my voice – there is a place for the vocal activists to shout about the wrongs and speak up for those who have no voice, or lend their voices to those struggling to be heard. I have, so far in my life, never been very good in that role. I can only try and live a life that could be an example for a ‘life well lived’ – with compassion and love and hope that my example (and stumbles) can inspire and guide others.

I am grateful for:

  1. A ‘good’ yoga practice today – steady breath and a body that felt strong and graceful, even when it stumbled or fell out of a pose.
  2. My hands – recently I’ve been really looking at them and, as silly as it sounds, I really like them. They are beautiful, strong, and capable of manifesting awesome things and bringing touch and care to people in my life.
  3. Long phone chats with my parents (when it’s the right time). I am lucky to have parents who are interested in knowing me as a person and encourage me to share what I think about the world and are content to listen to me chatter on as I figure out what I think about things and who I am.
  4. And I’m grateful for better learning my boundaries and reading my own signals – when I am clearer about what I am up for and what time is the right time for me, my relationships are cleaner and my work more effective because I’m not dumping frustration on the tasks and people in front of me that has little to do with them and everything to do with me not giving myself what I need at any given moment.

What are you grateful for today?