Tag: lifestyle


Day 25: What are you grateful for?

Day 25: What are you grateful for?

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me in a Month of Thanksgiving, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 25: Some of the early contest entries from people sharing why they are grateful I assumed when I embarked on a Month…

Day 24: Giving thanks for simple pleasures

Day 24: Giving thanks for simple pleasures

    Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me in a Month of Thanksgiving, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 24: Giving thanks for the simple pleasures in life Many Thanksgiving dinners I’ve been part of have included everyone going…

Day 23: Share your gratitude and win prizes!

Day 23: Share your gratitude and win prizes!

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 23: Join me in the Month of Thanksgiving and you have three chances to win prizes With just a little more than a week between now and…

Day 22: Finding gratitude in grief

Day 22: Finding gratitude in grief

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 22: Finding gratitude while we grieve It’s been a sad weekend for us. On Friday, we put down our 18-year-old cat, suffering from advanced heart disease.  Then…

Day 20: The value of giving and receiving praise directly

Day 20: The value of giving and receiving praise directly

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 20: Why should you bother to say thank you to someone who’s made you grateful? All week I’ve been writing about not only feeling gratitude but expressing…

Day 18: Thank you for your thoughts on thank yous!

Day 18: Thank you for your thoughts on thank yous!

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 18: Clearly my mother wasn’t the only one brainwashing kids about thank you notes I love when a post gets people talking! Your input makes the conversation…

Day 17: Pay it forward

Day 17: Pay it forward

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 17: Give someone a gift that reminds you of your gratitude Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. ~William…

Day 16: Saying thank you in writing

Day 16: Saying thank you in writing

My mom was the thank you note enforcer. Writing them was non negotiable.
When I graduated from high school, Mom took custody of my graduation presents. Only after I had written a thank you note could I get possession of each gift.
So I admit to having a strong bias but I believe in the power of the thank you note — especially of the hand written and mailed variety.

Day 15: Doing the gratitude dance

Day 15: Doing the gratitude dance

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 15: How do you express your gratitude? The GratiDudes made this video below encouraging people to first make a daily list of the things you’re grateful for…

Day 14: A quick recap of Month of Thanksgiving so far

Day 14: A quick recap of Month of Thanksgiving so far

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 14: We’re about halfway through the Month of Thanksgiving. How are you doing? Sunday is a day of rest so I’ll take it a little easy on…

Day 13: What some others are saying about gratitude

Day 13: What some others are saying about gratitude

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day 13: Taking a look at what a few other sources say about gratitude I am hardly the first person to think of the idea of being more…

Day Six: Think about why you love what you love

Day Six: Think about why you love what you love

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day Six: Why do you love what you love? Let’s go back to the Love List Project for inspiration one more time, reflecting on what we love so…

Day Five: What do you love?

Day Five: What do you love?

Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas. Day Five: The Love List Project If you’re going to give thanks in a more meaningful way, I think it helps to reflect on what you’re thankful for. Earlier this…

Day Two: Starting a gratitude journal

Day Two: Starting a gratitude journal

Yesterday I introduced the idea of a Month of Thanksgiving, and invited you to spend a month focusing on gratitude. Robert Emmons at UC Davis is a gratitude researcher. Highlights of his research on gratitude and thanksgiving include: In an experimental comparison, those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better…

Launching a Month of Thanksgiving

Launching a Month of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one month from today, on Nov. 26. It’s a holiday when lots of people spend at least a little time giving thanks, though in my experience that often means generalized pre-meal prayers like “We’re grateful for family, friends, our health, this food. Please pass the stuffing and turn up the Lions game.” I’d like to do better than…

Everything's amazing and nobody's happy

Everything's amazing and nobody's happy

Many thanks to my coworker, Dave, for sharing this video with me. I now share it with you. It’s about four minutes that will make you laugh and, with luck, will leave you thinking that mostly you’ve got it pretty good. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOzNrO54xsY] Thanksgiving is in about a month — it’s Nov. 26, if you’re now thumbing for your calendar — and heading…

How loving a place can change your life

How loving a place can change your life

The following explanation might confuse you, but that’s OK. Stick with me anyway. My friend Carmen recently wrote a guest post on her friend Kristin’s blog, Halfway to Normal. Kristin launched something she calls the Love List Project, which is a wonderful idea: make a list of the things you love, consider why you love them, then share what you…

Do you want to write about something that inspires you?

Do you want to write about something that inspires you?

Have you ever read this blog and thought to yourself, “I could do that” or maybe even “I could do better?” Here’s your chance to prove it. I’m looking for guest bloggers. Every time someone makes an insightful point in the comments, it reminds me that everyone comes at this topic of living life intentionally with their own perspective and…

Paying attention to your body can pay off

Paying attention to your body can pay off

I started getting migraine headaches in high school. Actually, I was diagnosed with cluster headaches — a rare treat with the nickname “suicide headaches.” They get their name because they come in clusters. Once I got one headache, I could pretty well count on getting several more that week. If you know anything about migraines, which involve intense pain, nausea,…

Your comments make this a real conversation. Keep 'em coming!

Your comments make this a real conversation. Keep 'em coming!

A few recent blog posts got conversations started, though most of the insights were shared elsewhere. I’m bringing some of it back here to make sure you get to enjoy input from other readers. My post on the dancing baby video and why adults should follow the little ones’ example drew some comments on WordPress, plus several more on Facebook.…

Three kitchen purchases I thought were wasteful but I love

Three kitchen purchases I thought were wasteful but I love

While I do confess a weakness for costume jewelry and flashy shoes, I am, in my heart, a practical girl. Whenever I’m considering a significant purchase, I ponder “Do I really need this? Can I make do without it?” The answers were “No” and “Yes” for all three of these kitchen purchases we’ve made. But I stand behind all three.…