Apples. A good crunchy Fuji apple...add peanut butter and...
Free stuff. I was on the phone with MinDog the other day and I said, "I have to go pick up x, y, and z." MinDog said,"I have x, y, and z right here. You can come get it if you want." I definitely want!
Running into old friends unexpectedly. I ran into one of my favorite people yesterday. I randomly sat in a chair to get my stuff together, the elevator doors opened and she got off. What are the chances? She lives in a different state. I hadn't seen her in years. The closest we've come is facebook chat...real life is so much better. In that very brief encounter I got to reconnect and realize that it's time for me to evolve as an actor and try something new. I'm ready. Thanks KMB.
Inspiration...don't have to elaborate on this one. Do I?
Finding a print out of an old email message(2006). It's amazing what you will find when you most need it. A friend sent this email years ago and it was never as appropriate as it was this evening when I found it. Maybe you've read it before...read it again!
Just Say 'Thank You'
By Oprah Winfrey
By Oprah Winfrey
I live in the space of thankfulness -- and I have been rewarded a million times over for it. I started out giving thanks for small things, and the more thankful I became, the more my bounty increased.
That's because what you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it. Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life. "Say thank you!" Those words from my friend and mentor Maya Angelou turned my life around.
One day about ten years ago, I was sitting in my bathroom with the door closed and the toilet seat down, booing and ahooing on the phone so uncontrollably that I was incoherent.
"Stop it! Stop it right now and say thank you!" Maya chided. "But -- you don't understand," I sobbed.
To this day, I can't remember what it was that had me so far gone, which only proves the point Maya was trying to make. "I do understand," she told me. "I want to hear you say it now. Out loud."
"Thank you." Tentatively, I repeated it:
"Thank you -- but what am I saying thank you for?"
"You're saying thank you," Maya said, "because your faith is so strong that you don't doubt that whatever the problem, you'll get through it. you're saying thank you because you know that even in the eye of the storm, God has put a rainbow in the clouds.
You're saying thank you because you know there's no problem created that can compare to the Creator of all things. Say thank you!"
So I did -- and still do. Only now I do it every day. I kept a gratitude journal, as Sarah Ban Breathnach suggests in 'Simple Abundance', listing at least five things that I'm grateful for. My list includes small pleasures: the feel of Kentucky bluegrass under my feet (like damp silk); a walk in the woods with all nine of my dogs and my cocker spaniel Sophie trying to keep up; cooking fried green tomatoes with Stedman and eating them while they're hot; reading a good book and knowing another awaits.
My thank-you list also includes things too important to take for granted: an "okay" mammogram, friends who love me, 15 years at the same job (and loving it more than the first day I started), a chance to share my vision for a better life, staying centered, having financial security.
I won't kid you, having money for all the things I want is a blessing. But as I look back over my journals, which I've kept since I was 15 years old, 99 per cent of what brought me real joy had nothing to do with money. (it had a lot to do with food, however.)
It's not easy being grateful all the time. But it's when you feel least thankful that you are most in need of what gratitude can give you.
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Eight additional instant mood changers...a fresh eyebrow wax, a manicure, a pedicure, a fresh hairdo, a massage from Brandon Gill, time with friends/family, a good sermon and berries.
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