::Burning Question:: What Are You Thankful For?
"Gratitude" can sometimes seem like a cliched idea these days. It's Thanksgiving week and aren't we all giving thanks? The idea of gratitude is seen a lot in the world of peacemakers. Why is that? Well, because gratitude is powerful, and, the attitude of gratitude can change your life.
Try this: List 10 things you are grateful for here in this thread. Ten different things. Try it for a few days...try it for a week...Hey! Try it for 10 years.
The practice of scanning the mind for different things to be grateful for is a fabulous state shifter. "Victimhood" is nearly impossible when one is connected to gratitude...Imagine what would it be like to replace the habit of complaint with the habit of thankfulness?
So,....what are you thankful for?
Try this: List 10 things you are grateful for here in this thread. Ten different things. Try it for a few days...try it for a week...Hey! Try it for 10 years.
The practice of scanning the mind for different things to be grateful for is a fabulous state shifter. "Victimhood" is nearly impossible when one is connected to gratitude...Imagine what would it be like to replace the habit of complaint with the habit of thankfulness?
So,....what are you thankful for?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kristin Bodiford on -
My family - I am grateful for the joy my kids bring to my life and the love my husband shows me daily supporting me in all my crazy ways. I am grateful for my siblings and parents who demonstrate what it is like to have people that are there always - no matter what.
My health - I am grateful for having physical strength and well being.
Abundance - I am grateful that I have all that I need - always.
My friendships - I am grateful for all of the people that I can call to have fun and to explore life.
Interconnectedness - I am grateful that life shows me daily how interconnected we are.
Work that I enjoy - I am grateful I am able to do the work that I love.
Humor and pause - I am grateful that life shows me in so many ways the power of humor and the fun it brings to life.
Pause - I am grateful for the lesson I am learning in my life to pause and take moment to see what is right in front of my nose - thank you Sarah Susanka!
Growth - I am grateful for all of the opportunities to always grow and learn new things.
Kate - Love you Kate - I am grateful for how creative and persistent Kate is in bringing us together and supporting us.
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Permalink Reply by patricia kerr on -
Breath - it's there sustaining me and centering me.
Air - life on earth
Clothing - it's cold out there !!
Fire - keeping me warm, nourishing my soul
High Speed Internet - connecting me to folks all over the world.
Work - that there are useful things for me to do.
Non-violent Communication - what a liberating process and way to connect to all!
Money - the energy that flows through my life
Dance - letting go into the mystery
Teachers - all of them
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Permalink Reply by Kendall Jacobs on -
I am grateful for my new kitchen. We waited a long time for it!
Grateful my cousin, Catherine, who cooked an amazing meal in it last night (enough for leftovers today!).
Grateful for the holidays that bring folks like cousin Catherine home for 10 days.
Grateful for my husband who works very hard so all of us girls can stay home longer during the holidays and cook and eat and play and eat some more. Whew!
Grateful for my friend, Grace, who put little bugs in my ears which eventually brought me to this site and all it offers.
Grateful for music.
Grateful that gas prices have fallen (I just noticed this today!!)
Grateful for my daughters - so funny!
Grateful for coffee.
Grateful for this reminder to intentionally practice gratitude every day.
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Permalink Reply by Diane E. Baumer on -
Grateful for:
- my kitty, who loves me unconditionally and brings immeasurable joy to my life
- bookcrossing.com, which feeds my need for a caring community and love of reading, all at the same time
- the grad program at AUM - it has been an amazing experience so far!
- NVC - it is changing the way I relate to people and how I feel about myself
- the earth, and all of her creatures
- my family, with a special thanks for my dad who just died and who was very complex and didn't always get my gratitude, or my love
- the internet, for helping me connect to so many of my old friends and make lots of new ones
- Mandy Patinkin, without whose inspiration I never would have gotten to Auschwitz and whose music makes me joyful
- the experience at Auschwitz, which radically changed my life
- my friend, Becky, of 35 years
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Permalink Reply by Mary Mrugalski on -
- My bike ride at the lake this morning
- Our two year old neighbor who pushes open the door of our condo almost every day, visits for awhile, then blows kisses and says "love oo"
- Spiritual direction
- A son and daughter who each came into the world with amazing capacity for empathy and understanding
- Working from home
- Meeting people who love to buy "fair trade" from ten thousand villages where I volunteer
- The opportunity to pray with others who are trying to be their best selves or others who need support
- The morning sunshine warming my bedroom
- Morning coffee and oranges with my daughter as we share a blanket and sit at either ends of the couch
- Free time for contemplative prayer and meditation
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Permalink Reply by Fleet Maull on
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1) I'm thankful for my son in my life and incredibly grateful for his amazing recovery from a serious injury this year.
2) I'm profoundly blessed by and grateful for the amazing six years I enjoyed with my late life partner, Denise Thornton.
3 I'm grateful for my good health.
4) I'm thankful for my best friend Kate and the incredible person she is.
5) I'm incredibly grateful for the Dharma in my life, for my teachers and sangha brothers and sisters.
6) I'm forever grateful for the blessings and example of my root teacher, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
7) I'm blessed by my teachers, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche & Roshi Bernie Glassman
8) I'm blessed to have good work to do in the world.
9) I'm grateful to live in a place where there is relative peace and safety.
10) I'm grateful to visit places like Auschwitz and Rwanda and work for peace with my brothers and sisters there.
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Permalink Reply by hannah kinderlehrer on
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health
friends
dharma
love
children
safety
impermanence
hot apple cider
dance
sangha
life
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Permalink Reply by Michele Shoemaker on -
Sunlight, the bowl of warm rice I'm about to eat, flanelette sheets in winter, my mother, my partner, trees, becoming aware of the dharma, opportunites to wake up, my soft spot, birds
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Permalink Reply by Brittany Sanelli on -
i am thankful for children
i am thankful for my car
the food i dont grow that i get to eat
the sun
laughter
perspective
prayer
sleep
serotonin
music
movement
freedom
integration
my, and all of our ancestors
mama E
papa
rita sanelli
electricity
my voice
my fear
bliss
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Permalink Reply by Joel Carp on -
I am grateful for:
good health
loving and caring children
good food
good friends
a safe home
the dharma teachings and practice
blue sky
two strong legs
to be able to share this with you
a good night's sleep
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Permalink Reply by Kamulegeya David on -
I am grateful for the gift of life that I have that every morning I can wake up alive yet there are those who seek for the same but unavoidably they end up dead. in this case we need to be grateful for the tender mercies and the Love that God our Heavenly Father has for each one of us as his sons and daughters.
peace is yet another gift that am thankful of peace is not only the absence of war but it is a noble gift that each one of us need to enjoy. many people tend to loose their peace of conscience and a peace of mind and end up engaging themselves in dubious things. before you loose your peace of mind think twice and ask your self what would be the consequences.
David Kamulegeya
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