Stop Planning and Plotting

Today I am grateful for my friend Julie and our visit yesterday. I am also grateful for recovery friends who reach out to me and to whom I can reach out. 

Today's "Word for the Day" on www.gratefulness.org is:

"Gratitude is so close to the bone of life, pure and true, that it instantly stops the 

rational mind, and all its planning and plotting." 

(Regina Sara Ryan)

My rational mind is a busy place, but not always a productive place. There is a significant difference. 

Too much planning and plotting going on in there means less peace and pleasure in my hours and days.

Instantly stopping that overactive beast of a mind is indeed a good thing. Pure and true. That is what pausing in mindful gratitude in this moment is. Pure presence and true appreciation for right here, right now and the opportunity to live. 

My mind has a way of starting up the planning and plotting again, but a break from it, even a brief one, is effective in bringing peace and allowing the pleasure of the joy of life to seep in at least a little. It all helps. It all slows the train wreck I can become with too much planning and plotting.

I do have to say, though, that there can be good planning and plotting. My friend Julie and her husband Brad are good examples. They planned and plotted their retirements one year apart, leaving the school I work at in the last two years. We miss them in many ways. But to talk to Julie last evening and hear how they are enjoying retirement and their new pace of life makes me so happy for them. They are most deserving.

What sort of planning and plotting do you need to do less of today? Focus instead on positive planning and plotting, like how to fit gratitude practice in throughout the day.