Habitual Gratitude

Today I am grateful for a sweatshirt and stocking cap to keep me warm in a brisk wind. I am also grateful that I have other recovering alcoholics in my life to help me remember this daily disease we share. One of the key lessons I learned as I began practicing gratitude is that it is very effective at displacing self-pity. And my level of self-pity needed a budging. It had run rampant in my mind for years and seemed to have taken up permanent residence. Negative and self-defeating thoughts far outnumbered uplifting and confident ones. Unhappy with the state of affairs my life was in. Feeling sorry for myself and my shortcomings, which I believed were many. Putting my "poor Lisa" spin on most things that happened to me. These all gave me a rather dim outlook on life and perception of myself. You get the idea. This key lesson has been a real zinger, but not one that came in fast and sharp. It has come in slowly over time, hitting the target right on center, repeatedly. Li...

Today I am grateful for my glasses and how they help me see better. I am also grateful for how pausing in prayer and reflection also helps me see more clearly.  What I don't have that I don't want. This is a source of gratitude not always considered.  We probably all spend some time wishing for things we want but don't have. But regular gratitude practice helps minimize how much time I spend wanting new stuff. If I fully appreciate what I have, I don't feel like I am missing out.  Sure, I would like a master bedroom with an attached bathroom. But I am grateful for the nice bedroom we have and the full bathroom just steps away. Come to think of it, I'm grateful for a spacious and stable roof over our heads, electricity, and running water. And my husband Darcy who I wake up next to each morning.  There's a flip side to this too. I can also be grateful to not have things I don't want. I am grateful I don't have chronic pain, money problems,...

Today I am grateful for my hearing and all of my senses. They help me partake of everything that is going on around me, and they give me reasons to pause and appreciate much. Yesterday afternoon my son Sam and I walked into a Tractor Supply Company store in a nearby community and were greeted by the chirping sound of baby chicks. While Sam tried on some new work boots, I was drawn to the familiar sound in the middle of the store. There were several batches of different chick breeds in small holding pens. I snapped a picture of this crew because they looked most like the ones I remember as a child. They are Leghorn pullets. Hearing their baby chirping sounds took me right back to my childhood. One of my favorite things each spring was when Dad would go to Decorah and pick up the latest batch of baby chicks. They traveled in special cardboard boxes with air holes and some bedding for their journey. Before their arrival, the brooder house was made ready. This was where th...

Today I am grateful for the connections I have the opportunity to make with the parents of students I work with. I am also grateful for safe travels for my husband Darcy this week and that he is back home. I am a runner. Four little words, but I sure have gotten a lot of mileage out of them. Pardon the pun. I am many things; daughter, sister, aunt, in-law, wife, mother, stepmother, grandma, counselor, friend, writer, recovering alcoholic, poet, listener, columnist, blogger, breast cancer patient. And I am a runner. Running, like writing, has been woven throughout my life. It was a healthy outlet when my drinking was not. It gave me confidence when little else did. It inspires my writing and clears my head like nothing else can. It is a wonderful passion and hobby to share with Darcy. We have shared many conversations over many miles. We have traversed new miles in distant cities and locales to cover 26.2 miles, finishing three marathons side by side. Running keeps me healthy ...

Today I am grateful for a moment to pause and gaze at the stars in the early morning sky. I am also grateful for the coffee mug I received from a friend and the kind message on it. The road of self-pity is one I used to travel regularly. It was a well-worn path, and the pathways it created in my brain led to many negative thoughts. They compound and multiply when fed. I had to create a new path, in my life and in my brain. I had to start feeding different thoughts. Now, I travel the road of gratitude. It is a smoother, clearer path, but includes obstacles as well. They can't be entirely avoided, nor should they be. Obstacles are often our best teachers. In my humanness, I sometimes detour from the road of gratitude. Thankfully, I usually don't get so far off the right track that I get lost. When I do stray, it's often just a day's walk back to gratitude road. I so appreciate the healthier perceptions of self and surrounding world that I find here. The road of s...

Today I am grateful for co-workers I trust and for my son Sam and his even-keeled nature. (Most of the time anyway. He is a moody teen at times too.) As I read through some of the early posts on "Habitual Gratitude," key words jump out at me. Simple action. That is all that is required to start gratitude practice. Merely pausing and thinking about two things you are grateful for in this moment is a good start. Writing them down and/or sharing them with others are other simple actions to deepen the gratefulness. Simple actions, complex rewards. A more sustained calm. A deeper clarity. Investment . Investment of time. Anything worth doing is worth the time I need to put in. Gratitude practice is worth doing and then some. It is an investment in the present that allows more peace with the past and more hope for the future. Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. I grew up Catholic, adhering to Lenten practices. These days, I look at it more as an opportunity to g...

Today I am grateful for the wisdom found in a group gathered together for a shared purpose. I am also grateful for my father and the life he had. I always think of Dad today, his birthday. He was a good man in so many ways and I am grateful I got to have him in my life for 33 years. He lives on in me and many others in a variety of ways. As I started to circle back to my earlier blog posts, the very first word in the title of my very first post grabbed my attention: welcome.  Welcome to Habitual Gratitude  is the post that started it all on March 27, 2012. Welcome is such a nice word, an inviting mindset. Welcome. Today, I welcome memories of my father. I welcome gratefulness in and push negativity out. I welcome the newness and opportunity of this day. I welcome chances to interact with others in positive and meaningful ways. Welcome. When I practice gratitude habitually, I welcome into my mind healthier thoughts and a better perception of myself and those around me. ...