Daily Gratitude: So this morning I discovered the perfect way to practice patience. And I have used this technique several times, just not with the intent of practicing patience. The customer service chat system is good for a) people like me who have an aversion to phone calls and b) keeping people far away from anyone they might harm. However, it is certainly not speedy or what I would call efficient. Type, wait, read, sigh, type, wait, read, swear, sigh, type…. I feel the various responses are meant to measure how much you really want a refund or return or just to vent. I’ve been tempted to just “suck it up” regarding a fee many times after waiting in the chat queue forever. It definitely pays to have another activity close by….but beware that you need to respond to the “person” in a certain time period. Proper preparation for this experience includes more than just having your order info ready. Clear your calendar, do some yoga, and many rounds of breathing exercises. Oh and don’t worry if you don’t know any deep breathing exercises because you’ll have plenty of time to look them up on YouTube while waiting.

Daily Gratitude: We can learn so much from trees. On my walks, I often stop and gaze at them. They have such wondrous patterns, as group as well as individually. I’ll see many trees leaning in one direction and you know that the wind normally comes through in the same direction and forcefully. The trees have adapted and their trunks have moved so that their bushy tops (branches and leaves) are not blown off. They are not feeling “self-conscious” and aren’t worried what other trees will think of them. They are surviving and in most cases thriving. Just like the trees, we have to be flexible and bend and sway when necessary. Often we try to keep straight upright and feel we’re not supposed to bend. Once we realize that bending and swaying is a sign of intelligence and strength, it becomes easier. How does this apply in your life?

Daily Gratitude: This is about courage as much as it is about every day life. We can choose to sit around and feel like (and act like) a victim wailing “what’s going to happen to me?” Or we can see that things appear to suck and then say “what action am I going to take?” Another quote I saw was by General Mattis – “Never think you are impotent. Choose how you respond.” You may not come up with an answer right away but if you put that question in your mind, you will come up with an answer- the action you’re going to take.