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Daily Gratitude

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Daily Gratitude: “We rise by lifting others”

Have you ever been feeling less than enthusiastic, just moseying along apathetically? Nothing excites you?

Then you see someone who has their hands full and they’re headed to a door. You rush up to open the door for them and they smile and thank you profusely. All you did was open a door. Yet you feel like you just won the lottery. Why? Because the act of giving and of helping others releases feel good chemicals in your brain (and body) and those chemicals totally change your mood.

Have you known someone whose life isn’t going really well right now and you’ve sat with them, just listening? They pour their heart out to you. When you leave did you ever think you’re an evil person because you feel better? You’re not evil. You feel better for the same reason we just talked about. You gave someone something. You gave yourself. You gave your time. And you don’t regret it. You know you helped them. You don’t have to give money or gifts to uplift someone. Just showing you care is enough. They will remember that moment and you forever. And your subconscious knows this. That’s why you can feel good in the face of other people’s troubles and not be a bad person.

One caveat that’s not in this quote. You cannot lift others up if you are so drained that there’s no strength left. You have to take care of yourself first before you take on others. Lift yourself up and then lift others. Put your own oxygen mask on before you put it on your kids.

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Daily Gratitude

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Daily Gratitude: “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.”

People always say I have a lot of perseverance because I kept applying to medical school. They sometimes say the same when I talk about walking 314 miles at Vol State.

Neither fits IF you use the first part of this quote.

But both fit using the second part.

All I knew was that I was destined to be a doctor. Also I knew how to do absolutely nothing else. So This is how it went.
• I’d apply to medical school
• I’d wait for results
• I’d get rejected
• I’d be extremely upset and depressed
• I’d go find more schools to apply to.
• The cycle would be repeated.

Each cycle was pretty simple. I found schools. Then I applied. Then I waited.

Eventually I found a school that would accept me and I got in.

It took a long time but each cycle (each race per this quote) was short and simple.

Let’s look at vol state.
• I’d decide what my 12 hour goal was (we check in every 12 hours)
• Often, depending on how I felt, I’d change that goal- to something shorter like “to the next guardrail” or “the next Dollar General or gas station”.
• I’d do that distance
• I’d pick another goal and go for that.

Only once in all the times I’ve done this race did I think “oh no, there’s still 300 miles to go”, or “I can’t do this for 9 more days”. That was a big mistake. And I quickly fought those thoughts.

It was just a bunch of short races one after the other.

If you break down any project into bits and pieces, and tackle them separately, anything can be accomplished.

Pick something that’s been bugging you and try this.

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Daily Gratitude

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Daily Gratitude: “The aim of life is self-development.”

Notice that this doesn’t say anything about being fully developed. It’s an “aim”, a goal. Of course we should always be trying to be better people. Part of that, though, is being happy with the process and not requiring that we become perfect in order to have some happiness.

I see this all the time. People are trying to learn, to figure out their lives and how to get better. But even when they are making progress they aren’t happy. Why? Because they haven’t reached their goal yet so they don’t think they deserve to feel happy.

Shhhh….here’s the secret they don’t know. There is no end in this goal. There is always room for more self-development. There’s only one perfect being and it’s no one you know.

I would suggest that the first aim or goal of self-development is to decide to be happy just because you’re trying to get better. There’s really no competition and no rules. So, by simply deciding you’re going to “work on yourself”, you’ve made great progress and should celebrate.

Once you decide you’re going to be happy where you are and in the present moment, the process of self-development is easier. There’s not much, if any, resistance because you are staying in the flow by being happy. Sure there’s more you want to discover but there’s plenty for you to revel in right now.

Don’t always be “wishing”. It gets you absolutely nowhere. Wishing without action is like affirmations without action. It’s disappointment and discouragement. If you wish for something, decide how important it is to you, make a plan to go for it and begin to take action.