Daily Gratitude: You may not think what you do means anything. But it does. You may look at the big political mess right now and think “I’m just one person. What can I do?” Well there’s a few things.

You can make your voice heard strategically. Maybe not every day louder and louder. But when it will mean the most. You can take the time to figure out when that will be.

But don’t just think big. You can make a difference in the lives of other people. How? I don’t know specifically because I don’t know you. But I am positive there’s at least one person that you can positively influence. Maybe you don’t know that person yet either. Maybe you do. But if you decide you’re going to make a difference in someone’s life and put it out there into the universe, the opportunity WILL arise. You just have to be open to it.

What’s one unique thing you can do to make a difference? Oh and stop thinking so big. It’s often the very small things that make the biggest difference. One member of Team Terrie (I hope I get this right) wrote her husband little notes every day for at least a month for his birthday. He loved it. A note. That doesn’t take much. But the intent and love that went into it meant the world.

What can you do?

Daily Gratitude: This is kind of funny if you think about it. The conditions really always are impossible….or you wouldn’t even be thinking about it. You’d have already done whatever it is you’re trying to rationalize away.

Don’t wait til you lose weight to start interacting with others more. Don’t wait until you’re rich before you have fun. Don’t wait.

Find a way to do what you want to do now. Figure out what you’re meant to do, even if it’s just what you’re meant to do TODAY and not for the rest of the world. Maybe you’re meant to have coffee with someone who’s lonely and had a recent loss. That’s not curing cancer for the world but it’s being Thomas Edison in that person’s life. Your brought light into their life. And with that light came hope.

What are you meant to do today and who are you going to be Thomas Edison for today?

Daily Gratitude: We all need to follow this advice. Nature is the best model for patience. But as we know nature can also be savage and harsh. In other words “forceful”. There are times in our lives when we have to be forceful too. But most of the time patience and quietude provide the best payoffs.

Nature can appear “quick” though. I love to watch the flowers on my daily walks. One day there’s a bud and the next day it’s in full bloom and one day later it’s gone. It’s tempting to think that’s such a waste. But that flower fulfilled its purpose in the time it had – how many of us can say the same thing? The thing we tend to forget is the period of time where that flower is growing and being nurtured where we don’t see it. The song “The Rose” highlights that beautifully.

“When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed that with the sun’s love
In the spring becomes the rose”

Nurture the rose within you and then patience will appear.