Daily Gratitude: This is probably one of the best pieces of advice one could ever read. All too often we walk around with the burdens of the past on our back. Perhaps that’s one reason back pain is so common nowadays. People are not only carrying the weight of the world on their backs, but they are also carrying the weight of their past as well. It’s like a modular backpack – you just keep adding modules to put more “stuff” in. And that stuff is our regrets, our hurts, our failures, losses and anything else we’ve experienced and accumulated over the years. Everyone talks about decluttering. It’s even a business endeavor now-teaching people how to declutter. But who talks about or teaches how to declutter your life. There are wise people who do equate the two and it would be smart to seek them out. Many times when you declutter your house, you end up feeling lighter and being happier and sometimes you can’t figure out why. The reverse happens too. When you’ve grown in some fashion AND recognize it, you may get a spurt of energy and find yourself cleaning and discarding. Do you really need all those bad memories or can you throw them out and replace them with good ones? Do you have to hold on to the regrets? Of course not. So why are you continuing to regret something? What does it do for you? Use the questioning method to begin to release all those old burdens you’re carrying around. Take them out of the backpack and examine them closely. Can you find the trashcan, lift its lid and deposit some of this old “stuff” inside, leaving it to be picked up with all the other trash this week?

Daily Gratitude: This is a pretty simple philosophy but an oh so powerful one. It’s also a goal toward which we all should aspire – every day. We are in a time when freedom is being threatened and maybe you feel as if there isn’t much you can do about it. But there is. Each day you can do what is within your scope and your power to let people know you care about their freedom and happiness. Maybe it’s leaving a bigger tip than usual. Maybe it’s giving money to someone on the street. Maybe it’s just smiling at a someone. How is that fostering freedom? Because if you’re smiling at someone it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to beat them up or rob them. You’re giving them a sense of belonging (to the human race) and that’s freedom in and of itself.

Daily Gratitude: Right now there’s so much in the world that we wish was different, but that we don’t have any control over. What a helpless feeling that is. And it’s a hopeless feeling also. But instead of floundering around, bemoaning the state or the world, we have to take some control of our thoughts and then our lives. If there is something you can do to help correct the situation, then by all means, take action. If not, then focus on what you can do. How can you make your little section of the world better? Who can you help? I think if each of us would ask ourselves this one question every single day and focus on the answer, we’d be happier and eventually the world would be a better place. But neither you nor I can “make” someone else focus on that question and answer. However, we can focus on doing it ourselves. Remember Mother Teresa talking about not being able to tend to the masses but able to tend to the one in front of her right then. That’s what you can do too. On the way home from my walk one day i went into Dunkin Donuts to get a drink. There was a woman on my side of the counter in a Dunkin outfit. She told me she’d be right back and would take care of me as soon as she could. I said ok. I really didn’t care. Another woman came over and took my order. The first one eventually came back, again apologizing for the delay. She was truly glad when I told her the other woman had taken care of me. She then explained that she’d had to use the restroom etc. she treated me like I was her only customer ever and my happiness would determine the success of her business (which is actually true if you look at it the right way). I felt special and all I wanted was some coffee. Do you think you could do that for or with someone today?