Daily Gratitude: You hear people (including me) talk about finding your “why” and that’s a key point in figuring out what goals/ideas should be pursued. The “why” I’m talking about here, though, is when you’re up against difficulties. But instead of “why is this happening to me”, you can ask “why is this happening right now” this means that there is something about this moment that is important but it may be completely different from anything that’s going on at the moment (this has happened to me many times). So your next question should be “what”. There are many forms to “what”. “What am I supposed to be learning (and inevitably it’s something you should have learned before but didn’t)?” “What do I need to do?” Follow this what quickly by “How do I take care of this.” The point to all these questions is to get you off the “poor me” natural tendency and on to the action coupled with gratitude that you’re being given another chance to learn this lesson. As always, practice this on something simple.

Daily Gratitude: Amen to this! I can tell you from personal experience that I wish I as been taught this a long time ago. Most people I know never take the time to listen to what their bodies are trying to tell them. They never rest. They always have to be doing. Pleasing, achieving, reaching. How many more “-ing”s do you need. Instead of going going gone, it is better to be going going pause…going again. Have you ever asked yourself WHY? why you keep pushing so hard? What were your answers? I can feel my nervous system getting wound up just writing this. In the past I wouldn’t have given these sensations any notice. It took almost dying in 2017 to come to this realization. My body had been whispering, then talking, then texting, then calling…and when I didn’t listen, well then the screams came – all at once. It was as if the volcano finally erupted. And I wouldn’t want anyone to experience this. Just as I don’t want people to experience all the chronic pain that’s out there. Do you think it’s just a coincidence that people are endlessly driving their bodies and nervous system into the great abyss and they are coming out with chronic pain. Listen up. Your body is telling you something.

Daily Gratitude: This seems so simple doesn’t it? But in today’s world with all its distractions, it’s not so simple and it’s not that easy either. I find myself getting distracted by those “reels”, scrolling to see if the next one will be another husky video. Next thing I know, way too much time has passed. What if every morning we decided what the “main thing” was for today. And every morning we repeated this at least once an hour “I keep the main thing the main thing!” Are you willing to try this and see how it works for you? I have been all over the place lately, not getting much done and it’s created an unsettling feeling in me. Yesterday , though, I decided that as soon as it got light, I would start packing my car to go to the race AND when that was done I would work solely on my death doula homework so I could turn that in before I leave. Oh and I also had to finish reading the book for our book club. Yes that was three main things but I had determined I would start and finish then in sequence. If I hadn’t done that I would have jumped from one project to the other and maybe not have gotten any of them completed. It was amazing how this worked and has given me more motivation to do it again. Just an aside, if you can do this planning the night before, it will be even more effective since it will give your resting brain an opportunity to work on the plan while you’re asleep.