Daily Gratitude: How much patience do you have right now? I bet it isn’t a lot. Times of stress seem to decrease the supply of patience we may have previously accrued. Acknowledging this fact is important, not just for your own understanding but also for those who are around you. What if you were to open up to those around you and tell them your patience tank is running on empty? Tell them that they shouldn’t take anything you say personally. Maybe even consider asking them for help. Maybe they could let you know when something you’ve done bothers them. That might allow you the time and examples you need in order to examine your inner self to see what’s missing and what’s needed. Enlist the help of others and it becomes a team project. That requires you to be vulnerable but it also allows you (and the others) to be part of the team. And whether we admit it or not, we all want to be on a team. Otherwise those childhood memories of being last to be picked to join the others wouldn’t be so painful. Opening up to others keeps you both alert and may help keep you from doing something stupid in the future. Build your patience muscles by allowing others inside. Scary huh? But it does help. A lot.

Daily Gratitude: I know a lot of people that have gratitude journals. And they even write in those journals. But I also see how they behave during the other 23 hours and 50 minutes. And sometimes I think they forget to see all the blessings that surround them- even in the midst of chaos and drama. Maybe a loved one is in the hospital – or maybe you, yourself needs medical care. Sure that’s upsetting but can you see how blessed you are that you or your loved one has access to such good care and services. Maybe they’re at the end of life and you’re sad, scared and even angry. Can you be grateful that there are pain meds so that they don’t have to suffer as much? Find the simple things. They are there if you just look beyond the immediate difficulty you’re experiencing. When they say “count your blessings”, maybe we should take that literally and instead of counting sheep or counting to ten, we could count our blessings.

Daily Gratitude: Everything you need and want really is inside yourself. Think back to when you were a child. Remember your dreams? What happened to or with those dreams? Were you the type of kid/person who let nothing stand in your way? If so, that’s what this quote is all about. When I was4, God told me I was going to be a doctor. After that, it was simply a part of my being. It was a sculpture being created. A bit here, a bit there. All the pieces eventually fell into place and I finally became a doctor. Then it needed polishing and life experience provided that. My “insides” are still working on finalizing that piece- because the dream to help people is still within. I’m not practicing as a doctor any longer and over the past 5 years (since retirement), the sculpture has needed some scrubbing and dusting but as long as it wasn’t buried in the rubble of a hoarding mind, it was able to shine again. Along came the opportunity to become a doula and help people in a different way. If you think there’s no dream or attainable desire within you, think again. Once you identify that desire and hold it firmly in your thoughts, crowding out the negative parts telling you it’s ridiculous, you are in the process of allowing your sculpture to shine – either again or for the first time. It’s up to you what you do now – let the dust read cumulate OR put it up on a pedestal for display. Which course of action are you going to take?