Daily Gratitude: Most of the time other people are better able to express things than I can. Today is one of them. This comes from Brian Johnson’s excellent book, Arete. “As Tal Ben-Shahar also tells us: "The word appreciate has two meanings. The first meaning is ‘to be thankful, the opposite of taking something for granted. The second meaning is ‘to increase in value’ (as money appreciates in the bank). Combined, these two meanings point to a truth that has been proved repeatedly in research on gratitude: when we appreciate the good in our lives, the good grows and we have more of it. The opposite, sadly, is also true: when we fail to appreciate the good—when we take the good in our lives for granted— the good depreciates."

Daily Gratitude: I chuckled as I made this one. How polite of Mother Teresa. But as usual she is right on. To take it a bit further you could actually consider the “lesson people” as blessings too. Ha ha. The next time you get aggravated by someone, remember this and ask yourself what lesson you are being taught. You know they say that what gets you upset in other people reflects issues you have that need work. I think I could have avoided all the hospitalizations in 2017 had I realized this point about lessons. Oh and also the control issue too. There were two primary people in my life who made my life a daily horror movie. I could do nothing about the issues. I should have just let it go since I had no control. That would have helped greatly. Then had I taken a look at the lessons I needed to learn, I think I could have not let things bother me as much. Then my inner volcano would not have had to erupt in physical illness. Learn from my example and help keep yourself from getting sick.

Daily Gratitude: This is a different way to look at “letting go”, not having to always be in control. Freedom in your mind is a great way to think about things you can’t control. Nowadays when I have something i am really excited about and might be somewhat difficult, I first calm myself down and then make a list – I put down every factor. Take a race for example. Things that impact success at a race include weather, sleep, nutrition and hydration, navigation perhaps, traffic, clothing, weight of your pack (if you need one), training and general fitness, injury or recovery, your thoughts, etc. You get the picture. There are a lot of factors. So the next thing I do is circle the things I can control. Of the lists I just gave you I can control: navigation (well other people can control that – for me um not so much), clothing, weight of my pack, my training, and my thoughts. The others are not always in my control. The narrowing of the list allows me a number of items to pay attention to. I can concentrate on those things and not worry about the weather or traffic etc. I didn’t add sleep to the list of things I can control because in my case the amount of sleep I can try to get is based on my times. Plus, just because I can lie down doesn’t mean i will sleep. Anyway, try to make these lists when you’re faced with challenges. I hope it will take some of the burden off you and maybe allow your mind some freedom.