Daily Gratitude: I just had to add this cartoon (and I’m sorry I don’t know who did it) because it’s perfect. Happiness is right now, not “when”. “When I get a new job”, “when I lose 10 pounds”, etc (I’m sure I’ve written about that before). What happened in the last hour that you’re happy about? I’m listening to music as I write this and that makes me happy. My air conditioner is working nicely and that makes me happy. I am retired and couldn’t ask for anything more. That makes me happy. If my pace was better maybe I’d be happier. Maybe not. And I don’t see that happening with my lungs but the fact I can walk makes me very happy no matter what my pace is. What is making you feel something right now? And then what are you feeling? You know you can change that feeling don’t you? You are in charge of how you react and respond to things. So decide to be happy and then decide to devote part of a minute every hour to finding something that is making you happy. Make yourself a happy jar and put something in the jar every time you think about being happy. Maybe it will be coins or maybe you can jot down the things you think of. Watch it fill up and that will also make you happy. See how easy it is.

Daily Gratitude: Things happen in bits and pieces as we’ve discussed before. However this quote shows that there are things happening that we don’t know anything about yet. Those consequences will show up so make sure they are the consequences you want. Don’t just give up because what you’re after or hoping for hasn’t shown up yet. Work as hard as you can on your goal or project so that when they do arrive they will be in alignment with the effort you’ve put in. Just put your head down and keep marching forward. As those who proclaim “don’t quit” will tell you – it’s often just after someone quits that the breakthrough lies. You don’t know where that point is so, if you have a definite “why” for your goal/project, keep going and eventually you will see the good consequences.

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Daily Gratitude: I’ve talked about courage several times. But I think the underlying message in this quote is- at least in my opinion- can add some hope for those who think they don’t have much courage. I think the best place for someone to start is to review their life and see what scared the heck out of them but that they ended up doing it anyway. I was terrified of flying. But then my grandfather died and I had to get first to NY from Vermont and then to Florida. I went. Why? Because of my grandmother. Had it been my grandmother that had died I would not have found the courage since my grandfather wasn’t totally alert and wouldn’t have known if I was there or not. I found the courage because my “why” (yes we’re back to that) was deeper and more important than my fear. In the grand scheme of things this is a tiny event. But it was big for me and showed courage even if it was just to me. That’s what I want you to look at. Was there a party you didn’t want to go to because you’re shy or didn’t know anyone? But you went anyway? That’s courage and I know that every one of you has something like that happening in your life at some point. Think about it and celebrate your courage. You can celebrate by yourself or with others. The important thing is to recognize it!!