1. Brilliant splashes of color against a bright blue backdrop of sky
2. Eating soup in carved out rounds of bread 3. Hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks 4. Turning off the air conditioner 5. Pumpkin flavored foods 6. Opened windows and cool breezes 7. Going apple picking 8. Halloween decorations 9. Sweaters, boots, vests and jackets 10. Planning for Thanksgiving 11. Steaming bowls of chili 12. The sound of leaves crunching below your feet 13. The smell of firewood burning in the air 14. Blankets and throws keeping us toasty warm 15. Spying busy squirrels finding the perfect spots to bury their winter feasts 16. Football games and tailgating 17. The smell of apple pie baking in the oven 18. Children and dogs jumping in piles of raked leaves 19. Watching birds as they fly south in perfect V-formation 20. Crisp temperatures that make us feel even MORE alive and vibrant -Maureen Barberio Grace of Gratitude Contributor
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Thank you, Laura Derocher, for this true story!
I was recording gratitudes in my Grace of Gratitude Journal on an airplane. Suddenly, I felt an inner nudge to look up. Way ahead, standing near the front of the cabin, was a beautiful man of color, in his 60s, smartly dressed and wearing the most brilliant smile. I was fixated on his masculine beauty! I turned to my journal, tore out the page with the rainbow human image, and wrote this stranger a note of appreciation. I wrote that I sensed he was a kind, helpful being and that his smile had illuminated my day. But how to get him this note without him thinking I was crazy? I waited for Spirit to guide me. A few minutes later, the man was standing right next to me, waiting for his turn to use the lav! I smiled. He smiled. Without thinking, I handed him the folded note and said, “I wrote this for you. Put it in your pocket and read it later.” Puzzled, he held the note and said, “Are you the lady I helped earlier?” “No, I’m not. What happened?” “Well, this lady dropped her coat. I picked it up for her, but I hit my head hard as I arose!” he rubbed his head and smile-grimaced. “Oh, I’m sorry you hit your head. I’m sure the lady was very grateful for your kindness, though.” I don’t know if he ever read the note, but I loved how my angels nudged me to write it, appreciating him for his helpfulness and kindness. And how wonderful that I could turn to my Grace of Gratitude Journal for the perfect stationery to deliver the message. Laura Derocher, Queen Beacons Coaching and Empowerment Emboldening women to be beacons of love, leadership and possibility Thank you, Laura Derocher, for your powerful testimonial!
Recording my gratitudes has become a source of high vibes for me each day. I love to write in my journal in the morning sun. I’m always amazed that I can fill several pages in a single sitting! Another joy has been to re-read what I’ve written. It’s an enormous gratitude bath. If we and God are the growers of our garden called life, I believe gratitude is the BEST soil amendment we can add to the mix. It nurtures what we wish to grow and it kills the weeds at the same time. Thank you for the Grace of Gratitude Journal in which to express and stay aware of my gratitude. It fortifies and beautifies my life. Laura Derocher, Queen Beacons Coaching and Empowerment Emboldening women to be beacons of love, leadership and possibility The link was sent to me by this young woman’s mother who purchased the Grace of Gratitude Journal for her. Here is her testimonial: Gratitude Posted on July 14, 2014 by akamela under 2014, American Abroad, Gratitude, Journaling, Mindfulness, Peace Corps, Peace Corps Madagascar, Retrospection, Selfgrowth My Mom gave me a Gratitude journal as a going away gift. What a perfect gift for a challenging, rewarding journey ahead. We must always remember to count our blessings. For the past year, I have recorded my own gratitude into a 40-page compilation. I’d like to share my favorites. I am thankful for: 5/16/2013 (1st day at site) My Peace Corps fianakaviana (family) My headlamp, intuition, wit We are always where we’re supposed to be. 5/21 My Mom and Dad, who always guide and love me My ability to be, think A sense of belonging, purpose = worth => love 5/26 This journal for reminding me to say Thanks. 4/9 Ignoring mind’s pressure to ‘be productive’ Thank you Great Spirit, Angels watching over me <3 4/16 Time and space to reflect; like a vision quest 4/20 A week to heal I’m thankful for every day. For this opportunity to do Peace Corps and live abroad for two years. To grow and let go. I’m grateful for my community I live in for loving me for who I am. I’m thankful for the lessons of learning to embrace my complete self, flows ‘ all, and embrace failure at work. Giving up perfectionism. I’m blessed to learn and see so much at such a young age. Lastly, I’m Thankful for you for reading, and believing in me. You can buy your own Gratitude Journal at www.graceofgratitude.com. What a delightful and beautiful testimonial! Thank you so much to the person who sent it to me. “Spirit is forever taking form and forever deserting the form which it has taken….any form which is not of the original harmony is subject to change. Spirit is changeless reality. It is never bound by the form it takes, and is not affected by any apparent cause of condition, but is forever free.”
~Ernest Holmes I am so grateful for the changeless, the invisible and unseen that is always there, back of everything. This changeless reality is Love, is Peace, is Harmony, is Divine Right Order, and is to be counted on! It is always accessible to us when we pause or have a “timeout” and we go within. There, the changeless abides, there I find peace and bliss and serenity. I am deeply grateful for these qualities of Spirit, that are part of me, as my Divine Inheritance. The material world, in contrast, is always in a state of flux. Like Holmes said, it is constantly shifting and taking form, then deserting that form. It is so apparent in Nature – leaves shedding themselves from deciduous trees, caterpillars to cocoons to butterflies, the dramatic seasons, weather, and the death of sentient beings, though I know death is truly transitioning to another world we cannot see. Relationships shift and change, children grow up, people age and jobs start and end and people move to other places. As one of my students recently said, “We humans should be taught in school early on that life is all about change.” Then maybe we wouldn’t fight or struggle so much as divorce happens or illness comes or graduations happen. We would accept it better knowing how natural it truly is. I know as I have become more spiritually mature, it is easier for me to know that change can possibly hold promise, rather than be the end of something, and be a reason for grief or sadness. Still, I sometimes get stuck. Change can definitely knock me off center at times. Change that can rock my world to varying degrees includes my computer breaking down since it is a primary source of income and communication; realizing a break-up is necessary after so many years; watching someone I dearly love battle with a terminal illness and then leave this world; moving when it’s called for; losing jobs; estrangement with family; and the worst I can think of, suicide by a young family member. And there is change that is chosen to enhance one’s life — it is not always thrust upon us, thankfully. What holds me together when my stable world gets rocked by a seismic shift is the knowing and connecting to the Truth of me, to the Truth of all life, which is that we are eternal beings, and it helps to remember “This, too, shall pass” and guess what? It always does. It helps me to let my essence be an observer and know on deep levels that this life on earth is temporal – that I can be like a river and flow with the changes that will always be around the bend. Accepting, allowing, going with the flow. Letting myself meditate so I can feel that peace that passeth all understanding, the bubbling bliss, the serenity that IS there as I touch into my eternal being. It is the changeless dancing with change! It’s not always easy remembering this. Sometimes I sink into fear or despair over life’s transitory nature but then I do remember, and remembering brings solace and inner peace, and helps me meander down the river of Life, without fighting the current. To know all of this is wisdom which has come to me with the aging process, and I am in deep gratitude for all the changes in my own life which brought me here, to a greater understanding. “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is – Infinite.” William Blake Great gratitude for all the mystery of life. The unseen, the magic, the lavish abundance and creativity of Spirit!
I am deeply appreciative of the unseen in life, which truly makes up so much of this world, and the worlds upon worlds upon worlds that stretch into infinity. As I watch the new and wonderful TV series “Cosmos,” I am amazed to see worlds I never knew existed – there is a tiny universe in each cell! Within each cell, there are workers with a job to do, just like construction workers or worker ants or bees. And there are those minute particles and waves dancing, then disappearing, dancing, then disappearing, again part of the unseen pulse of life. And in larger realms, we find the exploding stars in space, the nebula, the planets nearby which perhaps once sustained life or do still sustain life that is not visible to humans. And in deep space mysteries abound past anything we can see or imagine. Worlds upon worlds, microcosms and macrocosms, worlds in dimensions we can’t see or touch, can only feel at times as we suspend disbelief and let the veil be lifted — to reveal energy and love and cosmic light beyond what our senses can define or understand. Truly life is a grand and wondrous mystery! And then there is the unseen on earth and in our hearts such as deep peace, well-being, connection, intuition, love, harmony, companionship, gratitude, compassion and telepathic communication to name just a few of the invisible forces that sustain us on deep levels. I believed in magic when young – I read so many books about magic and I was enthralled with this idea only to be informed by my parents and teachers and the “real world” that magic didn’t really exist. Yet, now I know it does in vaster ways than I ever could have imagined. Magic IS real and is alive throughout the universe! Life itself IS magic and deeply mysterious and so very grand, it is hard to even fathom. For this, I am deeply grateful. And I thank the new series “Cosmos” for showing me even more of the magic and wonder of the multiverse that we and our world are such pinpoints in. I hope that in my lifetime we are introduced to other beings in this vast multiverse, and I believe we will be. BOOK SIGNING – GRACE OF GRATITUDE JOURNAL
BY GRANTS PASS AUTHOR DEBORAH PERDUE AT THE MYSTIC EARTH IN ROSEBURG, OREGON Saturday, April 5th, 12:30pm GRACE OF GRATITUDE WORKSHOP to follow Saturday, April 5th, 1-2pm Feeling gratitude is a gateway to more contentment, well-being, joy and peace. Join Deborah to partake in a dose of these scrumptious feelings with some journaling, short meditation, sharing and a gratitude circle. Steeping our attention in gratitude, we unlock the fullness of life and leave embodying a deep sense of renewal. Love offering basis – suggested donation $10.00 Deborah Perdue, RScP is the author of the Grace of Gratitude Journal. She has been a licensed practitioner for the Centers for Spiritual Living since 2006. She teaches classes and workshops on the topics of gratitude, abundance and how to live a life of joy. She also publishes articles on inner peace and gratitude. It is her intention to continue to expand the powerful spiritual practice of gratitude in the world! 509 SE Jackson Street, Roseburg, Call (541) 229-8899 or (541) 862-7021 to reserve your space or for more info. Gratitude is in the air these days, more and more, as a spiritual practice to uplevel and uplift your life. Authors such as Deepak Chopra, Edwene Gaines, Neale Donald Walsch, Diane Harmony and many more extol the power of gratitude. After all, one cannot be depressed or angry while in a state of appreciation. A main way to practice gratitude is to write 5-10 things per day, small or big, that you are grateful for, in a Gratitude Journal. However, this article takes the idea of being grateful even farther, and suggests other ways to implement the transformative practice of gratefulness into your life. Pick and choose what works for you! 1. Blessing Others It can be very beneficial to simply send love and gratitude to other people in your life. This practice takes the focus away from yourself if you tend to be self-centered. Think of 5 people per day that you wish to send love and blessings to. Since we are all inter-connected, they will feel your silent message to them and be subconsciously uplifted. 2. Spiritual Time-outs, 5 times per day Stop work or whatever task you are involved in during your routine day and give yourself a moment of gratitude and appreciation. You can even bring to mind something you wrote down in your Gratitude Journal, or come up with something brand new. This will shift your day and is particularly good if something stressful has come up beforehand. Try it 5x a day for several weeks, and reap the results of more peace of mind. 3. Morning Spiritual Time Start by taking at least 5 minutes each morning, perhaps reading a daily spiritual guide , or some pages of a positive spiritual or self-help book you are interested in. If you feel comfortable, spend a few minutes meditating by getting comfortable and closing your eyes and just being still. This also might be a time to write your thoughts of thanksgiving in your journal. Pray if it feels right to you. You will be amazed at how this morning centering will start your day so much better. Add more time each day as you feel guided to. 4. Evening Spiritual Time Devote at least 5 minutes each night before you go to bed, contemplating your day, and thinking of things you are grateful for that happened. There is always something to remember that was a blessing to you. You will find you sleep better and more restfully as you continue this new practice in your life. 5. Blessing Everything That Happens It can be a challenge to embrace everything that happens, especially the seemingly “bad” in your life. But it can be a wonderful spiritual practice to realize that every single thing that happens to you, is an opportunity for you to grow as a spiritual being having a human experience. It can be tough, but if something upsetting happens, think about it and turn it around in your mind, to find the positive. For instance, if you get a flu bug and are sick as a dog, perhaps you really needed some down time and rest from the grind of day-to-day living. It is liberating to find the blessing in an unhappy event in your life! 6. Nurture Yourself Do things that show you really love yourself. Be in joy and have fun more often! Here are some ideas to pick and choose from, depending upon what YOU most like. Take a bubble bath in candlelight Make a sacred altar on your dresser or table with treasured keepsakes Spend 20 minutes in nature Play with a child or pet Instead of being so darn busy all the time, stop and do absolutely nothing! Listen to music that soothes your soul Go to the beach and walk barefoot in the sand Think of your own ways to pamper yourself 7. Make Positive Affirmations of Gratitude Find a thought of gratitude that feels right for something that is not as natural to you as it could be. For instance, “I am grateful for the abundance in my life” if you feel poor. You can expand on your affirmation of gratitude, using the present tense and words that resonate with you. Perhaps “I am in deep appreciation for the absolute abundance that pours forth in my life in every way.” Then, put your affirmation in places that you go to all the time, such as on the bathroom mirror, on the dashboard of your car, maybe use it as a screensaver on your computer, etc. As you keep affirming and believing this gratitude affirmation, it will come to fruition in your life. These seven steps will definitely enhance your life in delightful ways! Give them a try and you will find out. By Deborah Perdue, author of Grace of Gratitude Journal, www.graceofgratitude.com |
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