Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Thank You Followers!

Tags

Blessings, Blogging, Content, Grateful, Gratitude, New Followers, Ramblings, Thank you

Today’s edition thanks you, my followers. I really appreciate all of you who follow Daily Ramblings and hope to continue to provide great content in the years to come. Like all blogs, evolution is continual. We find a topic we enjoy writing about and our followers result because of the content we are discussing.

I really appreciate the comments you provide. I also appreciate you spending time reading my postings. I try to keep these postings brief out of respect for your time, but will hit pockets that spur me to write much longer postings.

Blogging has been freeing. It allows me to write daily and contribute to this forum. It also allows me to record my thoughts and feelings daily, which fluctuate over the days and months that precede a posting. Sometimes my posts are impacted by the news, a holiday, or an event in my life that is meaningful. At other times, I just write and the topic develops itself.

I hope all of you are having a terrific week! We are enjoying some rain today. It is really relaxing to look at the rain from my office chair and relish that I’m inside, warm and cozy. In my Army days, you couldn’t escape the weather. It always seemed like whenever we went to the field, the weather turned sour. In reality, the weather didn’t change at all. You don’t notice the weather until you are in it and have no means of escaping it.

Yesterday, I fired up my grill for the first time this year. I enjoy a good steak fresh off the grill. Today, I’ll be pan frying my food, as the rain won’t allow me to grill today. For those of you who have the opportunity to grill today, enjoy! The food tastes so good on the grill.

Well, that’s it for today, folks! Have a great Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Vacation

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family, Grateful, Happy, Little Moments, Relaxed, Thankful, vacation

Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay 

It’s always nice to visit my sister in Plymouth, MI. I arrived last night. We caught up, watched a movie, and had some good food. It’s nice to hang out with her. Today is a relaxed day. Sis is working on her upcoming online business and I am working through my daily list of to-dos.

Today, I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for God. I am thankful for my health. I am thankful for my ability to learn new things. I am thankful for my ability to contemplate and plan. I am thankful for my friends and colleagues. I am thankful for our pets. I am grateful for my wife and stepdaughters. I am grateful for the little moments.

Our lives are composed of a string of moments. Moments where we feel something profound. That moment we blow out the candles on our birthday cake. A moment when we kiss someone for the first time. A moment of cuddling with a glass of wine and some cheese, with romantic music playing in the background. The moment you get a promotion. The moment you enjoy the quiet while you read a good book. We store these moments, like photos in an album, or pieces of newspaper clippings in a scrapbook. It’s these little moments that comprise our lives and what we remember when we reminisce about the great moments in our lives.

I don’t remember a lot about my childhood, but I remember the important moments that were meaningful. I moment when I was in the back of the family car waiting for my Dad to get off work. It was my birthday, and I was so happy and loved that I hugged my Mom from the back seat and cried because I was so happy in that moment. It was a moment that still affects me today. I remember these moments because the meaningful ones, filled with emotion, are the ones we hang on to. We never forget them.

While on vacation I neglect most of my to-dos to get a breather. I enjoy taking time off from my day-to-day things and just watch shows or play games or read. It is a nice respite from my daily routines. It keeps things fresh. I’ll be on vacation until Saturday and then I’m back to it. I hope all of you are having a great week. If you haven’t done this before, take a few moments and think about what you are grateful for in your life. It is a nice exercise that puts things into perspective.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Counting Our Blessings

Tags

Bible, Calm, God, Grateful, Gratitude, Little Things, Peace, Serene, Thankful, Warmth

Image by Miesha Moriniere from Pixabay 

“When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” — Willie Nelson

Expressing thanks for our blessings in life is a life-changing habit. It focuses our attention on what is good, rather than bad. When I first kept a gratitude journal, I started with the 5-minute journal. The 5-minute journal has you write 3 things you are grateful for when you wake up and again in the evening before you retire. At first I had to work at it, because I was so engrained with seeking what wasn’t working in my life.

Over the years it became easier to think about all the things I am grateful for and that has made all the difference. Now my gratitude spans multiple areas of my life. Imagine the difference this practice will have on you. Instead of waking up in the morning and saying to yourself, “Oh, God. I have this to do today and that to do today and I don’t like this and I don’t like that.” That was how my day began for years. Now, I start my day out with good music and journaling. I start with my dream journal, then I move to my gratitude journal, and then my morning pages. After my journaling is complete, I move right into writing for Daily Ramblings in a fantastic mood and ready to take on the world.

The key for me is to write and write and write until I get in that mood where I am grateful and not just going through the motions, which is easy to do. Here are some suggestions to help you out:

• I am grateful for God
• I am grateful for my Bible
• I am grateful for my life
• I am grateful for my Mom and Dad
• I am grateful for our pet (insert the name for a pet)
• I am grateful for my job and work mates
• I am grateful for my home
• I am grateful for my bed
• I am grateful for my Brothers and Sisters
• I am grateful for my friends
• I am grateful for my talents (list out each one or one helpful in your life)
• I am grateful for my ability to (read, write, learn, whatever)
• I am grateful for my health
• I am grateful for my experiences
• I am grateful for my wife
• I am grateful for my son
• I am grateful for my daughter

These are just a few prompts. Your gratitude journal will be unique to you. I literally keep writing what I am thankful for until I get a familiar feeling of satisfaction and peace, both of which come when you have found that state of gratefulness that always come when the mind focuses on what’s right, rather than what’s wrong. Gratitude feels like peace, calm, and warmth. It feels like a warm blanket.

If you are tired of being pissed off, stressed out, and all the rest, try starting your own gratitude journal. It will make a huge difference in your life.

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – It’s Great to Learn New Things

Tags

Coursera, family, God, Learning, Life, Reading, Udemy, Writing

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Today I am grateful for the ability to read, write, and learn. Think about some people on the planet that are illiterate or have suffered from a traumatic brain injury or a learning disability that precludes them from learning the same way you and I learn. My wife is a special education teacher, and she works with these kids every day.

I am grateful for my interest in learning new things. I truly enjoy learning something I didn’t know yesterday. I enjoy taking a trip with an author and walking through the mental libraries they have created in their books. “Look here”, they say. “Look there. This is really important.” I am also grateful for the free repositories of books online and my local library. So many books to read and so little time.

Online learning is also a terrific thing. Think about it. You can learn a great deal by reading other people’s blogs, reading books, and attending classes and webinars, most of which are absolutely free. Why learn you ask? It adds to you. It provides you with skills that you can continue to earn a living with. It gives you a wide berth of experiences through other’s eyes that you may not have the ability to do on your own.

I recently read a book about finding out what you love to do. Think about how many people are in jobs they hate. Can you imagine going to a job that stressed you out and made you unhappy? We all have to make a living one way or another. People who are trapped in a job they hate is a really bad place to be in. Yet, many do not take advantage of the learning opportunities that are available to them. I am grateful that I am not one of these people.

I am always looking to improve. I want to improve my physical body; I want to improve my spiritual practice; I want to improve my skill set, and I want to build my knowledge. I am grateful I have that drive to do these things, day in and day out. Recently, I started listening to albums on Spotify, starting with various jazz artists. I also enjoy the classics, but wanted to start with Jazz. I listened to albums by Miles Davis and Bill Brubeck. Wow! What a treat. I am going to listen to Dizzy Gillespie next. It will be a nice treat. When I listen I put in my earphones, close my eyes, and picture myself in some speakeasy, listening and watching the band and the people there. It is terrific how music takes you places when it is really good.

I hope each of you can find things in your lives you are grateful for. It is a great feeling to sit back and think about all the things that contribute to your life and how nice it is to have them. Gratitude for God, for family, for your life, with all of its difficulties, and the rich experiences each of our lives contain, if we only look and appreciate them. Life is too short to be pissed off or afraid all the time. Take some time each day to express your gratitude for even the smallest thing. It will change the way you engage with the world and interestingly, when you have cultivated the gratitude habit, the world will give you more things to be grateful for.

Life is grand.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday

Tags

Bible, Blog Schedule, family, Friends, God, New Followers, technology, Thank you

Thank you! It was nice to see some new followers this week. I really appreciate folks who take a chance on spending some time with my blog. I try to mix things up from time-to-time, but tend to stick with a pretty static schedule. Here it is for those of you who are new:

• Motivation Monday
• Ted Talk Tuesday
• Wisdom Wednesday
• Thankful Thursday/Thinking Thursday
• Funny Friday
• Spiritual Saturday
• Series/Story/Sunday (Once in a while)

Bonus content can be any day of the week, when I am inspired to write about something other than the above-scheduled topics

I also post my Workout Routines, when I do one. These are pretty boring, but if anyone needs good ideas for working out, a diet they can try, or any other information I believe will help someone start or continue an exercise program, it will be on these posts.

Today, I am grateful for technology. It is so nice to be able to get 100% of my work done on a laptop, anywhere I want. Sometimes I’ll be posting from my favorite coffee shop, a restaurant, or even the beach. Today, I’m working in my living room. The weather in Michigan is quite rainy and cold, so going outside is not realistic at this point.

I also enjoy technology because I can listen to music wherever I am and take online courses with the same flexibility. It truly is a blessing to be able to find a course to learn about something I want to know about and have access to universities across the globe to get at that information.

I am grateful for the ability to communicate with the world through this blog and other mediums. It is awesome. Some folks make good money running their blog. I run mine as a way to express myself and use this as a means of communicating my thoughts on a whole host of topics. It is a lot of fun!

I am also grateful for social media. I don’t spend a lot of time in these areas because they tend to eat up a lot of time if you let them, but it is really nice to interact with people all over the world–instantly. I think the more we can interact in these areas, the more closely we will come together as a planet. At least that’s my hope. There are some websites, like Twitter, which are an absolute war zone politically.

Finally, I am grateful for WordPress. WordPress makes things so easy and being able to run a blog for free is really nice. At some point, I’ll move to a paid sight, but that’s a bit off in the future, once I’ve achieved a higher follower count. I’m still tweaking my message and learning about blogging so I can build up a following that will provide me a larger platform. I have a great deal to say and enjoy the infrequent interactions with my followers.

Well, that’s what I’m grateful for this week. As always, I am grateful for my family, my friends, God, my Bible, my health, and our pets. It is a real privilege to be alive and have the opportunity to experience everything life has to offer. I wish all of you a terrific Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday

Tags

Easter weekend, family, Family get together, Friends, Grateful, Gratitude, Thank you, Thankful Thursday

First, thank you to all of my new followers this week! I really enjoy new followers and always interested in what attracts new followers to my blog. For those of you who are new, here’s my posting schedule:

 

• Motivation Monday
• Ted Talk Tuesday
• Wisdom Wednesday
• Thankful Thursday
• Funny Friday
• Spiritual Saturday
• Series Sunday (infrequent)
• Workout Routine on days I workout (pretty much every day)

Today, I’m thankful for my family, my health, and my friends. I really enjoy hanging out with friends and family. This last weekend for Easter, my sister came over. It was great fun, going out to eat, hanging out, and watching some shows.

I hope all of you had a terrific time over the Easter weekend.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Heroes

Tags

Grateful, Gratitude, Heroes, Masters Tournament, Thankful, Tiger Woods, Video

“The joy I get from winning a major championship doesn’t even compare to the feeling I get when a kid writes a letter saying: ‘Thank you so much. You have changed my life.” – Tiger Woods

Read more at: Brainy Quote

Viral Video – Tiger Woods

If you’re a golf fan or just curious about Tiger Woods’ recent comeback at the Master’s golf tournament, this article (link above to a USA today article) is worth a read. The embedded video in this article is worth a watch too. It is a collection of videos trashing Tiger Woods as he watches. Sports heroes like Tiger Woods is what I am thankful for this week.

There are so many examples of wrongdoing in this world. Open the paper any day of the week and you are bombarded with mothers killing their children, crazed teens contemplating shooting up their school, corrupt politicians bashing each other for wrong doing, natural disasters and other horrors for our daily ingestion. Negativity sells. Our heroes take us away from the horrific, showing us time and time again that the impossible is possible.

When I was growing up, one of my heroes was Bjorn Borg. I played tennis as a young man and became captivated with the exploits of Bjorn Borg, watching him dazzle crowds across the globe as he won one grand slam after another. Our heroes beat the odds. Our heroes overcome diversity. Our heroes can do things that are difficult and make them look easy. I still remember watching Bjorn Borg in a Wimbledon final on a Sunday morning and being locked to the television screen.

I am thankful for the example our heroes set. They show us how hard work pays off. They show us how persistence wins the day. They show us that despite human weaknesses, they can overcome any obstacle and win. They also show us that the important things in life are still the little things. A letter from a fan, their family watching them win a tournament, the small human interactions that are meaningful in our lives.

Who are your heroes?

I would like to close out today’s posting with a “Thank you” to all my new followers this week. It is a real joy to check on my blog and see new followers. It is an acknowledgment that someone enjoys my writing and follows along with my postings. It is a joy to interact with people in this medium. Without followers my blog would be less enjoyable. Thank you for your patronage and time.

We are approaching the Easter Weekend. I hope all of you who celebrate have a terrific weekend and enjoy some time off from work. My sister is off for four days and coming up to visit for a couple of days. It’ll be great fun catching up on a television show and movies, going out to eat, and hanging out.

I hope each of you is having a terrific week so far.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday

Tags

Body, Exercise, Grateful, Gratitude, gym, health, New Followers, Thank you, Workouts

To all my new followers this week—Thank you! It is always a treat to get a new follower. I hope you continue to enjoy the content here. I’ve recently posted my workout routines. This is a great diary for me to look back to. It is also a great way to get ideas on how you can start your own workouts. My philosophy about working out in the gym—GO! I don’t care if your form is perfect, your effort is maximal, or what your goals are. Just GO! This is 90% of the battle with an exercise routine—going. If you can get yourself to the gym at least 3-4 times a week, mixing in some weight work, cardio, and some stretching exercises, you’ll be fine.

I’m 55 and not interested in competing or becoming a bodybuilder. I want to move around and remain mentally sharp for the rest of my life. My Dad is my motivation. He neglected his physical activity since he retired and now is paying for it. My Mom is 75 years old and works out with weights 3 or 4 times a week. It is terrific. I use her to “shame” my young friends when they say they are too tired or too busy to workout.

I enjoy variety in my workouts. I like to keep altering what I do each day to keep up my interest level and avoid being bored. I hit all the major muscle groups during the week and goal myself to do at least 140 minutes of cardio each week. Today, I did a chest and triceps routine. I am so grateful for my health and my ability to go to the gym and push myself. I have friends who are diabetic or have an injury that prevents them from doing a lot of work in the gym.

Today, I am heading to the Chiropractor. I don’t really need one, but it is nice to do preventative maintenance on the back. I had a back surgery back in 2003 and wish I had taken better care of my spine. If you are afraid of getting your back “cracked”, do what I did and find yourself a “no-force” chiropractor. They are terrific. Mine helps me stretch out, uses various pressure points to ease inflamed nerves, and gives me guidance on what I should do with myself to ensure I aggravate nothing. One was to get new shoes. I picked up a pair a few weeks ago, and boy, what a difference. Trust me. Take care of your back now. Back surgery is no fun. It knocked me down for about 5 years, before I felt normal again.

I am grateful for my health and my ability to maintain my health in the gym and with other activities I work on during the week. I hope each of you follow my advice if you have not already begun a workout routine. It is not too late. Just start out slow and progress gradually. Always check with your health care practitioner to make sure you are ok to start a program. If you get approval, take it slow. Most gyms today offer an introduction program where you can use one of their trainers for free. These trainers will walk you through the gym to show you how to use their equipment. They are always available if you have a quick question about how to use something. Once you know how to use the equipment, start slow. Start with 3 sets of 10 reps on each machine you choose. I would recommend a basic split for your first routine. A split is how you break up the body during a workout week. You can split your routine over the days you want to go. If you will only go 3 times a week, you’ll want a routine that handles all the major muscle groups. Day 1 you could do chest, shoulders, and triceps. Day 2 you could exercise back and biceps. Day 3 you would do your legs and abs. Simple, but effective.

What are you grateful for today?

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Gratitude Journaling and Changing Your Focus

Tags

Focus on the Good, Grateful, Gratitude, Gratitude Journaling, Napoleon Hill, Positive Thinking, Thankfulness

“If you attain fame and fortune, and do not attain gratitude along with it, the chances are that you will not enjoy that fame or that fortune.”―Napoleon Hill, Success Habits: Proven Principles for Greater Wealth, Health, and Happiness

Do you practice gratitude daily? It is hard some days. You wake up; you feel like crap; you don’t feel enjoy going to work. How do you find that place where you are thankful for what you have?

I like to journal first thing in the morning. When I get to my gratitude journal, I write in it until I feel that all is right with the world. When I first began my gratitude journal, I was going through the motions. It takes time to develop feelings of gratitude. Over time, however, I achieved a state of peace and calm. It snuck up on me. You find gratitude by writing what you are thankful for and acting grateful. These feelings of gratefulness will come. Give it time.

Gratefulness is a way to express your thanks for what you have. You can be grateful for your life, your job, your skills, your situation, the good times you had yesterday with a friend, the quiet time you had with your cat or dog, drinking tea, and enjoying a good book. You could be grateful for a good meal, a nice outing with colleagues, or just for having a job. Each of us are unique. What you are grateful for may differ from what other people are grateful for.

How do you start a gratitude journal? Start small. My gratitude journal started when I found The 5-minute journal. You can Buy the 5-minute journal here. I am not affiliated with this journal; I am merely suggesting it to you if you do not understand how to start. In this journal, it will require you to write 3 things you are grateful for in the morning and 3 things you are grateful for in the evening. At first, you might have difficulty finding 3 things. Once you do, you’ll feel something you may not have felt in a long time. The best time to do your gratitude journaling is in the morning as soon as you get up and around. The best time in the evening is right before you nod off for a good night’s sleep. This is how I got started.

Now I use Microsoft’s OneNote for my gratitude journal. You can use a diary app, you can use a handwritten journal, you can use the 5-minute journal. Whatever works. Gratitude journaling is all about training your mind to focus on the good things in your life and ignore the bad things. Whatever you give life to will overwrite what you stop feeding. This is the premise of gratitude journaling. Thinking about what you are grateful for will help you avoid thinking about what you are unhappy about. It’s a psychological bait and switch.

Try this out. You have nothing to lose. If you are a person unhappy with your life, this will help turn that around. Once you focus on what is good in your life, you’ll think about other positive aspects of your existence. This thinking will bring you better results and re-write that part of your mind that has dominated you with negative, unresourceful thinking. Your mind is a powerful creator. It will create whatever you focus most of your time on. Thinking negatively will cause your mind to only filter the negative things around you. Your mind will create what you think. Turn this around and think about positive things—things you are grateful for. Your life will take on new meaning and you will feel terrific!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday

Tags

Aesop, Appreciation, Conversations, followers, Gratitude, Learning, Reading, Thankful, Thanks

“Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.”—Aesop

Thank you for following Daily Ramblings. I am honored, humbled, and blessed by all of you. I hope your week is going well.

This week has been terrific, so far. We had friends over yesterday. It was nice to catch up and hang out over coffee in our living room, watching the rain on the first day of Spring. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy snow and rain? It is so comforting to hear the rain pitter patter on the window and roof as I enjoy a warm cup of coffee and my new slippers.

On Saturday we are heading to Flint to hang out with another family friend. He enjoys Thai food, so we always meet with him at his favorite restaurant and hang out for a few hours catching up and enjoying our conversation with a great Thai meal. They have the best homemade ice cream.

I really enjoy reading. I put my kindle through is paces. I enjoy reading multiple books at once and strive to continue this throughout the year. I find reading to be informative, relaxing, and joyful. When I read, I am transported to a new world, learn new things, and revisit past battlegrounds and places.

I also enjoy reading because I can see how an author uses the language to describe scenes, dialogue between characters, and move these characters through their plot. I learned last week that an author should read books within their genre. This allows them to see how their fellow authors put together stories and learn about the various ways they build their fantasy worlds, crime stories, or outer space adventures.

I enjoy learning and grateful for the many resources that are available today. Websites like Hillsdale.edu, Coursera.com, and others provide access to schools like Harvard, Yale, and the University of Michigan. It is a terrific, free resource that is beneficial. I also enjoy a website called Codecademy, which I am using to learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Thank God for these programming sites so guys like me can pursue my 3^rd career.

I’m also thankful for some folks that interacted with me this week. I really enjoy comments on my postings and interacting with others in the blogosphere. I look for new blogger sites and comment on Sundays. It is a lot of fun to read the posts of people worldwide.

Well, that’s all I got today folks. Thank you to all my new followers this week. I appreciate your patronage.

Until next time…

Dave