Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Counting Our Blessings

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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

 

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Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – The HU Chant

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Calm, Focus, Good Habits, HU Chant, Meditation, Relaxation, simplicity

Have you ever thought about meditation? There are many benefits to this practice, particularly the benefits of calm and focus. Another benefit is the simplicity of the act. You can close your eyes and meditate anywhere, provided you are comfortable and the place you choose is remote or away from noise.

Here are the basics:

• Sit down or lay down on a bed or couch
• Close your eyes
• Focus on your breath (breathe in and breath out)

If you would like to use another technique to keep your focus you can chant silently to yourself or out loud, depending on where you are. If you chant, use the word HU. HU is an ancient name for God and pronounced like the word “hue”. Chant this word for whatever period you have available. I recommend 10 minutes for starters.

Chanting HU can help you in times of stress or trouble. Chanting HU is not religious. You can use the HU chant if you are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, or any other religion.

Try it. Many people, the world over, use the HU chant daily. I do this in the early morning, before I head to the gym. Other people I know do the HU chant during their lunch break or right before they go to bed. Start small. 10-20 minutes is all you need.

If you try this out or have questions, comment below.

Have a great Saturday folks!

Until next time…

Dave

 

 

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday

Tags

Accepting Reality, Adapting to Reality, Calm, change, Complaining, Peace of Mind, Reacting to Reality, Viktor Frankl

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” – Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

I see so many people rail against reality. I see it in my friends, my family members from time-to-time, and even strangers who I come across in the gym or when I’m at the market. We all have problems to deal with. Some of these problems are self-inflicted, but a great deal of these problems is totally out of our control.

So, what do you do? Change yourself. This change isn’t about going against your values or your belief systems. It is about changing the way you react to something outside of you.

Here are some things that are outside of you that you will not change.

• Weather
• Governmental policies (other than voting and activism)
• Traffic conditions
• Your Genetic Makeup
• What other people do

By no means is the above list all-inclusive. I provided this list to give you an idea of what I’m talking about in case you’ve never considered the premise of this article. Anything that is out of your control is exactly that—out of your control. Subsequently, any complaining you do about things that are out of your control create meaningless stress in your life and perpetuate the ridiculousness of attempting to change something you cannot.

Complaining or letting these outside, uncontrollable circumstances effect your mood is really a huge waste of time. How do you do this? It is really a decision about how you want to be on a daily basis. Do you want to be happy or do you want to be miserable? Do you want to feel betrayed all of the time or are you willing to give people the benefit of the doubt?

The more detached you are from outside circumstances and unrealistic expectations the calmer and more collected you will be. The next time you catch yourself complaining about the weather, seek out the benefits of that weather pattern. I, for example, love when it rains or snows. I think it is relaxing to watch the rain from my office window or wake up in the morning to a fresh blanket of snow on the trees in my front yard.

Just some food for thought.

Here’s my week:

• I’m continuing my daily workout routine in the gym (I love my gym therapy!)
• I’m continuing to work on the rough draft of my technical recruiting book
• I’m continuing to work on my spiritual duties
• I’m also re-reading Mini-habits, The 7 Habits, and Getting Things Done
• I’m continuing my blogging, of course
• I’m also in the process of setting new goals for the New Year (I’ll post my 2019 goals toward the end of this month)
• Finally, I’m interacting on numerous social media platforms, getting to know new people, cultivating the relationships I have, and having fun

I hope all of you are excited about the holidays. This is truly my favorite time of the year.

Until the next time…

Dave