12 Sunday May 2019
Posted in Workout Routine
Considering all of our family’s Mother’s Day Plans, I’m taking the day off from the gym today to celebrate with the family and enjoy Mom’s day. I hope all of you Mothers out there are getting spoiled royally today!
See you at the finish line…
Dave
09 Thursday May 2019
Posted in Thankful Thursdays
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
03 Friday May 2019
Posted in Funny Friday
“How do crazy people go through the forest? They take the psycho path.”
Courtesy of Pun.me
Have a great Friday! It’s my sister’s birthday today! She’s coming down tomorrow to hang out with us. It’ll be a good time.
Until next time…
Dave
02 Thursday May 2019
Posted in Thankful Thursdays
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:
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
25 Thursday Apr 2019
Posted in Thankful Thursdays
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:
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
22 Monday Apr 2019
Posted in Motivation Monday
Hello, all!
I had a great Easter weekend with family and really enjoyed the downtime. It’s nice to have a break from the day-to-day once in a while and I took advantage of it. Today, will be another day of rest and recuperation to spend my sister’s last day here. Subsequently, today’s post will be short. I’m up early getting things done before the rest of the family wakes up.
On a sad note, my heart goes out to the people of Sri Lanka today. According to the news, terrorist bombs killed 200 people and injured many more yesterday. There were some American casualties but authorities have not released the names. When you read about horrors like this, it wakes you up to the savagery ever-present in the world.
On a lighter note, I’ll be back on track with my daily habits and rituals tomorrow. I hope each of you has a terrific week. Keep pushing forward with your goals. Remember, one small step at a time. Each step gets you closer.
Until next time…
Dave
21 Sunday Apr 2019
Posted in Easter
Today is Easter! For those of you who celebrate, I wish you a terrific Easter Sunday! I love holidays because it’s the one time during the year we can celebrate together with family and friends. My sister is visiting and Dad and I are having a great time with her. My Mom is in Minneapolis this weekend for ECKANKAR’s Springtime Seminar. She enjoys going to the major seminars to reconnect with friends she has made on Facebook and to pitch in on discussion round tables that are held at these events.
I wish all of you a terrific day wherever you are in the world. If you have any Easter memories to share, please do so in the comments below.
Until next time…
Dave
28 Thursday Feb 2019
Posted in Thankful Thursdays
Tags
Appreciative, family, Friends, Grateful, health, Life, Little Things, pets, Tecumseh, Thankful
“When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.” – Tecumseh
Read more at: BrainyQuote
I want to start today’s post with a “Thank You!” to my new followers this week. I appreciate you following my blog and hope my content helps or inspires you to do great things in your life. Today is Thankful Thursday and I want to talk about the things we take for granted in our lives.
Each morning I journal. The first thing I do is write in my dream journal, recording whatever I remember about the dreams I had the night before. The second thing I do is write in my gratitude and affirmations journal. The third thing I do is work through my morning pages to empty my mind and think about the day ahead. All these journals are important in different ways. The most important journal is my Gratitude and Affirmations Journal.
I am grateful for this life. I am grateful for God’s love. I am grateful for my family and friends. I am grateful for my pets. I am grateful for the little things. Little things, like a warm cup of coffee as I stare out my office window and look at the snow. A nice meal. A good book and a cup of tea. I am grateful for my health. I am grateful for the intellect I am blessed with. I am grateful for the insights that come into my mind.
The beauty of practicing gratefulness is the way it focuses my mind on the good rather than the bad. It is so easy to be unconscious. It is so easy to develop bad habits. It is so easy to blame everything outside of us for our problems. It is so easy to get upset and pissed off. I started my gratitude practice by writing three things I was grateful for. Initially, it was hard. It was hard because it takes a conscious effort. It requires you to act and recognize how great your life is.
Despite your current circumstances, you have lots to be grateful for. You are alive. This life is yours to live. Be grateful for what you have. Look at all the things that make your life great. Maybe it’s your warm bed. Maybe it is one of your friends. Maybe it is taking a hot bath or shower. Find things to be grateful for. You will notice a feeling enter you. This feeling will be one of comfort, joy, and contentment. It may take a while to recognize it because we are so focused on what’s wrong with our lives. Flip the switch. Look for what’s right. Focus on that.
Each of you who are reading this posting has things to be grateful for. What are they? When you think about them, how do you feel? Try this out for a month. Each morning take time to write three things you are grateful for. Constantly look for new things to express your thanks for. When you concentrate on what’s good, more things will rise to your attention. Before long you will have hundreds of things you are grateful for. This is one habit that can change your life. It will change your life because it will focus your attention on the good rather than the bad. It is a great way to live.
Well folks, that’s it for today. I hope each of you begins a daily gratitude practice. It will make a huge difference—promise.
Until next time…
Dave
22 Tuesday Jan 2019
Posted in Bonus Content
Tags
I’m up late and felt like writing a bit.
It was a great four days spending time with my sister at her new place. We ate some steaks, watched television shows, and relaxed. It was a great time hanging out with my sister.
We watched a movie that was awesome. The title was Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. If you haven’t watched this film yet I highly recommend it. This movie allows you, the consumer, to make choices with your TV controller throughout the film which affect the outcomes of the movie. It was so much fun!
I hope all of you had a nice day off yesterday with the Martin Luther King Holiday. We’re scheduled to get some more snow tomorrow. It’ll be a nice slow drive home. I am really loving the snow right now. It is so clean, crisp, and awesome outside. The sky, the last few days was so clear.
Well, that’s it for now. I’ll get my Ted Talk posting up later today.
Until next time…
Dave
26 Wednesday Dec 2018
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
Christmas, Contentment, Enjoyment, family, Friends, Joy, Love, Planning, reflection
Well, the family has gone home! It was a great two days, hanging out with my sister and her boyfriend. It was nice opening presents. It was awesome watching some movie favorites, like Raiders of the Lost Ark.
I enjoyed the holiday season this year because it was so great to revisit Phoenix and reconnect with friends and family there. It was also nice to come home and enjoy family, my Mom’s roast duck and all of the goodies I enjoy eating during the holidays.
Now it’s time to continue the celebration as we approach the New Year. This week, like the previous week will result in altered postings because I want to focus on the holidays and worry about the schedule again at the commencement of 2019.
I hope all of you had a great time with your families and friends and are looking to create the best year yet in 2019. I hope all of you have a safe and joyous New Year’s celebration.
All the best to you and your families during this precious time of the year.
Until next time…
Dave
