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

 

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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 – Wisdom Wednesday – Divine Spirit Steps In

Tags

Assistance, Dao, Divine Spirit, God, Guidance, Harold Klemp, Help, The Universe

You do what you can to make your life right. And when you have done 100 percent of everything you can do, Divine Spirit steps in with the miracle.

—Harold Klemp The Language of Soul

Have you ever had this happen? You work your tail off on something. It’s coming together but you need another person or another thing to come into place for your pet project to take off. Then, out of nowhere, you get exactly what you need.

I am a firm believer in persistence. I believe when we set ourselves to a project, we’ll get ideas for making it better. These ideas come from divine spirit, God, the universe, whatever you designate the higher power I believe exists. Our reality is about creation. When we create something, it aligns us with divine spirit, which is also a creator. This alignment opens us to divine spirit, which provides what we need, when we need it.

For some, this may be a little outlandish. For others, this is common knowledge. In my religion, we call divine spirit, the ECK. You may call this divine spirit, the Holy Ghost, the Dao, or many titles. The ECK is pervasive, eternal, and exists in matter, energy, space, and time and without these lower world phenomena. The ECK, like divine spirit is the communication medium used between God and Soul.

Like all things, the mind is our filter. We need the mind to live in this reality. Whatever your mind believes, you are right (Henry Ford, paraphrased). So, if you believe in God and divine spirit, you are right. If you do not believe in God or divine spirit you are also right. This posting is not designed to change your mind about these things, just my humble explanation of what I believe to be true.

Keep your eyes and ears open when you engage in something. You could be solving a problem, pursuing your dreams, or taking on a big project. Watch what happens when you really put yourself into these things. The right people will show up, the right ideas will reach you, and you’ll take the right actions to accomplish it. If you make a mistake, you’ll think about how to correct it, learn from it, and keep moving forward. Everything will fall into place. Just keep pushing forward. There will always be one more door to walk through, one more step to climb, or one more bit of polish to add. If you keep progressing, divine spirit will keep sending you ideas, options, and new avenues to take.

I hope all of you have a terrific Wednesday! I’ll be working on writing, reading, learning, programming, exercising, and meditating. See you at the finish line!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursdays – Happy Valentine’s Day

Tags

Challenges, God, Grateful, Loved, Satisfied, Thankful, Valentine's Day

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.”―Seneca

Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you that celebrate. Today is the day we celebrate our loved ones. It is a day of delivering cards, candies, and taking the time to express our gratitude to the one’s we love.

How opportune that Valentine’s Day aligns with my Thankful Thursday posts. I am grateful for my wife. I love her beyond words. She is the one who takes care of me when I’m sick. She laughs with me, cries with me, and shares the burden of life with me. I am grateful she chose me to live her life with. I am eternally grateful for my wife.

I am also thankful for the new followers this week. I hope my blog is meeting your expectations. If you’re new, today is the one day a week I express my gratitude publicly for the things I have. We all have something to be grateful for. I use Thursdays to express my gratitude publicly to remind you you have something to be grateful for.

I am grateful for life’s challenges. Challenges provide us with the opportunity to solve problems. Challenges keep things interesting. Challenges make us stronger and more resilient.

I am grateful for my family and friends. I am grateful for good health. I am grateful for the opportunity to spend time with my folks are in their late seventies and enjoy their senior years with them. I am grateful for the morning conversations over coffee, talking about the news of the day, family memories, or what we will do today.

I am grateful for health. I am grateful that I can go to the gym and push myself beyond my limits every day. I am grateful for the access I have to good food. I am grateful for the technology we have available to us that allows me to learn new things, read new books, listen to music, play the games I like, and to create.

I am grateful for my new followers and the conversations I have with them. I am grateful for the ability to create a blog that people enjoy.

I am grateful for this life. It is an adventure that keeps me going, provides a multitude of opportunities, and challenges me daily.

I am grateful for God’s love. A love that transcends all and provides me with a feeling I am never alone.

I am grateful.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thinking Thursday

Tags

Bible, Goals, God, Gratitude, Life, Love, Thanks, Travis Barker

“Thank you for life, and all the little ups and downs that make it worth living.” – Travis Barker

Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/travis_barker_468582?src=t_thankful

Life is a grand adventure! We learn, love, and laugh. We travel, we try new things, and we meet new people. When our cycle ends, others take up the mantle. Life continues.

I enjoy thinking about my life. The ups and downs, loves and heartbreaks. The scary and the serene. All these experiences weave themselves into a quilt with little facsimiles scattered about.

I look at all the technological changes that provide us access to so much information, music, and other forms of entertainment. I look at the technologies that provides us the ability to create a document, create a movie, create music, or even create a program of our own making.

Here’s what I’m up to:

Physical

I came down with a flu or cold a few days ago so the workout routine is out until I beat this bug.

Mental

I’m reading 4 books. I’m reading The One Thing, 2136, Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, and Beyond Good and Evil. All these books are engaging. I’m goaled to read 12 books by the end of March.

I’m running through a JavaScript Project currently, employing the use of Objects, which is exciting. I had no idea that JavaScript was an Object-Oriented Language, but sure enough, it is.

I am still working on a section a day for my book and it is coming along nicely. By the end of next week, I’ll have my initial rough draft. I’m a little over schedule because I wanted to be finished by the end of 2018, but with my vacation visit to Phoenix, I over estimated how much I would get done while I was there (I had too much fun!).

Spiritual

I’m working through my bible and am on the 12^th discourse of my spiritual study for the year. I’ll be starting a new course in the next month or so.

I’m looking for ways to interact with more people. Last year I got a lot done but was a hermit for most of the year focusing on the important work of book writing and the rest. I am going to look at some different venues this year to work on my book writing, so I can continue to get my work done but interact socially with other people.

My book discussion is set for the 14^th of this month. I look forward to that.

Social

I’m still scanning my area for something fun to do this quarter.

Well, that’s it for today folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday

Tags

Dedication, Discipline, Doing your Best, God, Spiritual

“Give your best effort each day, and leave the rest to Spirit.”—Harold Klemp The Language of Soul

All of us have an internal measure of what our best is. Do that. It doesn’t matter if you make mistakes or fail. Do your best.

When I was in the Army, my first few years were a little rough. I did what I could to get by. I didn’t really dedicate myself as much as I should have. Then, I got the idea that maybe, just maybe, I should give everything I had to be the best soldier I could be. The day I decided to do that was the day my career changed forever.

You see, I put everything I had to keep my uniform looking a little better than the next guy’s uniform. I took pride in what I was accomplishing. I kept my room and my equipment a little cleaner than the other guys. I began studying regulations, field manuals and reading military history. I began putting extra effort into the gym at night when the other guys were going out and chasing girls.

I gave it my all and it paid off. This is all this quote is talking about. You give everything you have, and God will step in and give some help. That’s the way it works.

If you think your job sucks, your relationships suck, your life sucks, give everything your all. You will slowly begin to see that your job improves, your relationships improve, and yes, your life will improve. You will be expressing your gratitude for this life by giving life everything you have. That’s exactly what God put you here to do.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday

Tags

God, Happiness, Love, Soul, Spiritual Enlightenment

“The reason for spiritual enlightenment is not to escape life, but to learn how to live it richly, to enjoy it.”—Harold Klemp The Language of Soul

When many of us think of a spiritually enlightened individual we tend to think about a monk in a cathedral laboring over a manuscript or in a cave contemplating the greater things of life. Spiritual enlightenment is something that should be shared with the world. This is what this quote is about.

Spiritual enlightenment, regardless of each of our personal definitions, is about connecting with God. In Eckankar, we call this connecting with the light and sound. The light and sound are metaphors for what we hear internally and what we see. We are taught that when you gain spiritually, these gains are gifts. These gifts, in turn, should be shared with others. It’s almost like a fountain. The fountain works because it sprays its waters upward, the drops return to the pond surrounding it and the fountain uses the same water over and over.

Just like the fountain, we can look at love like water. If we get love, we share it. In turn, that love comes back around to us and the cycle continues over and over. This is simple right?

Think about this for a moment. When do you really feel good? When you serve others.

Serving others isn’t about working for them or giving them gifts. It can be as simple as saying hello or passing along a smile. It can even be the act of wishing others well in a non-personal way. It is this passing along that gives us the greatest joy.

Yeah, when you get a brand-new car or a new techno-toy it’s terrific, but the joy is fleeting. I’ve found that the giving of self to others delivers a longer-term happiness, a happiness that goes deep down to your core. It is hard to explain.

When you give your son or daughter a birthday party, the feeling you get when they are smiling and excited and happy is priceless. When I was a young boy, maybe around the age of 6 or 7, I remember being so happy on my birthday that I cried and hugged my Mom. At that moment, we were all in the family’s only car late at night to pick up my father from work. Even at a young age, I knew we didn’t make much and the gifts and the little cake my Mom made were what they could afford. I didn’t care. It was the passing of love from Mother to son that made the whole day.

It’s interesting when you think about these little moments that stick with you. They stick with you because the love that came through was true and pure and selfless. This is the same way you can feel when you realize that you are here because God loves you. You—Soul.

“Soul exists because God loves it.” – Sri Harold Klemp. This is one of our core beliefs in Eckankar. When you think about others, when you do things for others, when you serve others, you’ll discover that the feeling of love inside grows and grows. This love stays around. We call this divine love. Divine love is composed of all types of love, even romantic love. The key to understanding what divine love is is to simply understand that it is charitable. Divine love is giving, serving, sharing, selflessly without regard for reward, it simply is.

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Today’s Quote – Harold Klemp – The Plus Factor

Tags

God, Harold Klemp, Path to God, self-improvement

Today’s Quote:

“No matter how much insight we gain about God, there will always be something that lies beyond the horizon of our understanding. That is simply the nature of truth.” Harold Klemp – The Language of Soul

As an Eckist, this is quote refers to the plus factor. It relates that regardless of what we do, we will never be able to understand God in its entirety. There will always be one more step to take, one more level to achieve.

I think this is a tremendous thing! It means that our journey towards being our best self will never be over. Imagine how boring life would be if there were a final place where we finally make it? I think that would be a terrible place to be.

I enjoy stretching myself. I enjoy the ups and downs of self-improvement. We never stay in the same place. We are either progressing or slipping backward a bit. That’s ok. This is how it works. I see this in the gym, my writing, my reading, and even my spirituality.

What I find most interesting is that each time we hit a new high, we begin to realize we are more capable now and our view of what’s next becomes clearer. Then we reset our sights on something higher and continue.

The path to God is the same. Imagine yourself at the bottom of a mountain. You begin walking upwards. You take a rest after a while and look back. You are now much higher in the worlds of God and can see more. This new awareness changes us. It allows us to see better and make better decisions. We can see the mistakes we made in the past, we can see the various routes we took and can visualize where we made mistakes. It doesn’t make sense to dwell on these mistakes, mind you, but it does point out that we will always fumble about as we move forward, regardless of the task. This is the nature of things.

Each time we take a rest, we are higher still. We can see more, are aware of more, and are literally changed beings. Continuing on with my metaphor of a mountain, imagine how hard it will be when the air begins to thin, the path becomes more treacherous and steep. This requires, even more, transformation as we progress. Our path to God and perfection never ends. It continues forever.

I hope everyone had a great Wednesday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote

Tags

God, Happiness, Harold Klemp, Quest

Today’s Quote:

“The quest for God is the quest for true happiness.” – Harold Klemp – The Language of Soul

Yeah, I don’t have anything to add to this one. This is what we are here to do.

Until Next time…

Dave