Inspiration

Stepfather Quote & Wisdom ~ Living in Thankfulness

“When something does not insist on being noticed, when we aren’t grabbed by the collar or struck on the skull by a presence or an event, we take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”


~ Cynthia Ozick

Enjoy this short interview (4+ min.) where Conan O’Brien interviewed comedian Louis C.K..  Louis makes the astute observation even though we’re surrounded by so many amazing things, people still don’t seem to be happy. 

This video reminds us it is very easy to take many of the great things in our lives for granted.  If we learn to look at life a little differently, we can find many things to be grateful for.  Here’s my list:

50 Things I’m Thankful For

1. My Relationship with God

2. My Lovely Wife, The Pretty Lady

3. My Son, Nathaniel

4. The Opportunity to be a Stepdad

5. My Day Job: Engineering Planner

6. My Night Job: Webmaster

7. Five minute commute to work

8. Graduating from the Air Force Academy

 

9. The Atlanta Braves

10.The Oakland Athletics

11. Bellevue, Nebraska my hometown

12. My Cats Pumpkin &  Fluffy

13. Reconnecting with Family

14. Coffee Mocha

15. A Hot Fireplace in the Winter

16. Oldies from the 50’s & 60’s

Old Records

17. The Sauna after a workout

18. Sex

19. Foreign Travel

Travel

20. Boston Baked Beans

21. Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts

22. Dodge Viper’s

23. Being a Project Management Professional (PMP)

24. The internet, for giving me the possibility to meet, learn from & share with many so wonderful people

25. The Platte River

26. Volunteering

27. My Health

28. Forgiveness

29. My garden

30. Plain Cheesecake with Blueberries

Plain Cheesecake with Blueberries

31. Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philipines

32. The TV program, “The Office”

33. My Developing Writing Skills

34. Ben & Jerry’s Pistachio Pistachio Ice Cream

35. Barbecuing

36. Running in Three Marathons (Denver, Bonn, San Francisco)

Marathon Runners

37. Living in Germany

38. Going to Russia

39. The Pretty Lady can still turn my head after all these years

40. Warm Peach Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream

41. Horror Movies

The Thing Movie Poster

42. Bay Area Weather

43. The challenges in my Life that contributed to who I am today

44. Funny Jokes & Stories

45. Being an Eagle Scout

Eagle Scout Award

46. The Opportunity to Help Others

47. Learning

48. Working Out

49. To make mistakes and learn from them

50.   Every morning I can open my eyes

Thankful

Get out a piece of paper and start your own list of things you’re thankful for today.  Carry the list with you as a reminder of what you’re grateful for when you’re not happy.

Here’s some points from Deborah Norville’s book, Thank You Power: Making the Science of Gratitude Work for You.  In the book Debra shares real life stories and the way people overcame challenges and were thankful for the experience to make them grow.

1. Make a point to say thank you to someone today.

2. Daily, or at least weekly, list three things for which you are grateful, include the why and who if possible.

3. Write a gratitude letter to someone.  It lets you say thank you to someone overdue to hear it.

4. Focus on things of beauty and share it.  How often can the mundane enhance your life?

5. Accentuate the positive.  When you are feeling down, take a few minutes to list the positives in your life.

6. Envision the life you’d like.  Find a blessing in something bad.  Focus on how you can turn a bad situation around.

7. Do something for someone else – no thanks expected or accepted. (Remember the movie about paying it forward?)

8. Embrace your enemy.  Look around – what is right with your world?

9. When you look at the positives in your life, it makes you more resilient against the negatives.

 

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  1. Pingback: Try Thankfulness

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