One source of beauty I notice looking around me is nature, all beings including myself using my senses and time to be present. I notice color, texture, pattern variations that help me appreciate my environment and all beings. “The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within.” -Ruby Dee
Feeling needed and readily available to support my adult children or friends and family.
Today my son needed to talk about his past triggers in relationships and worry with his new GF now still new ( 2 mos). All I pretty much knew was fine but like Joseph says sometimes “monkey mind” was taking over.
Equanimity, gratefulness and kindness towards all which is and towards all who I may encounter; to love my neighbor as myself, as Br. David once mentionef; realizing we all are like a drop of water, a wave that comes and goes – sometimes as very tiny waves, or big waves or sometimes stormy huge waves crashing at a shore – and naturally melt back to the source and Oneness of all.
I can really relate to today’s quote . This push and try hard to strive self is so relentless. It’s completely exhausting to let go when all I have been taught to do is to strive and work and pursue those “greatness” that is worth what ? Nothing but a sand castle 🏰.
But the foundation is amazing and it is greatness because it’s the original foundation our True nature is right here all the time. Right here in the present moment. The universe supports me in everything .
Thank you universe and I’m sorry I’m so hardheaded and it takes me so long to Truly let go and surrender. I don’t know even after all this I still bang 💥 my head against the wall. I can change I know I am with baby steps . Like today ! I didn’t go to the gym today because I had a migraine and normally I push through all kinds of pain and I don’t listen to my body . I’m listening much more and I am not letting myself go back to old habits and situations that used to hurt me. Much like an alcoholic who must also choose to not follow their habits I also have to not let in someone who was not kind to me . It’s been five months now and I still have not unblocked this person. This is progress! Even if deep suffering is currently present, I can be grateful to the universe. Thank you. This is hard some days are just like this and it’s ok to let it out . 💓
I’m glad you chose to listen to your body, something I say to my students all the time! I have pushed through things before, so I understand… and like you said, some days are just like this… and it’s okay 💜
Of course it’s ok,
dear Antoinette . . .
above all things
forgive yourself
and let yourself be . . .
light a candle
or hold a flower in your hand.
You are going Great . . .
just remember that
as you take time to be in the moment
and be kind to yourself
with love . . . ♥
Breath helps me appreciate the simplicity of a moment. Whether it is the color of a sunrise, the laugh of someone I care about, or the fragrance of a flower. It is the breath that brings me to the present.
This website, and all of you here, support me in appreciating the simplicity of any given moment. There is so much wisdom here. You share reflections on gratefulness, living in the moment, dealing with the challenges of life, and savoring the simple moments. I learn from your life experiences. This is the place I come to, to be supported in my gratefulness journey. Each day I am learning and relearning the importance of being awake to myself, to others, and to the world around me. I am learning to be present and to fully live each moment In the eternal now.
As I write this something else that I’m learning comes to mind. It is to do what I’m doing rather than to split my attention. To relax when I’m relaxing, allowing thoughts and feelings to float through, without grabbing on to them. To fully engage and be present to the person I am speaking to, rather than thinking ahead about something else that I am planning to do. So once again to keep my focus on the eternal now.
Thank you to everyone here, including those behind the scene, who make grateful.org my go-to website🩵🩵🩵
My age! And of course, gratefulness. I struggled for so many years with a need to accomplish, a need to impress, even a need to be heard. Now, I savor the simplicity of a given moment. So, I do my best to live moment to moment. It’s amazing how filled I feel!
Faith…the ability to live with an open heart
Hope…the ability to be grateful for it all
Charity…the ability to share one self without strings
Teach me what I need to learn from this situation, this moment, and give me the courage to apply it to my life.
I continue to learn, Antoinette. And, I think everything we learn is never lost. Even when this body takes its last breath what I’ve learned will grace those who came before me and those who have come after me. We definitely live in a unconditional mystery that cannot be compressed in any one formula.
Slowing down to pay attention. I’ll take this question as a prompt to pay attention to my senses.
Really looking at something: The mist of rain in the air outside my windows right now, the soft glow of the lights under the kitchen cabinets.
Really listening: My husband’s bike wheels whir as he starts his workout on the trainer in the other room, the refrigerator is humming slightly, I hear the rain pattering on the roof, the slight click of the coffeepot.
Feeling sensations of touch I’d otherwise ignore: Tiggs the cat is stretched out, warm on my legs and seeking the warmth of my laptop by stretching his front legs under it, the softness of my robe.
Tuning into taste: My coffee has a touch of raw sugar in it from yesterday, a change from my usual cup taken black.
My sense of smell has the least to do right now: We don’t really smell our own homes or bodies unless something changes so I can breathe in the aroma of coffee to awaken that sense.
Balance, the ignored sixth sense that also orients us to the world around us, which I pay attention to because I get vertigo attacks: I realized I was leaning slightly to the side in an uncomfortable position and adjusted to be centered and solid.
A night-time yoga nidra talk on Insight Timer that I listen to when I can’t fall asleep includes the direction, “Notice if you can be 5 or 10 percent more comfortable.” How often I could benefit from that during the day, too!
What supports me in appreciating the simiplicity of a given moment is mindfulness. And mindfulness leads me to paying attention to my senses, as Deann noted. My senses lead me to the enjoyment of the simple pleasures nearby – the beauty and smell of my flowers, music that was quietly playing on my phone, but I hadn’t noticed, or even sensing that my dog needs to go outside and play, which may mean I need to do that, too. And all that feels good, which, as Drea says, is support in itself. Thank you all for your insight.
It feels good to appreciate the simplicity of a given moment. That in itself is support. Being mired in complication or worrying just doesn’t feel very good.
Drea, worrying and complications is no fun and eats us alive. I’m one of the very few fortunate out there to still be able to have a carefree lifestyle. Enjoy it while it lasts.
The quiet morning with the calm light of sunshine enters my room. Everything looks calm; my kalachoe looks calm. But I’m not really calm at this moment. Enjoying my environment now has helped a lot to cool my mind and anger.
My senses help me appreciate the simplicity of a moment. When they are all in tune I can take in and notice all that a given moment has to offer. When you think about it, the senses working together are very complicated and ( instead of but) their gifts of smell, taste, touch, sound and sight create a simple moment of just being.
Knowing how to stay fully aware, fully present is what supports me. It’s not always easy – just because I “know” how to do it doesn’t mean that I always do it. The ego mind can get in the way with worry, to-do lists and what not. And that’s where it comes back to the breath, our anchor back to our Self, to our peace, to the moment.
No doubt SUNNYPATTI! Just because I know doesn’t mean I do it ! In fact sometimes the opposite! Thank you ☺️ this is helpful and it is happening to me all day today . Now fortunately it’s evening an I can really throw in the towel!
You are right,
dear SunnyPatti . . .
I know perfectly well
how to be present to what supports me
but I don’t always do it.
A few days ago
I latched onto a self-righteous anger
and held it close,
suddenly realizing I was ENJOYING it–
enjoying feeling bad.
I gave it an hour
and then told it
it was time to go. ♥
It’s like I told my husband the other day when he was frustrated about something… it’s okay to feel our feelings, we just have to be able to let them go and not dwell on them. It can be easy to dwell, as our ego really enjoys that, but learning to let it go feels so good! I can imagine you showing your anger to the door 🙂
Your response reminded me of a memory. A dear friend arrived at my house and she was furious. I listened to her anger about a situation and then reminded her that it was her response, her anger toward another and she could let it go. She said, “I know that! I’m just not ready to do it!”
Sometimes we need to sit on those feelings for a bit before letting them go! Even though your friend knew she could let it go, it’s probably still good that you reminded her. I think we all need a little reminder every now and then!
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One source of beauty I notice looking around me is nature, all beings including myself using my senses and time to be present. I notice color, texture, pattern variations that help me appreciate my environment and all beings. “The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within.” -Ruby Dee
Feeling needed and readily available to support my adult children or friends and family.
Today my son needed to talk about his past triggers in relationships and worry with his new GF now still new ( 2 mos). All I pretty much knew was fine but like Joseph says sometimes “monkey mind” was taking over.
Equanimity, gratefulness and kindness towards all which is and towards all who I may encounter; to love my neighbor as myself, as Br. David once mentionef; realizing we all are like a drop of water, a wave that comes and goes – sometimes as very tiny waves, or big waves or sometimes stormy huge waves crashing at a shore – and naturally melt back to the source and Oneness of all.
Thank you for that image 🌊
We are all one 🙏🏼
Yes, we are SunnyPatti.
I can really relate to today’s quote . This push and try hard to strive self is so relentless. It’s completely exhausting to let go when all I have been taught to do is to strive and work and pursue those “greatness” that is worth what ? Nothing but a sand castle 🏰.
But the foundation is amazing and it is greatness because it’s the original foundation our True nature is right here all the time. Right here in the present moment. The universe supports me in everything .
Thank you universe and I’m sorry I’m so hardheaded and it takes me so long to Truly let go and surrender. I don’t know even after all this I still bang 💥 my head against the wall. I can change I know I am with baby steps . Like today ! I didn’t go to the gym today because I had a migraine and normally I push through all kinds of pain and I don’t listen to my body . I’m listening much more and I am not letting myself go back to old habits and situations that used to hurt me. Much like an alcoholic who must also choose to not follow their habits I also have to not let in someone who was not kind to me . It’s been five months now and I still have not unblocked this person. This is progress! Even if deep suffering is currently present, I can be grateful to the universe. Thank you. This is hard some days are just like this and it’s ok to let it out . 💓
I’m glad you chose to listen to your body, something I say to my students all the time! I have pushed through things before, so I understand… and like you said, some days are just like this… and it’s okay 💜
Of course it’s ok,
dear Antoinette . . .
above all things
forgive yourself
and let yourself be . . .
light a candle
or hold a flower in your hand.
You are going Great . . .
just remember that
as you take time to be in the moment
and be kind to yourself
with love . . . ♥
Breath helps me appreciate the simplicity of a moment. Whether it is the color of a sunrise, the laugh of someone I care about, or the fragrance of a flower. It is the breath that brings me to the present.
This website, and all of you here, support me in appreciating the simplicity of any given moment. There is so much wisdom here. You share reflections on gratefulness, living in the moment, dealing with the challenges of life, and savoring the simple moments. I learn from your life experiences. This is the place I come to, to be supported in my gratefulness journey. Each day I am learning and relearning the importance of being awake to myself, to others, and to the world around me. I am learning to be present and to fully live each moment In the eternal now.
As I write this something else that I’m learning comes to mind. It is to do what I’m doing rather than to split my attention. To relax when I’m relaxing, allowing thoughts and feelings to float through, without grabbing on to them. To fully engage and be present to the person I am speaking to, rather than thinking ahead about something else that I am planning to do. So once again to keep my focus on the eternal now.
Thank you to everyone here, including those behind the scene, who make grateful.org my go-to website🩵🩵🩵
💙💙💙
Everything counts,
doesn’t it,
dear Mary?
We are not only here for ourselves,
but for each other as well,
so I add my thanks here too. ♥
Thank you too Mary for this heartfelt response. I feel the same way about sharing and learning from everyone here . 🌻
My age! And of course, gratefulness. I struggled for so many years with a need to accomplish, a need to impress, even a need to be heard. Now, I savor the simplicity of a given moment. So, I do my best to live moment to moment. It’s amazing how filled I feel!
Faith…the ability to live with an open heart
Hope…the ability to be grateful for it all
Charity…the ability to share one self without strings
Teach me what I need to learn from this situation, this moment, and give me the courage to apply it to my life.
Yes,
dear Carol Ann . . .
I’m not done yet either. 🙂
CAROL ANN- sounds exactly like what I wrote only learned it faster ! 😂I am still learning. Thank
You for sharing.
I continue to learn, Antoinette. And, I think everything we learn is never lost. Even when this body takes its last breath what I’ve learned will grace those who came before me and those who have come after me. We definitely live in a unconditional mystery that cannot be compressed in any one formula.
Slowing down to pay attention. I’ll take this question as a prompt to pay attention to my senses.
Really looking at something: The mist of rain in the air outside my windows right now, the soft glow of the lights under the kitchen cabinets.
Really listening: My husband’s bike wheels whir as he starts his workout on the trainer in the other room, the refrigerator is humming slightly, I hear the rain pattering on the roof, the slight click of the coffeepot.
Feeling sensations of touch I’d otherwise ignore: Tiggs the cat is stretched out, warm on my legs and seeking the warmth of my laptop by stretching his front legs under it, the softness of my robe.
Tuning into taste: My coffee has a touch of raw sugar in it from yesterday, a change from my usual cup taken black.
My sense of smell has the least to do right now: We don’t really smell our own homes or bodies unless something changes so I can breathe in the aroma of coffee to awaken that sense.
Balance, the ignored sixth sense that also orients us to the world around us, which I pay attention to because I get vertigo attacks: I realized I was leaning slightly to the side in an uncomfortable position and adjusted to be centered and solid.
A night-time yoga nidra talk on Insight Timer that I listen to when I can’t fall asleep includes the direction, “Notice if you can be 5 or 10 percent more comfortable.” How often I could benefit from that during the day, too!
Mmm… I love me some yoga nidra!
Thanks for sharing your morning senses, Barb. Very helpful. I shall observe my senses more!
What supports me in appreciating the simiplicity of a given moment is mindfulness. And mindfulness leads me to paying attention to my senses, as Deann noted. My senses lead me to the enjoyment of the simple pleasures nearby – the beauty and smell of my flowers, music that was quietly playing on my phone, but I hadn’t noticed, or even sensing that my dog needs to go outside and play, which may mean I need to do that, too. And all that feels good, which, as Drea says, is support in itself. Thank you all for your insight.
It feels good to appreciate the simplicity of a given moment. That in itself is support. Being mired in complication or worrying just doesn’t feel very good.
Drea, worrying and complications is no fun and eats us alive. I’m one of the very few fortunate out there to still be able to have a carefree lifestyle. Enjoy it while it lasts.
The quiet morning with the calm light of sunshine enters my room. Everything looks calm; my kalachoe looks calm. But I’m not really calm at this moment. Enjoying my environment now has helped a lot to cool my mind and anger.
My Ngoc, we’re fortunate to be able to enjoy a calm environment with a lake in front of our house.
I too,
dear Ngoc,
have found
that when I am in calm surroundings,
my negative emotions
melt away . . .
bless you. ♥
Quiet, stillness, BEing.
Being satisfied with what I already have instead of chasing for luxury supports me in the simplicity of a given moment.
My senses help me appreciate the simplicity of a moment. When they are all in tune I can take in and notice all that a given moment has to offer. When you think about it, the senses working together are very complicated and ( instead of but) their gifts of smell, taste, touch, sound and sight create a simple moment of just being.
Knowing how to stay fully aware, fully present is what supports me. It’s not always easy – just because I “know” how to do it doesn’t mean that I always do it. The ego mind can get in the way with worry, to-do lists and what not. And that’s where it comes back to the breath, our anchor back to our Self, to our peace, to the moment.
No doubt SUNNYPATTI! Just because I know doesn’t mean I do it ! In fact sometimes the opposite! Thank you ☺️ this is helpful and it is happening to me all day today . Now fortunately it’s evening an I can really throw in the towel!
We don’t always act on what we know, but we can still try again! Wishing you well, Antoinette. I hope your migraine has faded 💗
You are right,
dear SunnyPatti . . .
I know perfectly well
how to be present to what supports me
but I don’t always do it.
A few days ago
I latched onto a self-righteous anger
and held it close,
suddenly realizing I was ENJOYING it–
enjoying feeling bad.
I gave it an hour
and then told it
it was time to go. ♥
It’s like I told my husband the other day when he was frustrated about something… it’s okay to feel our feelings, we just have to be able to let them go and not dwell on them. It can be easy to dwell, as our ego really enjoys that, but learning to let it go feels so good! I can imagine you showing your anger to the door 🙂
Your response reminded me of a memory. A dear friend arrived at my house and she was furious. I listened to her anger about a situation and then reminded her that it was her response, her anger toward another and she could let it go. She said, “I know that! I’m just not ready to do it!”
Sometimes we need to sit on those feelings for a bit before letting them go! Even though your friend knew she could let it go, it’s probably still good that you reminded her. I think we all need a little reminder every now and then!