Of course this new website will be fun to explore but my most recent new beginning is my son, his fiance and I bought a house in a more rural area. I am looking forward to exploring that area more with hikes etc. It is about 10 mins from the ocean also.
I had an experience this weekend that felt like a transition for me, though perhaps just a shift in perspective.
For many years now, I have been involved in volunteer work in addition to my career, family, and household work. (I am being intentionally vague about the details of this work, but people who want to know more can ask.)
This weekend, I was invited to go on a very important last minute trip. I was anxious to leave my family behind but felt that it was worthwhile. I arranged to travel with another person from my area and spent a number of hours with this person over the course of the weekend. They were, I am sure, a decent person. I harbor no animus toward them, but I realized that their attitude—particularly toward the work we were doing—was unrelentingly pessimistic.
Somehow, the topic of every conversation we had turned toward what was wrong with different groups and organizations, how unlikely we were to succeed with what we were doing, everything being stacked against us, how uninvolved other people were, etc, etc. As we were on our way home after a full weekend of great work, this person started telling me about some statistical forecasts they had read online, saying, “This is just bloggers trying to rally people, but they are saying something like a 49 or 50% chance of a good outcome.”
I just said, “That’s fantastic. I will take 50%. Great!”
I realized that many of the people I have worked with in the past years have had similar attitudes—dour, pessimistic, driven by fear and disdain.
This past weekend, I had some great experiences. I met strangers who were genuinely excited to speak with me about the work that we were doing and take part. I met people from all over who had come together for one cause. I saw high school students come out to do work that never would have occurred to me to do as a high school student. I also found some really nice communities in a new town.
When I mentioned the high school students, my traveling companion hadn’t even noticed them, dismissed what I said, and returned to talking about people being uninvolved.
This work has been getting more difficult for me to do. It is stressful and unrewarding. I find myself getting anxious and depressed, in addition to feeling isolated. Looking back, the times that I have been most motivated were when I had a group of enthusiastic, motivated people to work with. I do not believe in insisting that people only look on the bright side. But I have felt the impact of ignoring the positive, seeing bad news in a 50% chance of a good outcome, and I feel a weight lifted.
I am grateful for this new website. I am excited to
explore all the “goodies” you are offering here,
as I continue to grow my gratefulness practice.
Thank you for your love & dedication to this
Sanctuary.
One of my goals for this month, November,
is to start something new. Still not sure what it is.
Today’s question has me pondering.
Well the new beginning of a big refreshed website for one thing! The preview offered a hint of its depth and breadth and loveliness, the real thing is even more impressive than imagined.
Personally, I’m grateful for a surprise invitation to join a spiritually focused group at my new-ish church community. As one who likes starting things and likes newness I am grateful!
I’m feeling much more like myself after having covid and a frightening ear infection. Now that I had a few slower weeks to create new routines (like daily questions and gratitude practice plus finally getting back to reading again) and I have my health back, I have choices to make. How do I use my time to still fit in these activities and yet still meet my income and work responsibilities? The last few weeks taught me how to be okay with being alone and I see my relationships benefiting from that for sure so I’m grateful to have a few new perspectives to consider as I play around with what is important to pursue/schedule/value or not. Thank you all for what you’ve contributed to my life without knowing it!
I’m grateful for the new beginning that this day offers, heralded by a gorgeous sunrise here in New Mexico. Every day, a new beginning…how extraordinary! And I’m grateful for all of the reflections here – what you’ve each shared personally and also the collective appreciation and joy about the new website. It means the world to be celebrating this moment with all of you.
Sometimes a slight change in routine can awaken us to the blessings that have been there all along – look forward to being awakened to the resources on this site, both the old and.the new.
Well, I’m grateful to begin with this new and improved website. Thank you all for your hard work and thoughtfulness. I’m looking forward to
exploring the new format.
Today I’m grateful for this beautiful new website!!! It’s wonderful and it’s clear to me that there’s a huge amount of love behind the work of the Grateful Team!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
My first new beginning today was navigating the site and figuring out how to set my nickname back to what it was. The site is beautiful and yet of course disorienting so it woke me up a bit.
Today I’m going into the office for basically the first time since March 2020. I’ve gone in once for about an hour but today I’ll be there for at least half the day for a hybrid meeting. I could have chosen to stay home and log on but I’m ready to see others (and I work for a state agency that requires vaccination so I feel okay about the proximity). I’ll still mostly work at home but I’m opening to the idea of setting a day a week or every other week that I might change spaces.
I’m also excited about a new day for the program I run, which will be receiving big new funding that lets us make the world better for real (building active transportation facilities–sidewalks, bike lanes, crossings, paths). I’ll stay excited about that for quite a while!
This is so exciting. The work you do sounds so meaningful, and I love to hear about it.
I will say that transitioning back to working in an office part-time (which I did just over a year ago) was an adjustment. Now, though, I am considering going back more frequently than I am required. I have found that the isolation has taken a toll on me, and I also need different spaces to focus better.
The new beginning for me to be grateful for is to see fear and keep letting go no matter how long it takes.
This is a beginning for me because I often feel like I should be over it or better at it. Also I have to begin to look at self loathing and see it for what it is. It’s not useful and it is a form of selfishness. This is definitely a beginning of a beautiful way to let go of that too!
Thank you for this new website and everyone here !
Well at this moment I’m settling into being grateful for, hmm, need to keep looking– where is the treasure in this moment?
I once read that a complaint is a lament, an ask, a prayer.
To pretend other than the suffering is to bypass the opportunity for evolving: coming to the new beginning
hmm- patience, I can do that 🙂
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The time change from daylight savings time to a standard time. The arrival of the Fall weather. The new morning.
Of course this new website will be fun to explore but my most recent new beginning is my son, his fiance and I bought a house in a more rural area. I am looking forward to exploring that area more with hikes etc. It is about 10 mins from the ocean also.
I had an experience this weekend that felt like a transition for me, though perhaps just a shift in perspective.
For many years now, I have been involved in volunteer work in addition to my career, family, and household work. (I am being intentionally vague about the details of this work, but people who want to know more can ask.)
This weekend, I was invited to go on a very important last minute trip. I was anxious to leave my family behind but felt that it was worthwhile. I arranged to travel with another person from my area and spent a number of hours with this person over the course of the weekend. They were, I am sure, a decent person. I harbor no animus toward them, but I realized that their attitude—particularly toward the work we were doing—was unrelentingly pessimistic.
Somehow, the topic of every conversation we had turned toward what was wrong with different groups and organizations, how unlikely we were to succeed with what we were doing, everything being stacked against us, how uninvolved other people were, etc, etc. As we were on our way home after a full weekend of great work, this person started telling me about some statistical forecasts they had read online, saying, “This is just bloggers trying to rally people, but they are saying something like a 49 or 50% chance of a good outcome.”
I just said, “That’s fantastic. I will take 50%. Great!”
I realized that many of the people I have worked with in the past years have had similar attitudes—dour, pessimistic, driven by fear and disdain.
This past weekend, I had some great experiences. I met strangers who were genuinely excited to speak with me about the work that we were doing and take part. I met people from all over who had come together for one cause. I saw high school students come out to do work that never would have occurred to me to do as a high school student. I also found some really nice communities in a new town.
When I mentioned the high school students, my traveling companion hadn’t even noticed them, dismissed what I said, and returned to talking about people being uninvolved.
This work has been getting more difficult for me to do. It is stressful and unrewarding. I find myself getting anxious and depressed, in addition to feeling isolated. Looking back, the times that I have been most motivated were when I had a group of enthusiastic, motivated people to work with. I do not believe in insisting that people only look on the bright side. But I have felt the impact of ignoring the positive, seeing bad news in a 50% chance of a good outcome, and I feel a weight lifted.
This site!!
Thank you dear staff🌸
Great job on the website – very fresh and new. I am about to set off for my pre-dawn walk. The fresh-new day is always gratitude filled.
I am grateful for this new website. I am excited to
explore all the “goodies” you are offering here,
as I continue to grow my gratefulness practice.
Thank you for your love & dedication to this
Sanctuary.
One of my goals for this month, November,
is to start something new. Still not sure what it is.
Today’s question has me pondering.
Well the new beginning of a big refreshed website for one thing! The preview offered a hint of its depth and breadth and loveliness, the real thing is even more impressive than imagined.
Personally, I’m grateful for a surprise invitation to join a spiritually focused group at my new-ish church community. As one who likes starting things and likes newness I am grateful!
I’m feeling much more like myself after having covid and a frightening ear infection. Now that I had a few slower weeks to create new routines (like daily questions and gratitude practice plus finally getting back to reading again) and I have my health back, I have choices to make. How do I use my time to still fit in these activities and yet still meet my income and work responsibilities? The last few weeks taught me how to be okay with being alone and I see my relationships benefiting from that for sure so I’m grateful to have a few new perspectives to consider as I play around with what is important to pursue/schedule/value or not. Thank you all for what you’ve contributed to my life without knowing it!
Congratulations, by friend, on your regained health post-Covid. Wishing you all the best moving forward. > With peace and joy to you…Kevin
I’m grateful for the new beginning that this day offers, heralded by a gorgeous sunrise here in New Mexico. Every day, a new beginning…how extraordinary! And I’m grateful for all of the reflections here – what you’ve each shared personally and also the collective appreciation and joy about the new website. It means the world to be celebrating this moment with all of you.
Sometimes a slight change in routine can awaken us to the blessings that have been there all along – look forward to being awakened to the resources on this site, both the old and.the new.
Well, I’m grateful to begin with this new and improved website. Thank you all for your hard work and thoughtfulness. I’m looking forward to
exploring the new format.
Today I’m grateful for this beautiful new website!!! It’s wonderful and it’s clear to me that there’s a huge amount of love behind the work of the Grateful Team!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
My first new beginning today was navigating the site and figuring out how to set my nickname back to what it was. The site is beautiful and yet of course disorienting so it woke me up a bit.
Today I’m going into the office for basically the first time since March 2020. I’ve gone in once for about an hour but today I’ll be there for at least half the day for a hybrid meeting. I could have chosen to stay home and log on but I’m ready to see others (and I work for a state agency that requires vaccination so I feel okay about the proximity). I’ll still mostly work at home but I’m opening to the idea of setting a day a week or every other week that I might change spaces.
I’m also excited about a new day for the program I run, which will be receiving big new funding that lets us make the world better for real (building active transportation facilities–sidewalks, bike lanes, crossings, paths). I’ll stay excited about that for quite a while!
This is so exciting. The work you do sounds so meaningful, and I love to hear about it.
I will say that transitioning back to working in an office part-time (which I did just over a year ago) was an adjustment. Now, though, I am considering going back more frequently than I am required. I have found that the isolation has taken a toll on me, and I also need different spaces to focus better.
The new beginning for me to be grateful for is to see fear and keep letting go no matter how long it takes.
This is a beginning for me because I often feel like I should be over it or better at it. Also I have to begin to look at self loathing and see it for what it is. It’s not useful and it is a form of selfishness. This is definitely a beginning of a beautiful way to let go of that too!
Thank you for this new website and everyone here !
Well at this moment I’m settling into being grateful for, hmm, need to keep looking– where is the treasure in this moment?
I once read that a complaint is a lament, an ask, a prayer.
To pretend other than the suffering is to bypass the opportunity for evolving: coming to the new beginning
hmm- patience, I can do that 🙂