December 2010
1 post
8 tags
I am grateful for Jokes.
There is nothing like a good joke to bring a room of dull boredom to a room full of vibrant smiles and contagious energy. A joke in the line at the market can instantly connect us to the people standing behind us in the same situation we’re in. A joke can recenter us when we are in the middle of a frustrating situation and keep us from blowing a gasket. And a joke can instantly show us in sad...
July 2010
2 posts
9 tags
I am grateful for Imagination.
Children have the gift of imagination. They imagine that they are doctors or pilots or professional athletes. They imagine that their bedroom is a set to a movie. They imagine that they are married to prince charming. If they can imagine it, they can experience it.
As we grow up, we often stuff away our imagination and put down our dreams by calling them silly or unrealistic. We think imagination...
10 tags
I am grateful for History.
Photo courtesy of GenBug.
This weekend is Independence Day here in the US of A. In the midst of parties and fireworks (and maybe a little grilling in flip-flops), I hope we’ll take a minute to pause and reflect on how much our independence truly offers us. Thanks to our founding fathers and the men and women who have continued to fight for our liberties and freedom, we live a very privileged...
June 2010
4 posts
8 tags
I am grateful for Grilling.
The smell of a grill firing up makes me want to grab a refreshing beverage, go out on the deck and relax in the company of friends and family. Grilling is both functional and fun. It allows the cook to mingle with guests, meals to be easily customized per guest’s order, the mess and the heat from cooking to stay outside, and in many families gives the wife/mom a break from cooking.
I am grateful...
9 tags
I am grateful for Flip-Flops.
Who can’t commend the go-to summer footwear, the flip-flop? Most of us can’t afford to have heels or sneakers in every color, but flip-flops are inexpensive enough that we could have a pair in every color we want. And they are so slim, we could even pack them all in our summer vacation luggage, which means no outfits left behind! Even the name is fun to say, flip-flop, flip-flop.
I love finding...
9 tags
I am grateful for Employment.
In this economy, anyone with employment has a reason to be grateful. The simple things like food, shelter, and work that we tend to cross off our gratitude or prayer lists as “a given” are becoming less and less of a given and more and more of a treasured gift. In times of difficulty, gratitude actually tends to increase as we realize how much we take for granted.
Today, I’m thankful for...
11 tags
I am grateful for Distance.
Distance has a way of revealing truth. When distance comes between us and our experiences, our view becomes wider and we see the full picture. Sometimes distance is accompanied by grace and understanding for people (including ourselves) who caused us pain. We may find ourselves empathizing with actions we once believed unthinkable. Distance may also reveal ugly truths about people we’ve idolized...
May 2010
3 posts
12 tags
I am grateful for Change.
Every change in our life is an opportunity for us to express gratitude. As we move from one season to the next, we can look back and appreciate the joy the season we are leaving brought us, and even the lessons of hardship. We can be thankful that we have new experiences ahead. Even when change doesn’t seem good, we can be grateful for the opportunity to reflect on our values, opinions, or...
9 tags
I am grateful Brains.
Our brain is a magnificent part of the human body and is what allows us to feel gratitude in the first place. It mostly functions without us thinking about it, but just like our muscles, we can train our brain to be stronger in certain areas. In a world obsessed with negativity, it is important to train our brain to focus on the positive.
The benefits of positive thinking are abundant, including...
9 tags
I am grateful for Authenticity.
You know that feeling when you meet someone and you just really connect with them and you can’t explain why? Often when that happens to me it’s not because of our common interests, it’s just that they seem so “real” or genuine that it’s hard not to like them.
So many people are afraid to be authentic that when we meet someone who is, it’s refreshing. They seem more interesting and dynamic than...
April 2010
3 posts
10 tags
I am grateful for Zero.
Obviously, I’m not saying that I’m grateful for nothing! I am grateful for the occasional presence of nothing, though. Zero, zilch, zippo are sometimes the reasons I’m most grateful. I love when I can say: My inbox is at zero. There’s not a rain cloud in the sky. I have zilch drama in my life. The house is empty for a few hours. In our busy over-stuffed lives, we need the simplicity of emptiness...
13 tags
I am grateful for Y'all.
Yes, in Texas “y’all” is a word! It’s actually a handy word that shortens the phrase “you all” and simplifies addressing a casual group. Southerners like to keep life simple and, although we get a lot of flak for our usage of “y’all,” maybe others could learn a little from our southern drawl. More short, sweet, and simple. Less complex, stuffy, and rigid.
Are you saying more than you have to in...
11 tags
I am grateful for eXtremes.
I don’t often encourage going to the extreme, but sometimes we need a little extreme in our life. Training for a marathon, for example, requires an extreme amount of exercise, discipline, and commitment, much more than your average runner, but it also reaps extreme satisfaction. Positive extremes that push us out of our comfort zone are often the catalyst of growth that we need to reach our goals...
March 2010
4 posts
15 tags
I am grateful for Weeding.
It’s that time of year. Gardening, mowing and weeding begin. I don’t know about you, but weeding my flowerbeds is actually cathartic to me. When I pull weeds, I reflect on my life and the “weeds” that I may need to remove.
Some weeds are actually quite pretty, but they suffocate the other plants around them and cause destruction in the garden. There are things like that in my life that are...
15 tags
I am grateful for Volunteering.
Some of my greatest life work has been the work that wasn’t returned with a paycheck. When we choose to give our time to a cause, a charity, or an organization we choose to put other’s needs above our own desires. Some roles simply can’t produce the same results when they aren’t done by volunteers. Would a child be affected the same way if they had to pay a mentor to spend time with them? Would...
15 tags
I am grateful for U-Turns.
“Make a legal u-turn when possible.” This is what my GPS tells me when I’ve gone too far or veered onto the wrong road. Without a GPS, I might not know I’m heading in the wrong direction until something doesn’t feel right, I realize I no longer recognize my surroundings, or I see a sign that clearly says I’m in the wrong place. In our life, we have moments when we realize we aren’t in the place...
9 tags
I am grateful for Tears.
Sometimes we just need to have a good cry. In fact, tears are our body’s way of helping us cope with stressful or painful situations. The way our body is made to function and care for itself never ceases to amaze me. We are so quick these days to reach for medications, the busyness of unimportant to-do lists, or TV and junk food to minimize pain and emotions, but sometimes freeing ourselves to...
February 2010
4 posts
10 tags
I am grateful for Soul.
Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you. ~ Oscar Wilde
Some say that the soul is who we really are, that we have a body, but we are a soul. I love that thought combined with Oscar Wilde’s quote that our soul can’t be taken from us. Everything can be stripped away, yet no one can strip us of our soul.
You never...
9 tags
I am grateful for Readers.
My book and the inspiration for this weekly blog, Alphatudes: The Alphabet of Gratitude, is now available for purchase. Without readers, a book is just pages full of words and pictures. Readers are what allow a book to be useful, entertaining and inspirational. It can be none of those things on a shelf.
I have been overwhelmed with gratitude by the responses to Alphatudes. The reviews have all...
7 tags
I am grateful for Questions.
If there were no questions, this would be a very boring life. If no one ever questioned whether the earth was flat, we would still live in fear that we’d fall of the earth if we traveled too far. Because of questions, we can travel aROUND the world and experience new places, sights, smells and cultures.
Without questions, there would be no means for change or growth. There would be no...
12 tags
I am grateful for Pictures.
If you watch The Office on NBC, you likely watched the episode where Jim and Pam finally got married. Throughout the day, they each pretended to snap a photo during sweet moments they didn’t want to forget, filing them away as mental pictures. Their big day had many ups and downs that could have ruined the average wedding, but they focused on remembering their favorite moments. When we’re down or...
January 2010
4 posts
12 tags
I am grateful for Options.
iPad or Kindle? Latte or Cappuccino? Democrat or Republican? Walk or Drive? Jewish or Catholic? Sometimes our options are overwhelming and the choices aren’t always easy, but I’m filled with gratitude when I think of the options I have on any given day. Options are a gift from the men and women who fought for our freedom and who continue to fight for our safety. I’m overwhelmed when I think of the...
10 tags
I am grateful for Notes.
A stamped, hand-addressed envelope among impersonal labeled and metered mail stands out. It says, “Someone took the time to send something to ME, not just a random person in a database.” Opening it up to find a hand-written note from a friend is a treasure. In a world of Twitter, Facebook, IM, and email, reaching out requires almost no effort. Notes aren’t so easy. They require buying stationary, ...
8 tags
I am grateful for Mistakes.
Did you know a root cause of procrastination is the fear of making a mistake? Why do we turn in a report to our boss at the very last minute when we’ve had all week to work on it? Usually because we feel like we don’t know how to do it or it won’t be what the boss wanted. We avoid promotions, exciting opportunities, and meaningful relationships because we’re afraid of messing them up. In most...
8 tags
I am grateful for Life.
Life is short. Life is sweet. Life is wonderful. Life is hard. Life is good. Life is beautiful. Life is complicated. Life is like a box of chocolates. From all the little quotes on what life is, we know it is anything from a walk in the park to a hike in an ice storm. Everyone’s life experiences and circumstances are different. But even in all the differences, life is the one thing that evens out...
December 2009
5 posts
9 tags
I am grateful for "Klinks."
Happy New Year! Tonight across the world glasses will raise and the sound of “Klink” will ring in our ears as friends offer toasts to their loved ones, to new relationships, to new lives being started, and to new beginnings. I’m raising my glass to you. May this new year be full of blessings for you and your family. KLINK! Here’s an article I was interviewed for in the Dallas Morning News on...
9 tags
I am grateful for Joy.
One definition of joy is “a deep feeling or condition of happiness or contentment.” This is the kind of joy that makes me grateful. The kind that isn’t circumstantial, but is steady and rooted much too deep to be stolen away by a bad day or even week. The word JOY is being sprinkled around everywhere right now as if joy belongs to the holiday season. But no amount of decorations, presents, or even...
6 tags
I am grateful for Intentions.
It’s getting close to the end of the year and many of us are looking back and saying, “Well I guess I’m not going to lose 20 pounds this year,” or “I guess I’ll never finish cleaning out the garage after all….” But, instead of getting down about unreached goals, we can choose to be grateful for where our intentions brought us. Maybe you lost five pounds instead of 20 or you realized you’re happy...
5 tags
I am grateful for Help.
When we attempt to do everything on our own, we often end up feeling burnt out, resentful, and sometimes even physically ill. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but one of wisdom. What good is a spouse, parent, or employee who does every little task on their own if they are too stressed to enjoy a relationship or too busy to be creative or to think about big picture goals?
Asking for help...
5 tags
I am grateful for Games.
What livens up a group of strangers, a tense family event, a boring meeting, or a party fallen flat better than a game? When we were kids, everything became a game. Wouldn’t life be more fun if we still made a game out of car rides, cooking, exercising, and cleaning?
This holiday season, let’s add a game to family gatherings or turn mundane tasks into games to keep our spirits high.
A simple...
November 2009
4 posts
7 tags
I am grateful for Family.
This Thanksgiving we can be grateful for family: the family that is here with us today, the family that is here with us in memory, the family that we were born or adopted into, the family we have made through friendships, the family that we can’t wait to see, and even the family that we dread seeing.
I know holidays can be hard for some of us. In honor of Thanksgiving, let’s focus on what we are...
7 tags
I am grateful for Energy.
Energy allows us to enjoy each moment in our day to the fullest. When we are low on energy, our ability to observe our surroundings is lower and as a result, we simply miss experiences, smells, and sounds we otherwise would notice. To avoid letting the joys of life pass us by we can make intentional efforts to be more energetic.
Exercise for at least 15 minutes a day
Stretch as soon as you crawl...
9 tags
I am grateful for Discussions.
I am so grateful for all of the comments on my blog, Twitter account, and Facebook page this week. The contest has been a great discussion starter, and I’ve enjoyed hearing what makes YOU grateful for a change!
Each entry made me smile and warmed my heart, but there could only be one winner. The randomly selected winner is:
MARTHA GRADY
Martha, I’ll contact you soon to schedule your...
11 tags
I am grateful for Comments & Contests
Comments and contests make blogging and social networking more fun. I just added a new comment feature to my blog and to celebrate I’m running a contest!
THE PRIZE (valued at $325): The winner of the contest will receive Marcus Buckingham’s book, NOW, Discover Your Strengths, and a coaching session with me. In the 60-minute Individual Strengths Discovery Session™ you will find what makes...
October 2009
5 posts
6 tags
I am grateful for Breaks.
Breaks from work, relationships, life, or activities allow us to step back and see our circumstances more clearly. Breaks give us rest so we can come back with more energy and a better attitude. Breaks help us heal our wounds, both physical and emotional. Breaks help us remember who we are and give us a chance to reflect on who we would like to become.
I took a break last week and headed to the...
6 tags
I am grateful for Artists.
Artists have a special gift for seeing the world through a unique set of eyes. They see beauty when others see junk. They hear rhythm when others hear noise. They embrace oddities when others reject them.
Has a piece of art ever changed your perspective on life or simply your mood for the day? I’d love to hear your stories.
I recently experienced U2 live in concert. I’ve always loved the song...
4 tags
I am grateful for Zippers.
We use zippers every day to make life easier and to save us time. Zippers keep our pants on, our purses secure, and our pillows free of dust.
Today I will zip around town securely knowing I’m zipped up from toe to tote!
I am grateful for Yarn.
The cool months are rolling in and we are all hoping to bundle up in our sweaters and scarves before long. Our children are coming home with fall crafts they made at school and we’re decorating our yards with scarecrows and pumpkins. Yarn allows us to have warm scarves around our neck and gives our scarecrows and our art projects “hair.” Wouldn’t Autumn be different without yarn?
Today I will...
I am grateful for eXtras.
Who doesn’t love something extra? Extra fudge on our Sunday, extra time for a project, extra hospitality at the airport…we all love to get something extra. Extras are unexpected and over the top, which make us extra grateful.
Today I will give extra to everything I do. I’ll work extra hard for my clients, give extra affection to my loved ones, and treat strangers with extra kindness.
September 2009
4 posts
I am grateful for Waves.
Watching waves roll up on the beach and then back out into the sea relaxes our bodies and minds. When we are stressed or busy, we can close our eyes and visualize waves washing up onto our feet as our toes sink into the sand, letting our breathing patterns follow the rhythm of waves.
Today I will visualize my breath as a wave coming over my toes, breathing in as the wave covers my feet and out as...
I am grateful for Volkswagens
Something about seeing an old Volkswagen van or “slug bug” makes us smile. The fun shapes and bright colors remind us of our youth. Peace, love, and happiness instantly come to mind when a vintage Volkswagen drives by. They are reminders of freedom of expression and creativity and a celebration of individuality.
Today I will celebrate my freedom to be creative and to express myself through the...
I am grateful for Universities.
Universities are launching pads for many of our careers. We can grow and push ourselves at new levels and discover passions that were waiting to be explored. We often learn about community, loneliness, and love during our college years. In life we’re constantly learning; universities allow us to learn to our hearts’ content.
Today, I will reflect on my time spent at a university learning and...
I am grateful for Texas
Texas is a place I call home. It’s where I live, laugh, play, work, and lay my head. I love to travel, but am always glad to be home to this great big state, where saying “ma’am” and “sir” is still common courtesy and men still open doors for women. Even in the big cities, Texans still find time to slow down and enjoy simple things in life. What are you grateful...
August 2009
1 post
I am grateful for my Stepchildren.
Stepchildren are the added bonus we get when we form a loving bond with one of their parents. When we choose to focus on the miraculous ways they add to our lives and the lessons in our own personal growth that they foster - gratefulness is the natural response.
Today, I enjoy my stepchildren’s company and engage in loving, playful and fun activities. www.alphatudes.com
July 2009
2 posts
I am grateful for my Neighbors.
Neighbors can provide the sense of community we so desire. With the disappearance of porches and higher fences, we must make an extra effort to connect with the people who share our small piece of the world. We need to be good neighbors to have good neighbors.
Today, I will make myself available to my neighbors by reaching out in a loving way. www.alphatudes.com
I am grateful for Bees.
Bees magically produce honey! What a sweet delight for our tastebuds and a reminder to savor life’s sweetness. Today, I will be aware and appreciative of those who are contributing sweetness to our world. www.alphatudes.com
June 2009
2 posts
I am grateful for Dogs.
The fun-filled, in the moment love and spirited companionship of our faithful dogs is uplifting and healing to our souls. Today, I will give extra kisses, hugs and love to my dog(s) … maybe even an adventure walk into unexplored territory! www.alphatudes.com
What is your favorite thing about your dog?
I am grateful for Abundance.
A feeling of abundance is available to all of us when we choose to focus our attention on what we have already been given, instead of what is missing. When we are mindful and generously offer thanks for our many gifts, we experience a warm, visceral sense of gratitude.
Today, I choose to be aware of and give thanks for the many blessings in my life.
Learn more about Michele Wahlder’s...
May 2009
11 posts
I am grateful for Zeal.
Zeal is energy and optimism. When we embrace our daily tasks with zeal, we infuse positivity and life-sustaining chi into everything we do. Today, I will embrace all my tasks with zeal and enthusiasm.
Learn more about Michele Wahlder’s forthcoming book, Alphatudes: The Alphabet of Gratitude at www.alphatudes.com.
I am grateful for Yesterday.
Yesterday is gone, but the lessons, accomplishments and successes are with us each day of our lives. Every day is a new opportunity to build on the lessons of the day before. Today, I will respect the many yesterdays before me as I prepare to make the most of today.
Learn more about Michele Wahlder’s forthcoming book, Alphatudes: The Alphabet of Gratitude at www.alphatudes.com.