I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness—it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude. Brené Brown

Gratitude has the knack of transforming everything, be it good, bad, or ugly, into a gift. Life is often made into a battleground when it was intended to be a playground. Appreciation has a way of brightening all the aspects of life, and Thanksgiving is a way of saying yes to life. If all you want is a break from stress and a little calm in your crazy world, you’ve forgotten there‘s so much more than getting away from it all.

Waking up with grace and gratitude for the newness of a day is a blessing. Don’t get caught in the cruel memories of the past but instead, face each day with a joyous soul. Expect all to be blessed, and if not, grateful to be the one who gets to bring blessings to the playground. Just to be able to do the next right thing is a blessing, and to be thankful for the chance to do that alone is a gift. You may not feel as if you have all the tools to be the blessing, but you’ve always had enough. Be grateful that your path has prepared you for your life’s work and whatever’s next. Your appreciation could very well be the game changer for someone who’s watching you without you knowing it.

Spiritual Contemplation: Go to sleep, and upon waking, take time to contemplate all the things you have to be grateful for. During the day, doodle out a gratitude list and keep it handy on your desk so you can keep expanding it.

Affirmation: I am grateful!

Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame. Benjamin Franklin

A story is told of a young boy who continually lost his temper. So to help him gain control of his emotions, his dad gave him a bag of nails and a hammer and told him to go out to the back fence and pound a nail into it every time he got angry. At first the boy made a couple of dozen trips a day to that fence. But then over the next few weeks his trips diminished as he discovered it was easier to hold his temper than drive nails through a fence.

After the outbursts decreased, his dad told him that for each day he held his temper, he could pull a nail out of the fence. Finally, all the nails were gone, and the young boy took his dad by the hand to show him. His dad responded with great pride, but then he also pointed out that the fence, scarred with the wounds of nail holes, would never be the same.

Be careful with your anger and outbursts of temper because even though the recipient of your energetic display says things are fine afterwards, a scar is left on the psyche. You can kick someone and say you’re sorry, but the wound has been inflicted and you can’t control how it is interpreted or internalized. When you feel your emotions rising, it’s always best to still the body, quiet the mind, and remember Spirit first.

Spiritual Contemplation: When have you allowed your anger to damage a relationship? Even though the other person said everything was fine, you knew it wasn’t. Was this worth your outburst?

Affirmation: I quiet my mind in all emotional moments. I express my anger appropriately with doing harm. I am at peace in my relationships.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments. Oriah Mountain Dreamer

The next time you’re in the grocery store and someone beats you to the empty checkout lane, or the clerk is incredibly slow and you find the energy inside you rising because they should have more clerks (and you’re probably right)—breathe. Yes, breathe and look at your full shopping basket and those of the people in front of and behind you, and appreciate the abundance around you. Embrace the fact that you have all you need—plus you didn’t have to hunt and kill something for dinner. Nor are you filthy and exhausted from tilling the soil. So why work yourself up into a self-righteous tizzy just because you’re going to be home five minutes late?

Not only are you in the grocery store with so many choices for your table, you’re also at the banquet and free to choose how you will behave. Your graceful behavior is not dependent on anyone or anything outside of you. You might make the excuse that someone prompted you to be less than kind, but that in fact is merely an excuse for a poor choice you made. You wouldn’t fill your basket with food that you didn’t like or would make you sick, so what in the world are you thinking by choosing behavior and ingesting thoughts that make you cringe?

Spiritual Contemplation: When you notice energy beginning to escalate in your body, breathe and become conscious that you are at choice for your response. What kind of experience are you going to put in your cart to take home with you?

Affirmation: I am always at choice in my life!

Peace Be unto Thee, Stranger

Peace be unto thee, stranger, enter and be not afraid.
I have left the gate open and thou art welcome to my home.
There is room in my house for all.
I have swept the hearth and lighted the fire.
The room is warm and cheerful and you will find comfort and rest within.
The table is laid and the fruits of Life are spread before thee.
The wine is here also, it sparkles in the light.
I have set a chair for you where the sunbeams dance through the shade.
Sit and rest and refresh your soul.
Eat of the fruit and drink of the wine.
All, all is yours, and you are welcome.
Ernest Holmes

There is so much wonder, love, and joy in life. The banquet of life is lavishly prepared, and it’s there for you every moment! Don’t stand at the table thinking you are not worthy and don’t deserve to partake of life’s richness. Take a plate and take what you want, but not more than you can enjoy. Come back as often as you like—the table is continually replenished. Savor each bite. It’s all there for you, catered from Spirit’s boundless Love.

Spiritual Contemplation: Are you enjoying the banquet of life? What keeps you from savoring every bite and going back for more?

Affirmation: Spirit has set a lavish table and I enjoy the feast of life!

Statistics are used much like a drunk uses a lamppost: for support, not illumination. Vin Scully

Starting your day by checking the morning stats, whether sports, stocks, or social media, is a curious and entertaining way to fire up your brain for the day. Your first activity sets the tone for what’s to come, so be careful not to allow words or numbers on a page to provoke your emotions before you even get out of the house. Facts are fine but don’t let them control you. Who you are is more important than what’s being reported. Let your brain process the physical specifics but remember it’s your heart that enables you to face what this world throws at you.

You are not bound by statistics. Insurance companies know the percentage of those who will survive a particular challenge and those who won’t. What they don’t know is which side of the equation you fall into. It’s your spirit that determines how you’ll process information and how much it will impact your life. So don’t give your power away to the morning news—it’s only information and has only as much impact on your world as you allow it. Be grateful that you always have the ability to enhance the stats of your life.

Spiritual Contemplation: How do you allow reported information to stir you? Is that response all right or would you prefer to process it differently? Knowing that you are more than physical specifics, can you look at information from a greater distance with a more detached perspective? Or is it fun to be stirred by the news of the day’s sports, stocks, or social media for a brief while?

Affirmation: Who I am is greater than the law of averages!

We are each that incarnation of a divinity, and against each presses the insistent urge that will not let anyone alone because it is there: life and more life. Ernest Holmes

You are an incarnation of Divine Reality, a place where Consciousness reveals itself. You are a radiant being of light and Love. This is the absolute truth—and the only unchanging truth—about you. The Universe is infinite with an infinite number of ways that Love and Light can incarnate. You are one of those ways. You are absolutely necessary for the Universe to fully come into being and express itself. If you didn’t exist, the Universe would have “infinity minus one” way of expressing and becoming more of Itself. That’s how much you matter!

This is the inner urge that presses on each of us to live our lives fully. Whenever we feel depressed, anxious, and unable to go on—or when we want to hurt others or ourselves—this urge cannot be fully expressed. So it turns in on itself within us. We must begin to see and realize how important we are to Life itself. The way we show up, no matter what anyone else thinks, matters to the Whole to the Radiant One Life.

Spiritual Contemplation: Are you grateful to be alive? How do you express your life urge?

Affirmation: I matter! I am a part of the Whole Universe! I am grateful to be alive and to express my unique self!

Veterans Day gives all Americans a special opportunity to pay tribute to all those men and women who throughout our history, have left their homes and loved ones to serve their country. Their willingness to give freely and unselfishly of themselves, even their lives, in defense of our democratic principles has given our great country the security we enjoy today. President Ronald Reagan

From Valley Forge to the Middle East, brave men and woman have stepped forth with a promise to sacrifice everything they have to make this world a safer place for the rest of us. Today we honor all veterans who have served this country whether in peace or war. We show our gratitude to those young ones who left their families and homes to accept not only the risks to life and limb but also the soul-transforming burden of taking up arms. No amount of medical care or GI benefits can compensate for the innocence they lost. It has been said that veterans are those who wrote a blank check made payable to the United States of America for service up to and including their life. Whether you agree or disagree with what the leadership is doing, today is a day to remember those who signed that check so you could be safe in your freedom.

Spiritual Contemplation: Pause today at 11:00 a.m. and open your heart in appreciation of all those who were willing to risk everything for their belief that they were making a better world for you. Happy Veterans Day

Affirmation: I am grateful for my freedom!

The owls are gathering; find out why soon. J. K. Rowling

Your higher self is constantly communicating with you, but do you notice what it has to say? Often it may look like a sign from “beyond,” when what you are really witnessing is a reflection from your intuitive self. A cat crossing your path is just a cat crossing your path, but if something in you takes it with a significant impress then it’s yours to interpret however you wish. Often the interpretation is what your deeper yearning is for, but you haven’t yet consciously embraced. When you take a stroll with a friend who finds a feather on the path, which has great significance to her, you see it as just a feather. Neither is right or wrong. A sign is a sign only to the one who gets it.

As I sit writing in the predawn hours, my wakeup call is a screeching owl perched unapologetically outside my window. I find its presence quite unusual for my urban neighborhood. Although it’s just a bird in the fall hoping to attract a mate, an awakened imagination stirs inside of me saying that this is a messenger from one who flies between two realms, enticing me to get to the keyboard to catch what’s stirring in the universal subjective. Whether this is a bunch of hogwash or just good fodder for creation, it’s fun to think about the interplay of Spirit looking for an outlet.

Spiritual Contemplation: What signs have you received in your life that were so clear, you had no question as to the significance of what they meant in your world?

Affirmation: I am now hearing the communication from my higher self!

Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame! William Butler Yeats

The enchanting sound of chimes dancing in the wind reveals the secrets it has to tell from faraway places. Tantalized and lured by the mysterious resonances echoing in harmony with the swaying trees and rustling bushes, the soul is enticed into a secret dimension beyond the realm of typical thinking. Traveling on the sound waves of the imagination, enthralling possibilities seem possible. The mystical comes alive—the soul exposes herself, inviting a delight to come alive within your being.

In this bewitching respite from the analytical, nature calls you into remembrance of her Omnipresence. Evoked from within is the reminder that you live, move, and have your being in this Invisible Power that carries with it all that it has seen, knows, and will be. The tales it tells are for those who can decipher its mystery from its swing between the realms of here and now, and what was and what will be. Close your eyes for a second and the moment is gone. You can no longer see it, but like the wind, you can feel it.

Spiritual Contemplation: Sit outside in the wind, close your eyes, feel nature’s breath upon your body, and let her take you away.

Affirmation: I hear the secret whispers the wind has to tell!

In Wildness is the preservation of the world. Henry David Thoreau 

I have spent years reveling in wildness by wilderness hiking and camping. For me, it counts as wilderness only if I can walk for a day and not see any people or man-made structures. Out there in the wilds, I encounter a different side of the Divine Reality—unfettered by boundaries, unconfined and uncomplicated. The wilds offer a moment of deep peace because everything is simply what it is. The river doesn’t need me to ride it, enjoy it, or even see it. The water simply flows how it will. In this unpredictable jumble of leaves, twigs, and stones, shines a glorious beauty. The trees don’t need me to love them; they simply are there, being themselves in all their beauty. They stand tall and short, straight and leaning, intertwined and interwoven, creating soaring cathedrals and intimate quiet groves. I have a sense of curiosity and possibility—will there be a shy doe in the meadow or a bear crossing the trail? The sheer unknown quickens my heart and invites me to open to every possibility.

In the same way, there is a powerful wildness in your Soul that is the infinite, awesome mystery of Life itself. Do not seek to be too outwardly perfect. Rather, seek to perfectly allow your soul to break through the confines of worldly acceptability. Let the unpredictable beauty of you run through everything you do. Allow yourself to simply be who you are.

Spiritual Contemplation: When and how do you experience the wildness of your soul? What has tamed you beyond endurance?

Affirmation: I revel in the wildness of my Soul and allow the mystery of being to shine forth in me.

Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. Desmond Tutu

When you have a great thought about someone and you don’t share it with them, what good does it do them? If you think someone is beautiful, kind, generous, or helpful, and you don’t acknowledge how you’ve been touched, you withhold a reciprocating gift. Why hold on to a blessing when giving it makes everyone feel better? You can feel good thoughts until the cows come home but they won’t have a positive impact or bring any blessings if they stay in your head. You must voice your thoughts.

It’s as if some people feel it’s their birthright to be a critic and point out what’s not working. Ask yourself whether you want to build people up—or tear them down. Do you want to walk in the garden and see the gifts that abound, or do you want to walk in a barren desert devoid of the richness that nurtures life? It’s your choice as to how you perceive and talk about your world. How do you want your friends to feel after you leave? Do you think your presence makes them feel better or worse? Do you want to be known and remembered as a blessing, or a downer? Do you make positive deposits to your relationships, or do you withdraw the good? Are you a giver or a taker? By sharing a kind thought that costs you nothing you leave the world blessed.

Spiritual Contemplation: Find at least ten places where you can share a kind thought today. Notice how that feels.

Affirmation: I am aware of blessings filling my life!

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. John F. Kennedy

I read this headline, “The Single Thing That Guarantees Success,” the other day and thought that someone was making an outrageous claim so they could sell me something. I was still intrigued, so I looked into their claims. To my astonishment, I discovered sound spiritual advice for everyday living and for creating success in business, relationships, and one’s own life experience.

What is this secret? It is the attitude of gratitude, the expression of appreciation, the ability to give thanks throughout one’s day and interactions. What a novel concept . . . neither a program nor elixir designed to make me a better manager or cure my ills, but rather a simple and elegant spiritual truth.

Gratitude focuses us on what is good in what is present. We know that what one focuses on continues to grow in consciousness and in reality. Growing dreams into reality and valuing others and ourselves while experiencing Love as the very wind beneath our wings—this seems like a perfect recipe for success and a powerful platform from which to make a meaningful contribution to life.

Spiritual Contemplation: Are you grateful to, and for, the people in your life—at home and at work?

Affirmation: I easily express and share my gratitude for those in my life. I appreciate everyone who shares the journey with me!

No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude. Alfred North Whitehead

Appreciation increases the value of things in our own eyes and in the eyes of others. Through appreciation we are reminded that others make valuable contributions, and more importantly, that they are intrinsically valuable just in themselves. These realizations enhance our relatedness and connection so that interactions move more smoothly as we seek to do our best for each other.

Giving thanks centers us in the Divine Reality of Love. The simple act of grace at a meal is a deep realization that we are completely interdependent with all of life. Each bite is a surrendering of life so that life may continue. This life is the ONE LIFE that emanates through all creation with a pure and unstinting Love. It gives itself freely and completely into all of Life, and to us, holding nothing back. Thanksgiving opens our heart to the humble realization that we have done nothing to earn this Divine grace, for it is freely and forever being given. Appreciation of others and of all life reminds us how much we are loved and supported.

Spiritual Contemplation: Who graces your life with their presence? How have you appreciated them? Do you live a life of appreciation?

Affirmation: I easily and joyously appreciate those around me. I am aware of everyone’s contribution to my life. I am grateful to contribute to the lives of others!