“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
17. The Sauna after a workout
18. Sex
19. Foreign 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
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)
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
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
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
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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