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Happy Friday everyone … no wait, scratch that! Happy GRATEFULNESS FRIDAY EVERYONE!!!!!!!
That sentence is evidence of just how awesomely grateful we can all be today. I chose to step away from writing on thrift store style and vintage fashion and debuted this blog post last week because I’ve found that I am most grateful when awake to my gratefulness.
It’s like stopping to smell the roses: Every week, I choose to stop, find some roses, and smell them … and then write to you all about those sweet smells here, so that you can go and pick flowers to make your own bouquet of gratefulness.
I’ve been taking a course at Philosophy Works, which is a practical school for ANYONE to take courses and participate in an inspiring classroom helping you to be alive, and feel awake, in every single moment of your life. The course was suggested to me by a friend. At first I resisted, thinking that it might be, “too much for me.” And you get what I mean by those quotes — I thought the course would be too “crunchy” and “new age.”
While initially resisting, I gave it some thought and instead chose to open my heart to the idea because I recognized that it was an opportunity to learn. Because every single experience and event in our lives is an opportunity to learn — no matter it’s “positive” or “negative” connotation. By opening my heart to the class, I’ve also opened my heart to some simple ideas that have helped my path of continuous growth and evolution as an awake — and thereby happier! — individual.
I wanted to share with you some of the simple ideas I’ve derived from the first two sessions of the class. I have faith that these practical pieces of advice will help you TODAY! if you consciously remember to simply think of them in moments they are most useful.
And while practicing what you preach is not always easy, it gets easier and more natural with every single time you practice it. Think of your mind — and your resulting emotions from that mindset — as a muscle. We must work our muscles and manage them always so that we maintain strength of living “in the moment.”
We all possess the muscles — and the potential for strength! I hope that today’s post inspires you to work those muscles and to begin to feel the benefits of experiencing gratefulness NOW for happiness ALWAYS.
I love comments — and I love them from YOU! Feel free to share something you are grateful for in the comments below, or by sending me an email, tweeting, or leaving a note on the Facebook page!
Happy Gratefulness Friday Lovelies!
xx, SD
I am grateful for … The Wise Woman Who Lives Within
Ah, my wise woman! I bow down before you and welcome you into my life with open arms.
We all have a wise woman or wise man within. It’s the voice of intuition, it’s the voice of self-love, it’s the voice of calm. While we all have a wise man or woman within, we also have a non-wise woman or man within. And like an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, these wise voices can give you conflicting thoughts. And one thought may overshadow the other, or one thought may “win” over the other although you hear both equally and clearly.
Maybe you’ve never met the wise man or woman within. Maybe you’re not even sure if they’re there. Well, I have a secret for you on how to properly meet the wise sage of your mind. It’s simple: Speak to it, and allow it to respond.
When you are presented with a difficult situation that makes your heart beat faster, your mind buzz with adrenaline, your fingers twitch … ask your wise self for advice. “What would a wise person do in this situation?” Thanks to the presence of a wise person within us, we all know the answer to the question as it relates to each situation at hand. The answer lives within us, but it is not always on the surface. Pull the answer to the surface by asking for that wise person to converse with us.
The voice of the wise may be muffled at first — and you may not want to listen to it either. But over time, with each question you ask of it, you will build that wise man or woman’s confidence. He or she will emerge faster and stronger because you are empowering it with your questions. And eventually, the wise man or woman will be there always, bobbing on the surface, ready to hold your mind and actions steady when the current of life gets rocky in its river.
I am grateful for … Choosing My Own Emergencies, Not Allowing Them to Choose Me
Ah, the “E” word! I know, I don’t enjoy reading or thinking about it, either. But like a shot at the doctor’s office that you have to get, this is a shot of awakening that you need to get to: There are no emergencies in life unless you choose to make them an emergency.
We live in a digitally driven world that moves at the speed of life. We live in a society that focuses on what you can now, what you can do tomorrow, and what the heck did you do yesterday?! Success is fleeting and everyone seems to want a piece of “you.” You find yourself asking, “Why can’t I own every piece of me? Why do I feel like a pizza pie, handing out slice after slice and never enjoying a piece for myself?”
All of the above is true. This all exists. But guess what? You don’t have to exist that way. You don’t have to exist with that mindset, those actions, those emergencies.
It’s as simple as deciding not to reply to an email that is not your emergency at the moment. Or as simple as not answering a phone call. Or as simple as feeling better about being a few minutes late to a coffee date.
Sure, real life has real emergencies. And in those emergencies, we respond. But we respond with calmness, steadiness, and strength of will and mind. Our best selves are presented in true emergencies — and we are not struggling to maintain an emotional calm within. It is just there, moving us through the motions to respond to the emergency at hand with natural, free action.
If an “emergency” presents itself to you today, take a deep breath before deciding to respond. Is this a real emergency? Does this need responded to now or taken action to now? Part of success is recognizing what not to focus your attention to — or respond to. If the emergency does not add to your success right now by responding to it, experiment by not responding at all. You may be surprised to find that when not responding to what you might have thought was an emergency, it becomes not an emergency at all. It literally solves itself.
I am grateful for … Obstacles Which Present an Opportunity to Grow
I think a lot of us feel the same way: We are waiting for that euphoric moment when “everything is going to be OK.” It’s almost like we’re holding our breath … holding strong in the pain of now for the promise of a painless future.
Well, I have great news! Pain is always. Obstacles are reoccurring. Struggle is inevitable. OK, I hear your thoughts right now … doesn’t really sound like great news at first.But trust me on this: it is. It’s great news because it means that we will never stop growing. We will never stop evolving as people of a greater collective, whether that collective consists of people, energy, all animals, or just your own little ball of life glowing right here, right now.
The other great news: There is no promise of a “better” tomorrow. That better tomorrow is actually closer than you think. Like your own little glowing ball of life, it’s right here, right now. Life is not a promise. Life is permanence … and you’re living it with each moment. So as each moment presents it’s own unique challenge you have your own unique choice to make that challenge an opportunity for your ball of life to burn brighter, become bolder, become as BRILLIANT as it can possibly be!
My last great bit of news, and then I will quiet my own burning light: This brilliance has no limits. Like there are no “promises” of a greater tomorrow in life, there is no promise of a “finish line.” In other words: our futures don’t matter. What matters is your moment right now. Your choice right now. Your opportunistic obstacle right this very second.
Remember that you are burning bright just by being. Burn bright within, and it will fuel a fire you didn’t know you even had.
I am grateful for … Choices to Help Me Direct My Attention to What I Want to Grow
At this very moment as I type these words, I’m directing my attention to that which I truly want to grow. My website! I’m blogging in this moment because my attention is focused on that action 100 percent. This moment, and the next moment, and that moment thereafter … each of them, I own the power to make a choice how I want to direct my attention to each. I’m continuing to choose my focus — drive that attention — into this blog post so that I can grow Sammy Davis Vintage and give my audience inspiration to live happier, fulfilled lives.
I could be making myself a late breakfast right now. I could be on Facebook or Twitter, connecting with Sammy Davis Vintage followers. Or, I could be taking a shower and putting on a nice outfit to look and feel good. Sure, all of those options are great — they are a part of life! But because my priority is to grow this web site, and to grow your faith in Sammy Davis Vintage and your love for yourself as inspired by this site, well! it makes a lot of sense why I would put off all of the previously mentioned options to give my attention to this blog post right now.
Life is choice. While we can’t plan our choices, we can allow them to be presented to us, and with each “cross road” we can ask ourselves the same question to decide how to proceed best to reach our full potential: “Do I want this to grow, or do I want that to grow?”
Choosing how to direct your attention will give you focus, it will give you passion, and it will give you strong sense of self. Recognize that there is no clear path. We are constantly choosing a curve, or a fork, or a “short cut.” Choose your direction because it helps what you want most in life to GROW.
I am grateful for … How Much Fun Life Really Is!
Think about it right now: How much fun is life?! Seriously! Life is our game — life is our toy to play with! We are on this planet for no other reason than to reach our highest selves, and to have fun doing it.
The trick about looking at life as a joyride: every single experience is fun. The bad ones. The good ones. The pain, the pleasure, the potential for both! Life is a joyride because while we make plans, life happens to us as we make those plans. Nothing we “set in stone” is every truly set in stone — and knowing how little control we have, and accepting that we are life’s liberty and in a way, are just playthings of the universe itself — then we can tilt our heads back and laugh at all.
When life gives you lemons, smile at those lemons. Maybe throw them against the wall … maybe make that lemonade. Or maybe, every once in a while, we don’t even have to do anything about those lemons. We can just accept them as part of the joyride, and know that while frightening at moments, rollercoasters are always fun. Just like life itself. Your life, my life … our lives.
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