13.2.14

Inspiration: What Are You Grateful For Today?

"Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." Melody Beattie 

During this Valentine's Day Season, What are you grateful for?


Happy Valentine's Day 2014!  With Valentine's Day around the corner, people are thinking about their loved ones and making arrangements for a fun day. This is also a time to pause and be thankful for all that we have. At the end of the day, nothing  matters more than the love we share and the grace we receive from others. Below are six of  twelve things I am grateful for today and during this season. The remaining six are in the latter half of this post. There is also a NaBloPoMo Gratitude linkup below; feel free to add a gratitude or happy post to share with others. Thank you! What are you grateful for today? What am I grateful for today?  I am grateful for the following:

 Life:  It is such a precious gift and when we lose someone dear, we are reminded how important it is to always say thank you and show love. One of my favorite child actors, Shirley Temple, dead recently at 85. She was a great gift and I am thankful to the love she shared in her films.
 Love:  We love our friends and family; that's a given, but with Valentine's Day a few deep breaths away, random acts of  loving kindness will make someone's day and the world brighter.
Family: Everything begins and ends with family, and our family includes those whose friendships go deeper even than familial bonds. Family is kin and kindred souls. I'm grateful for both.

True Friendships:  Friendships matter and we don't forget them ever. I cherish my friendships and wish all the blessing of true friendship; unlike the one shared in this story of friendship gone wrong
Food:  We have abundant food in the US and so it's easy to forget that, in many parts of the world, people eat once a day ... and not healthy foods. With about 90% of the world's population estimated by the UN to be food deprived; they eat one meal a day. food is medicine and a blessing.
Maintaining a Sense of Humor:  We need humor to help us stay healthy physically/mentally, and maintain our calm in hard times.  The Dumb Starbucks parody made me laugh and that is something to be thankful for - Laughter
Happy Valentine's Day. What are you thankful for today?  More Below



"'Thank you' is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding." Alice Walker 


Gratitude extends beyond us to others; including our cats and dogs



February is the month for love and random kindness. Let's celebrate it by being kinder to others. Most of us work hard to keep an open mind about things that are unfamiliar, let's embrace our differences and celebrate our gifts. It is not a bad time to start releasing resentments, judgements and petty prejudices. Love is universal and we are all children of the Creator... What else are you thankful for? What else am I thankful for?

Acceptance:  If we open our minds and accept all as children of God, we can encourage people to not hide but stay true to who they are. I accept the fact that sameness is not what makes the world vibrant and alive. I accept all and celebrate our similarities and differences.  I applaud Micheal Sam for coming out.
Gifts/Interests
We are all blessed with special skills and gifts and it would be sad to not use them. Those who remind us to stay passionate about our gifts/interests like Julia Lipnitskaia are a joy to watch in action. I am grateful for that.
Holding My Tongue:
It is normal to express anger and frustration but, we must choose our battles and leave the rest.  I don't like any form of injustice, unfairness, prejudice or bullying, and will speak up about those things, but for other things I bite my tongue. If we don't watch our words, we could get a tongue lashing like Samuel L. Jackson gave a reporter yesterday. I am grateful for those moments when I hold my tongue.

Our loving pets:
For those of us who have pets, we can't talk enough about how much they love us unconditionally. We have a cat. Our pets could be cats or show dogs or some other animal, it doesn't matter. I am grateful for the love shared.
For The spirit of bravery and innovation:
Every year, we see new things that make our lives easy. We also make changes in our lives to accommodate others or care for a family member. We bravely start a new path with no clear signs of success; it takes bravery to do these things.  All need to be applauded. I also applaud entrepreneurs, and these top innovative companies of 2014, for taking risks to build winning companies. I am grateful for the times I show courage.
Learning something new:
I'm a life long student and every day I learn something new, it gives me joy.  So when Dong Nguyen decided to kill his creation I learned about his app; Flappy Bird  has been trending everywhere. It was an app I had never heard of until its creator/designer freaked out and killed it... He was tired of the fame and attention directed at him.... Huge lesson for us all.

 

How to get involved in the Gratitude Linkup
Write and post an entry in your own blog containing your gratitude list for a moment in time.
Share the URL to your gratitude blog post by clicking the "add your link" button at the end of this post and filling out the information.
Share the Gratitude Linkup with your blog readers by clicking the "get the InLinkz code" link at the end of this post and copy/past the appropriate code into your gratitude blog post.
Visit some of the blogs listed in the Gratitude Linkup and comment on their posts.Viola! Happy Valentine's!



 
 Some Food for Thought: Do you keep a Gratitude Journal? What are you Thankful for?    If you could change one thing in the world as a gift for your Thankfulness, what would it be? Love and Peace!

I would love to hear from you: Please leave me a comment. Thank You!

PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photographs: Valentine's DayCat and dog, via Wikipedia, News media, Flickr or my personal collection.

Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet


33 comments:

  1. I am thankful for my family, their health, that we have a roof over our heads, food on our table, etc :) I have lots to be thankful for.

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  2. Today and every day I am thankful for a beautiful yet healthy family. I am greatful for my husband who is by far the perfect example of a man, husband, and father. I am thankful for so much but those are most important.

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  3. I do keep a gratitude journal - I use an app and record in it daily. So helpful to reflect, especially on the days we're not feeling particularly grateful.

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  4. Aww, I love the picture of your cat and dog! They look like great friends. Today I'm grateful that, despite over a foot of snow, we didn't lose power!

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  5. I don't keep a gratitude journal but I think it would be a great idea!

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  6. No, I do not keep a gratitude journal--I keep it in my heart. That way I only have to look within myself to be glad.

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  7. Gratitude is do powerful!
    We need to recognize the good in our lives and value it

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  8. I'm thankful for my family, of course. I'm also thankful for my faith and more specifically, for some good news I received yesterday.

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  9. Fantastic post, very thought provoking - I like to think I try and show those I love that I love them daily, and that I am so grateful to have them around - instead of saving it for a certain day as well you never know.. x

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  10. I am grateful for my boys I am always grateful for them! Sometimes we lose sight of what is really important in life. Thank you so much for asking!

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  11. I agree, everything does begin and end with family. :) I am very grateful for mine!!

    Happy Valentine's Day to you!

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  12. What am I grateful for today? Number one hands down is my family. I have grateful that my parents have lived a wonderful long full life and that I have had all of these precious moments with them.

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  13. Cute pooch!! My son came into my bedroom crying because he thought our dog ran away. I was so grateful that she came to me when I called for her.

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  14. Love your fur friends! Thanks for making me take the second to think of all I have. I have been blessed with far more than I deserve! :)

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  15. I am grateful for my kids and having life and good health

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  16. I'm grateful for so much. At this particular moment, I'm appreciating that my heat works. :)

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  17. I am thankful for my family. Today is Love day and we are complete!

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  18. Beautiful post! So glad to have you join the Gratitude Linkup. :)

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  19. Very complete...you've point it all...besides, you have the power to influence people with your articles.

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  20. Cute pets! I'm grateful for love and God of course. He gave me all I need, my friends, my family and my boyfriend.

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  21. Complete....you point it out, all...besides, you've got the heart to influence others.

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  22. I am so thankful to have been blessed with three beautiful blessings in my life. They make my world go round! And oh so much more :)

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  23. I love the idea of a gratitude journal! Very cute furry friends there.

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  24. I keep a gratitude journal and, for Valentine's, I am grateful for the thoughtfulness of friends and the love of family.

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  25. I am grateful for a lot of things but most especially for my family!

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  26. I was watching Oprah one day and she talked about how she keeps a gratitude journal. I started to keep on too but these days I just wake up and count my blessings! No matter how little they might be I;m thankful for them.

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  27. I am thankful for so many things God has blessed me with. I'm thankful for my family and friends who loves me for who I am. I am thankful for the loving pet I have at home who shows me how much she loves me unconditionally. I am thankful for the job that provides for our living and thankful for all that we are blessed with that we can happily share to everyone.

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  28. What beautiful and profound thoughts---things that we should all remember to be grateful for every day!

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  29. Sometimes, we tend to think of the negative stuff that keeps happening that we forget about those things (and they do outnumber the bad) that we should be grateful for.

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  30. There is always a lot to be thankful for. Happy Valentine's Day to you.

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  31. moment with my husband...talking and laughing about anything under the sun

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  32. Such an impactive post! I love the idea of a gratitude journal!

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  33. I am excited for this idea of a gratitude journal! Even if it's one line, something I'm thankful for each and every day!

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