What's Good??? 5.27.14
Happy Tuesday!!! Gratitude Practice is here!!! How will you take what you are grateful for through the rest of your day? This isn't just about writing it down and sending it back…(though I want you to do that too) put it out there! Let the world feel your appreciation! Let's make a difference.
This only takes a few moments to do but gives to you for much, much longer. So put down whatever you are doing and take a couple of minutes for yourself. Every Tuesday morning I am going to ask you to write down 5 things that you are grateful for and email them to me (keep for yourself as well). What are you feeling gratitude around? Here are mine for this week:
My Daily Life.
The Unknown.
Nutmeg.
ALoveFest Committee.
Vacation.
Focus on what you appreciate, what you are grateful for and your life will change. It is a guarantee. You cannot see the good in the world without the world becoming a better place as a result. Having a gratitude practice is one of the most powerful ways you can shift your reality. Try it.
So… what are you waiting for???
Food For Thought:
When you have a birthday you have an opportunity to look back and look forward from a really clear and defined moment. You are given a chance to push reset. Birthdays are holidays bestowed to each one of us and it is up to us to define how we will use our birthdays to bring us to life.
When I was a teenager I moved in with my father. It was then that I recognized his ritual of never being in NYC on his birthday; he was on some tropical island or another each year. My first instinct was to ask him to take me on a trip for my birthday because I longed to travel. His response was to tell me to take myself on a trip when I was able to. So there was no tropical vacation for me in the near future, or at least as far as I could tell. As I grew up I had a variety of ideas about my birthday and spent it with friends or partners-of-the-moment. It wasn’t until I was in my mid-twenties that I began to realize the gravity of my birthday (and everyone else’s).
Up until that time my mother would call me at 5:30am every year on my birthday. I was born at 5:30am on 5/30/74. She would call and wish me happy birthday; sometimes recalling my birth story. When I was little she would wake me up and tell me that I was born at this time ‘however' many years ago (depending on how old I was turning). That changed one year after no particular reason. There had been years that she missed doing it but for some reason this last time was the pivotal moment for me. I called her shortly after my 5:30 birth time and, devastated, asked her why she hadn’t called. She hadn’t any idea why I was being so dramatic and, after getting off of the phone, I sat on my stairs and sobbed. I realized at that moment that I had to change the entire situation. I promised myself I would never spend my birthday waiting for someone else to do something for me. I remembered my father’s unwavering practice of traveling on his birthday, so consistent is his birthday travel that none of his kids have seen him on his birthday for decades.
From that point forward I have spent my birthday doing exactly as I feel. I let everyone in my life know that my birthday is not about what they can do for me, it is about me spending time going over what has been and creating a plan for what will be. It is a time for me to celebrate myself and enjoy whatever I feel like enjoying. Some years I run and relax, other years I travel to visit family. Either way I never compromise my desires to please anyone in any way. It is my birthday and I do what I want. So this year I am starting a tradition. ALoveFest is the new fundraising event in Seattle that will help make dreams come true. June 15th is the day of the big event. I am looking forward to seeing you there. Before that, however, on that special day, at 5:30am, I will be doing whatever I want… which just so happens to be enjoying life from a tropical location; like father, like daughter.
xo
a
Get your ALoveFest Tickets Here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/682412
