Being Thankful is a Choice

It's what you choose to see and notice that dictates your mood, rules your world and gives you impressions of life. Being thankful is a choice, so choose to be thankful.

Need a picture example? Here it is:

You can look out of your hotel room window and choose to have an apartment building view. Or you can look better and notice your hotel's perfectly lovely inner yard. The choice is all yours.

You can look to the right and see not such a lovely roof of the building nearby... Or you can look to the left and notice a gorgeous sunset. The choice is all yours.

Photos by me: first two taken in Milan, last two taken in Moscow and are what you actually see looking out of my parents' bedroom window.

Give Thanks, Get Jewelry: Winners

It's that thankful time of this month when me and Tynel are announcing the Give Thanks, Get Jewelry giveaway winners! And if this was not enough of a great news in itself, I have another great news!.. Tynel couldn't choose just one winner, so the amazing 'give♥thanks' necklaces go to these two lucky thankful ladies:

Karen gets a yellow necklace for this comment above.

"I picked Karen for her thoughtful response and because she mentioned the connection of her color orangey-yellow and restoring a mustang with her father. I could see the connection and joy this necklace would give her!" - Tynel

& Julie gets a red necklace for this comment above.

"I loved that she mentioned that Giving Thanks is not just for November. This is a slogan that I use all the time and feel it is sooooo important to embrace. She chose the Red one because it reminds her of all the love in her life. This is simply one of the most important things to be thankful for..." - Tynel

Congratulations, ladies! And big thanks to everyone who entered - we LOVED reading your beautiful colorful thanks!

What a Year of Gratitude Did to Me: Pt. 3

I was right to assume the things I've already noticed changing in me as a result of my thanksgiving year were not all of the changes that took place. I keep noticing more! So in addition to the things I've mentioned in my 1st post on the subject and then in my 2d post and to a few more facts I included in my first guest post for ThankfulFor, there are these fantastic things:

1. This one might sound weird, but I can now watch movies alone like it’s nothing. I used to have a problem with that and only did so if I was dying to see a movie and couldn’t find a movie watching partner at that very time. Somehow it just didn't feel right being one on one with the movie world. Now I feel totally comfortable in my own skin, no matter what I do.
2. The year made me realize I really appreciated the idea of sunsets but also made me see that I'd never once watched one. So this was what I knew I had to do, and at the first opportunity I went ahead and watched the sun both set and rise. That even included me having to wake up super early on my first vacation in a while.
3. At some point, I even felt like decorating my Xmas tree. It happened for the first time in a very very long time in 2009, only a little over 3 months into my thanksgiving year. I have a picture proof.
4. The year helped me realize what some of my true passions were. And that's how my involvement with the Chair Blog happened.
5. I had never really imagined my future in realistic ways before. Like, I could dream anything in my mind but when it came to planning or setting achievable goals for the nearest future – I never did that. Mostly because I wasn’t sure my future existed and was scared of it.
6. It's now so much easier for me to let go of old unnecessary and useless things and photos. Being thankful for the 'mental' memories instead of physical confirmation I preserve them in my mind even better it seems. If I do forget some memory, it only means it never mattered as much as I thought. It's like I give things a chance to prove their worthiness to me and make room for new moments to savor.
7. In addition to not noticing 'bad' weather any more, I've noticed I even get somewhat of a 'spiritual' and extra lift from the fact that said 'bad' weather doesn't bring me down any more. Way to go about using the positive outlook to the max, eh?..

And believe it or not, I'm not done with listing all the wonders! Will continue the list in one of my next posts. In the meantime, I invite you to read my newest guest post (on fun reasons why 'thank yous' are so worth a try) for the ThankfulFor blog HERE, and you are more than welcomed to join The 'Thank You' Project's giveaway HERE!


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Giveaway: Give Thanks, Get Jewelry

When you see these super sweet 'thankful' necklaces by LittleLambsEatIvy43, it's impossible not to fall in love with them at least a little... They're such little colorful mood-lifters! Well, I'm happy to announce that me and Tynel, the mastermind behind the jewelry, want to lift someone's mood even further and award one of you, thankful people, with your own 'give♥thanks' necklace!  

To enter the giveaway:

1) Visit LittleLambsEatIvy43's shop on Etsy, take a look at all of the necklaces and choose your favorite;

2) Let us know in the comments to this post what your color of choice is (choose wisely - if you win, that's the necklace you're getting!);

3) In your comment, include a fond thankful memory this color brings to mind or something of this color that you're thankful for;

4) Please, don't forget to include your name and an email address if your comment doesn't link to your blog.

For the inspiration look no further than Tynel's own comments under each colorful necklace listing - her thanks are as sweet as ever!

The giveaway is open internationally and you have until November 20th to enter. The winner will be chosen by Tynel and announced on November 21st. We're looking forward to your 'colorful' thanks!

Guest Blogging at Thankfulfor.com

Do you remember last year's Gratitude Index infographic I've featured here on The 'Thank You' Project? It was done by the amazing team of Thankfulfor website - an online gratitude journal and gratitude sharing community focused on the pursuit of happiness. Well, I have some great news!.. I'm now guest blogging over at Thankfulfor Blog! Do check me out there and let me know what you think, you know I'll appreciate it!

Thankful Playlist

A while back on Twitter and Facebook I asked the thankful community if there were any songs with the message of gratitude and appreciation they knew of and loved.

Brenda Phillippe Auch remembered Thank You by Dido. Ibis Kristina Cabarcas Martínez told us about Gratitud by Fonseca (Colombian Singer). She even quoted her favorite part, and as she did so in Spanish I had to ask for a little translation:

"I feel thankful for my life, for my family and my country, I feel thankful because I want to sing, I want to scream for happiness , I feel thankful, 'cause my heart has got the most beautiful things in life..."

Don't you just love the last line?

Mitch mentioned Thank You by Alanis Morissette (which I realized I'd never heard of).

My own song choices proved to be kind of unexpected and a little funny... The first that came to my mind was Tupac's Dear Mama, and then I remembered Pharrel's Our Father! Isn't that... well, funny?.. Later I also remembered Christina Aguilera's Fighter, and just recently thought (when it started playing on my iPod) that Alicia Keys' Like You'll Never See Me Again was a really good reminder too!

So what's on your thankful playlist?


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