Thankful Newsletter March 2011

Thankful Newsletter Issue 3 is right HERE.

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What Do You Appreciate Today?

As promised, the YOU tab just got updated with even more thankful goodness! Head over there to get inspired and up your spirits - now or any time you're in need of a pick me up! And just like the last time, here are a few of my personal favorites for today:

"Today I appreciated a work nemesis giving me a genuine smile as we passed in the hall. It's rare, but when it happens, I'm reminded that she's not as bad as my ego would have me believe" - Rebecca Ann Dreiling

"I appreciate having legs so that I can dance!" - Teresa Ayer (San Diego, Ca, United States)

"A stranger opening the door for me. That was nice" - Brianne Nettelfield (Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada)

"The ability to let go of the sad and bring in the happiness. When my day isn't going as I'd like it to, I can think of all I'm grateful for and bring happiness back into my heart" - Patty Marcial Pelayo

"An elderly couple and their love for each other" - David

"The sound of rain outside my window + all the pea-green things it brings" - Joey Bose (London, United Kingdom)

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I Thank a Lot, But I'm Thanked Too

I've had the signed copy since September, but only now finally have the time to relax with a book that is a lighter read... To help this vacation get my mind off things ;-)

Thankful Resources

I am off on vacation to recharge my thankful batteries this Saturday, and thus I apologise in advance - not having regular internet access at my resort destination will definately prevent me from being a frequent vistor to your beautiful blogs! Should you feel the need for something thankful in the meantime, in the best traditions of the lovely Shannon Eileen's Happiness Is... blog, I'd like to leave you with some thankful links to various thankful resources I came across or was introduced to via the great world wide web:

1) I Gift Thanks is an iPhone application that lets you "instantly share your custom crafted photo thanks around the globe via email, Twitter, text message or post that message for all to see on the gift giver’s Facebook wall".

I found them because I realized I was on their blogroll, which was more than super sweet of them because they never asked me for anything in return - I just saw visitors coming from a new http once. Thank you, guys!
 

2) Chances are, you already know Thxthxthx - Leah Dieterich's online gratitude journal and there's a book coming up! Leah's "mother always told her to write thank you notes. So she does. To everything. thxthxthx is her daily exercise in gratitude." Her thanks are fun to read and her readers appreciate the honesty and opennes with which she expresses them daily.

3) I Like Your Gratitude is another online thankful effort made by Van - "a little texasian lost in the midwest with unsatiable wanderlust and a desire to change the world" whose blog is about "karma and good vibes, and spreading the happiness and love she's been so fortunate to come across". 

If you visit, tell her I said "Hi" :)

4) ThankfulFor is simply your best bet if you want to start your own gratitude journal but for whatever reasons not ready to start writing daily in a physical notebook or not so into the idea of keeping up with a personal online diary, a.k.a. blog. So go "start your very own daily gratitude journal or see what everyone else is Thankfulfor in the public gratitude stream"!

Hope all of you have a great weekend filled with beautiful things to be thankful for!

P.S. The image above is taken from one of Leah Dieterich's thanks here. Yes, I sure do wish for a whole empty row of seats on my flight tomorrow!

Your Appreciation

The YOU tab just got updated with lots of new beautiful thanks! Come see and share yours and stay tuned for even more of those this month. My personal favorites for today are:

"I am thankful for my age. I'll be 30 in April and though many hate turning 30, I'm so grateful to have expirienced all these years of life and look forward to many many many more" - Dee DiFonzo (Fort Worth, Texas, United States) 

"My mom telling me that for the first time in over 15 years she woke up happy and had to tell me!" - Jenna Rae (Vernon BC, Canada)

"I am greatful for my father not kicking me out of the house when I showed him my tattoo" - Sarah Marie Gilbert (Middlesex, New Jersey, United States)

"I appreciate loyalty. It’s a beautiful thing and I'm thankful for the handful of people that I know that display it" - Trenton K. Childs

"I appreciate having a clean car, inside & out. It's a lovely feeling" - Saida Mustakeem Latigue 

"All the decisions that I've made to put me here, where I am now, a happy happy man with so much to look forward to in the near future" - Travis Garrett (Atlantic, Iowa, United States)

Anything you also liked and/or could relate to, eh?

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Closer

A few weeks back in my apartment building's elevator I witnessed a situation. There were two other women inside besides me and when trying to figure out what floor we're heading to first, this is what I overheard:

- Oh, you go first, I live on the very top floor. Closer to God. - the first woman said with a smile.

- Oh... And do you guys talk often? - the second woman asked jokingly.

- Yeah... But mostly when things are not going right, which is most of the time. - the first woman replied with a sigh and a smile.

"Yeah, and when things are going good, you don't seem to feel the need for a conversation, because there's nothing to ask for at that moment" was my first frustrated thought, but unlike with the smoker in a pharmacy situation, this time I felt I didn't have any right to intervene.

Since it's not always easy to agree on the subject of religion, I want to say straigth away that this post is not about God. What it is about is one's approach to life in general. I feel that we all, whether we're atheists or believers, can agree that only asking and whining and never saying thank you and never aknowledging our blessings is just not right and won't get anyone far. Kind of sad how so many people make a choice to focus on the negative and forget about the good aspects of their existence.

I'm thankful I was yet again reminded of the importance to be grateful and of the effect my thankful year had on the way my mind worked.

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Thankful Newsletter February 2011

New issue is out! View it HERE, or subscribe via email HERE.

In the meantime, my chairful soul wants to thank you for everything with the help of ABChairs. Yep, these are chairs!