Day 30: Thankful for Those Who Have Passed On
Just wanted to extend a heartfelt thank you for taking a daily break with us to focus on thankful thoughts and grateful gestures for the last 30 days. On our last day of the 30 Days Thankful Challenge, we’ll be giving thanks for those dear family members and friends who are no longer with us. The holidays can be a difficult time for those who have said goodbye to a loved one too soon. As you make plans and get preparations underway, you may feel a twinge of sadness now and then at the loss of loved ones who have shared Thanksgivings past. Yes, you may think back to the…
Day 29: Thankful for Carefree Times
It is almost the end of our 30 Thankful Days Challenge! I hope you have found it helpful and remembered the things in your life to be grateful for. On Day 29, we will be thankful for our carefree times. How often do you permit yourself to enjoy carefree times? By carefree, we mean no agenda. No schedule. No set plans or obligations. Just the whole, blessed day before you, to fill your spirit with whatever satisfies you! What would you do if given a stretch of time full of endless promise? Some people might use the time to get work done. But others might opt to indulge their senses…
Day 27: Thankful for Dancing
Today’s 30 Days Thankful exercise is a simple one. We’re going to show our gratitude for being able to dance. How will we do it? By dancing, of course! Do you love to dance? Or is it something you actively avoid when possible? Have you ever noticed that babies don’t need to be taught how to dance? When their ears catch a tune and their feet feel a beat, they instinctively bob up and down to the music. Women typically encourage each other to dance. Think back to the last wedding you attended. Who danced? Mostly the ladies, right? Many men either don’t want to dance, or their peers have…
Day 26: Thankful for Our Mentors
Hello, and happy Day 26 of the 30 Thankful Days Challenge. Today’s we’ll be focusing our grateful thoughts on the mentors in our lives, and in the lives of our children. When you hear the word mentor, what comes to mind? Do you think of a teacher who made a positive impact in your schooling? Does the word mentor mean someone who served as a role model of sorts, who taught you invaluable skills? Some people these days use the word mentor to describe someone like a coach whose guidance you sought out to help you reach your goals. Mentors often help us grow, not just in terms of what…
Day 25: Thankful for Life’s Precious Gifts
Hi there… if you’re still following along with the 30 Days Thankful Challenge, that’s wonderful! We’re so happy to have you here for our final week of gratitude exercises. This is Day 25 and we are looking at gratitude and mindfulness. As the University of California Robert Emmons is known for saying, viewing life as a gift opens the door to better relationships, stronger communities, and greater success and happiness. What does this mean exactly? It means that when we cultivate a spirit of gratitude, we attract others who embody this same sentiment. Have a Positive Attitude People who view the world negatively tend to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If…
Day 24: Thankful for Peaceful Times and Peaceful People
Welcome to Day 24 of our 30 Days Thankful series. For our thoughts today, we’ll focus on peaceful times and peaceful people. Peace begins with the individual. If a person goes out in the world with a combative spirit, he’s likely to find himself in opposition to others. It’s not peaceful to constantly be at odds with other people. Families and Boundaries In a family, peace has to do with boundaries. We come into this world with a perception that we are merely an extension of our own mother. At some point, it becomes necessary to form a separate identity. Once that happens, life becomes a constant balancing act of…
Day 23: Thankful for Family
Wow, this month has flown! On Day 23 of our 30 Thankful Days Challenge, we want to show our gratitude for our family. Ah, family. Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em. One thing’s for certain, the family is the biggest influencer of our personalities, personal development, and self-esteem. Not everyone has family in the traditional sense. And in modern times, the emphasis is now shifting from “nuclear family” (traditional mom, dad, kids), to the blended one which may now include same-sex parents, or extend to step-parents and step-kids, grandparents who are assuming the role of primary caregiver, and even the “tribe” which refers to one’s adopted “friend-family” for…
Day 22: Thankful for Art and Culture
Thanks for joining us for the 30 Days Thankful Challenge! Today, on Day 22, we’re embracing art and culture. Art has come a long way from centuries past when God was the focus and there was no television, computers, or even electricity for people to run wild with their ideas and collaborations. Instead, art was primarily a solitary act, something you dedicated yourself to over the long term – something to develop based on pure imagination and skill. When was the last time you visited an art museum, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City? The creations are absolutely awe-inspiring. Think about this: people who are more…
Day 20: Thankful for the Morning
Good morning! It’s Day 20 of the Thankful Days Challenge. Today we are showing gratitude for glorious mornings! Morning is a special time for busy people. While some love mornings, others loathe them. What are your mornings like? Do you start each day by firing up the computer, checking email, and logging into social media? Does your smartphone accompany you to the bathroom for your morning routine? What if instead of plugging into technology first thing in the morning, you gave your body, mind, and spirit permission to awaken fully present, with complete and total sensory awareness of your surroundings? Make Your Morning Mellow Morning is a beautiful, peaceful time.…
Day 19: Thankful for Celebrations
Today for Day 19 of the 30 Thankful Days, we will celebrate the joy of celebrations. Do you ever forget to be thankful for holiday celebrations and special occasions? If you’re a busy parent, sometimes these events can seem more like a chore than a cherished time. Truth be told, holidays and occasions can bring on more pressure than is really necessary. For one thing, stores tend to start hyping up holidays often a full two months ahead of the actual day of celebration. Why is this? Well, it’s probably because with most parents working outside of the home these days and having little time to prepare, it makes sense…
