To have a gratitude attitude is a gift; to get a gratitude attitude can be a challenge.  Sometimes it is easy, the gratefulness presents itself so clearly.  Other times you have to search for it.  I'm reminded of the verse in Isaiah that says there is treasure to be found in the darkness.  Sometimes gratefulness feels like that, hidden in the dark. For years I have said that I was grateful to God for the life he had given me but I meant the big things.  You know, the breathing, the heartbeat, things like that.  What I was missing in keeping a gratitude attitude was the key ingredient.  The seemingly mundane, the day in and day out that made up life.  To focus in on those ordinary things, oftentimes invisible to the naked eye and heart, builds a foundation of gratitude. Once we have a foundation of gratitude we start looking at life and living life a bit differently. We want other people to have gratitude attitudes and be filled the way we are...

{There's a preface to this story, click here to read it.} Wednesday, August 27 was my 40th birthday, the start of a new year and a new decade. Over the past few months I made a list of 40 specific random acts of kindness I wanted to do on my birthday. But let's be realistic - I couldn't do all 40 in one 24 hour period. I'm 40 now and worn out! I need to sleep! :)   --------> see? I had barely started and needed a nap! ha! So I started my random acts the afternoon of Tuesday, August 26.  I took as many pictures as I could of each act of kindness simply because I am always inspired by visuals.  (If you click on the picture it will enlarge for you)  Perhaps you will be as well? What's just ONE random act of kindness you could do this week? To pull off 40 acts of random kindness in a day and a half (and then some) you have to do some prep work. You can't just wake up one day and it happens.  About six months before my birthday I started making lists. Li...