This morning a friend posted a video on her FB wall and I had a few minutes to kill so I decided to give it a go.  Wow.  It was/is so powerful that it makes my Gratitude Attitude for today. This true story challenges my "woe is me" perspective that sometimes I get stuck in and muck around in.  It prompts in me a gratefulness for my life but also for people like Jeffery Wright who take what life offers and make the absolute most of it.  We need people, whether we know of them personally or hear about their stories through the grapevine, in our lives to challenge our perspectives and get us to see the good in life. Watch this story, it is worth the 12 minutes.  I hope, like it did with me, that it will challenge your perspective, because we all need a reboot from time to time.

Today is your day!  Your mountain is waiting.  So, get on your way.   Dr. Suess How do you approach your days?  Do you look at what lies before you and want to crawl back in bed and pull the covers over your head?  Or do you look at what lies before you and allow determination to get you out of bed and stare down that mountain?  What if today was your day to conquer the mountain?  What if today was the day the mountain could be scaled?  So throw the covers off, get out of bed, summon your determination, and go take the mountain.  Go get it because  you can !

Some people create their own storms, then get upset when it rains! Unknown People crack me up.  (I am people so I crack me up too.)  We behave and speak in ways that create drama around us, that create high maintenance expectations, that stir pots and cause thunder and then when it all breaks loose we get huffy and blame everyone but ourselves.  We are outraged that "such and such" happened or that "so and so" ended the relationship, etc.  REALLY?  What did we expect?  We are the problem. Let's all just take a step back and get a little perspective. WE ARE THE PROBLEM. When we create the drama with our behavior and words then we are the problem.   When we expect people to treat us with white gloves and silver settings (i.e. we are high maintenance) then we are the problem.    When we stir pots and cause thunder with our treatment of other people, our poor work ethic, our "it's all about me" attitu...

I wonder how many people I've looked at all my life and never seen. John Steinbeck We can look at someone and not see them.  We can look straight at someone and see right through them.  I'm guilty of doing this.  I'm guilty of looking right through someone.  And guess what?  They know it, they can sense it.  And guess what else?  It communicates to that person that I don't think they have value or that they are worth really seeing.  Sometimes it is hard to really look at someone.  Sometimes their pain - internal and/or external - is hard to really see.  So we, okay I at least, look at them but blind my eyes to really seeing them.  If I see them then I have a responsibility to care, be involved.  And that can be really tough.  That's going to require time, energy, patience, sacrifice, and what else?  It's tough.  But to really see someone, to really look at them and all their pain is the better thing to do than...

You may think the grass is greener on the other side.  But if you take the time to water your own grass it would be just as green.   Unknown Oh I like today's quote.  A lot.  Why it has never occurred to me in this way I don't know, but I sure am glad I am thinking about it now. We are a lazy bunch aren't we?  We want the green grass but we don't want to put the work in to keep it green.  But the only way to keep it healthy and green is to put the work in. Sometimes our grass has got crabgrass and weeds.  Take a careful look, is it because of your neglect?  Or is it because the soil wasn't nutrient rich to begin with?  If it's because of your neglect own up and do what it takes to remove it.  If it is because of depleted soil then you may need to move. Sometimes our grass is getting brown and dried up.  Take a careful look, is it because of your neglect?  Or is it because ...

You can close your eyes to the things you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart to the things you don't want to feel.   Johnny Depp The heart feels what it feels. Absorbs what it absorbs.  Even the hardest hearts that have walls built up feel and absorb.  Unwillingly yes but even those hearts feel.  Unlike the eyes that can close to the hard things that will make us feel things we don't want to, our hearts cannot close to those things.  I've seen this happen when traveling through the slums.  I know a woman (no it's not me referring to myself in third person) who walked through the slum of Mathare Valley with me.  She closed her eyes to what she saw and she tried and tried and tried to close her heart but she couldn't.  And the more she tried the angrier she got and the more upset she became.  She found a person to be the target of her anger.   Someone who she funneled all that she was trying to ignore her heart was feeling...

Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.   Alan Cohen I adore today's quote.  I am challenged by today's quote.  Today's quote starts my Rolodex of names, searching for the ones who love me in the ways today's quote describes and reminding me of who I love in this way.  In our humanness love is a tricky thing because we place conditions on it.   We place external and internal conditions on our love for others, we base it on performance, we define it according to our baggage.  Love in our humanness is a tricky, tricky thing.  And oftentimes we equate love and worth/value.  So if we are having a hard time loving someone then we also are probably having a hard time treating them with worth.   Back t...

May the bridges I burn light the way.   Unknown There's probably a couple of different ways to look at today's quote.  I'm choosing to look at it in a positive, letting-go-of- toxic-people-and-things-in-my-life kind of way. Sometimes we gotta burn bridges.  You've probably heard it said as a warning before. As in don't burn bridges behind you that you may need to cross back over again someday.  Okay, that's true but let's talk today about the bridges you should burn so you aren't tempted to turn around and cross them again.  Because let's face it, some bridges are getting worn out by all the crossing back and forth we've been doing.  And if all we are doing is traveling the same bridge then that means we aren't going anywhere.  Don't you want to go somewhere?  As in forward?  In order to do that you need to burn some bridges and let the light from their burn show you the way forward.  The bridges you need to burn are are diff...

It is better, I think, to grab at the stars than to sit flustered because you know you cannot reach them.   R.A. Salvatore At the end of your life what do you want to be thinking about?  Regret that you didn't at least try to grab the stars or satisfaction that you pushed aside your doubts and hesitations and reached for those stars?  What do you have to lose by reaching for them?  Nothing!  What do you have to lose by sitting on the sidelines in self-defeat?  Well a lot of things actually.  You lose respect for yourself, you lose out on satisfaction, you lose out on the possibilities that lie among the stars, you lose the opportunity to grow in character , you lose your shine and sparkle.   Choosing not the reach for the stars because of fear will only lead to regret.  Reach for those stars, whatever they are, and find yourself shinin g and sparkling. 

We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.   Anais Nin We translate experiences and circumstances with the language of our lives.  And the language I speak is a bit different than yours and that can make all the difference when we are looking at the same circumstance.  We are going to have two different stories about it.  We color our worlds with our personal experiences, baggage, and view points. Where conflict comes in is when we expect everyone else to color their worlds like ours.  If we thought about it objectively we wouldn't really want that but we can't see the forest for the trees.  We think, in our crazy way, that a world that is all one color - ours  of course - would be wonderful and magnificent. But how boring! Which is better? Right? Chances are that whatever we are looking at is multi-colored rather than one color, which is how we tend to view things.  How it really is, is b...

God's plans for your life far exceed the circumstances of your day.   Louie Giglio Gosh, more days than not do I need this reminder!  What is it about *us* that we translate a not-so-good day into our life is ruined?  And more specifically we translate it into our life is without purpose?  We need to quit with the dramatics!  Our days - good or bad - or even seasons of our life - good or bad - do not change what God has planned for each of us.  But what God has planned for us may be different than what's in our head.  What he has planned for us may be what we think it is but it may look different than what we think.  Or it may come at a different time than when we think it should.  And when what we think doesn't happen we let it ruin our days or seasons of life. Today's quote is two-fold in my opinion.  The obvious lesson is to quit with the dramatics and don't translate "one" bad day as your whole life and God's plans for it are rui...

People rush to complain but pause to compliment.   Letra Davis Ever notice this?  I didn't realize how true it is until I read it put this way! Somewhere along the way of life we were taught to speak in the negative rather than the positive.  It's rare to hear optimism these days, the norm is negativity and if someone chooses to go against the grain and focus on positivity they are labeled "weird" or "annoying".  I know that I annoy some people at my workplace with my cheerfulness.  Not that I am Miss Positive all the time but as the "face of YL" (i.e. the first face guests see when they enter our building) I am cheerful and pleasant more often than not.  And I am that way with our employees as well.  Some of them are bugged big time by it.  It's kinda funny really so with them I am usually extra cheerful. :) (How's that for revenge?!)  The ones bugged by it are the ones who are typical of today's quote - they are the complainers an...

See today's challenge as tomorrow's breakthrough: you will thrive.   Mary Anne Radmacher What seems to be the obstacle for today?  Or maybe its not an obstacle but a challenge.  Maybe the challenge lies in getting over the obstacle!  I think those can be two different things.  But regardless, what is it for you today?  It doesn't have to be a "grandiose" challenge, it can be something as small as eating 100 less calories today.  The challenge is yours to conquer and nobody has permission to judge what the obstacles in your life are.  Because we are unique, our challenges will be unique to us and what will help us develop character.   How do you approach challenges?  Do you groan and grunt your way through and just wish for it to be over, not ever looking for what treasure can be gleaned from it?  Or do you groan and grunt your way through (*grin* let's be honest we all groan and grunt our way through a bit) but have the awareness...

Your attitude is your choice. It always is. We live in an age that has developed the art of shifting blame to very high levels, and sometimes we get caught up in that same tendency.  "Well, if you had my job you wouldn't be so positive."  "If you had my kids, you wouldn't feel so good."  "If only my boss were different, I could be a positive person."  In other words, "My bad attitude is not my fault!" The truth is, however, your attitude and mine are always our choice. No matter how bad things are, no one can force you to have a bad attitude if you don't want to. Now that should come as really good news because it says our attitudes don't have to be victims of our circumstances or of other people. We choose our responses.   Mary Whelchel I don't need to expound.  How good - and true! - is this statement?!  I don't need to expound but of course I will a little bit.  :)  It all comes down to choice do...

Lean forward into your life.  Begin each day as if it were on purpose.   Mary Anne Radmacher Is this day on purpose for you?  Are you looking at this day with anticipation of what can and will be?  If not then you've got a long day ahead of you.  Here's the deal.  It's all about our attitudes and perspectives.  Leaning forward into our days and lives gets our heads and hearts in the game (so to speak).  Dragging ourselves into our days and lives keeps us sour and whiny.  Lately I've been wishing people a happy birthday with the expressed hope that they can spend the day celebrating the life God has gifted them with.  That's an attitude of leaning forward into your life.  And while we all have an "off" and bad day now and then, overall our lives have purpose and we should eagerly lean into that purpose.   (Yes even the mundane has purpose.)   So lean forward into your life and see what purpose arises. ...

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.   Buddha What good does holding on to anger do?  How does it benefit anyone, especially the one holding on to it?  Here's the short answer:  It does no good and there is no benefit.  Period.  No justifications, excuses, or any reason you can come up with will be a good enough reason for holding on to anger.  Buddha is right, hold on to it and you are the only one getting burned.  You can't throw it off at someone else, it doesn't work that way.  Anger doesn't transfer. Ever looked into the physical problems that can crop up because of held anger?  Here's a few, and mind you these are just the physical things - not the emotional ones which far outweigh the physical in the long run: Clenching your jaws or grinding your teeth (can lead to MAJOR dental issues!) Headache Stomachache Increased and rapid hear...

Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is.   Jonathan Lockwood Huie What we think we live. If I wake up in the morning and think to myself, "Oh this day is going to suck for "xyz reason(s)" then I've already started my day thinking in a negative direction.  Chances are really good that even the simple things that day will be difficult because I have said they would be. When we think it will be hard it is.  Why?  Because when we set ourselves up for difficulty it's as if we have given our attitudes permission to stink. But on the flip side when we think it will be manageable, easy, accomplished, etc it is.  Why?  Because when we set ourselves up for success it's as if we have given our attitude permission to be optimistic. Life is this, it is as easy or hard as you think it is.

One advantage of growing older is looking back and seeing that God has not made a single mistake in my life.   Evelyn Christenson Some people, a lot of people?, are going to read today's quote and disagree.  They will pull up all their examples of mistakes  they think God has made in their lives.  I'm going to issue a challenge.  Do another inventory, take another long look at your life, consider carefully the things you think are mistakes - are they really?  And are they God's mistakes or yours ? I look back on my life - way past and more recent past - and can see the mistakes made were never God's but mine.  And I've got to own them.  God doesn't make mistakes but I make plenty.  In fact, I make quite a few especially when it comes to God!  It's MY mistake when I follow a direction I think he has pointed me in only to arrive at the dead end.  And he's so gracious to provide plenty of clues along the way but I'm bound ...

You never really truly understand something until you can explain it to your grandmother.   Attributed to Albert Einstein Ha, I love this quote.  I love it because it is so true.  We over complicate things and then when we are forced to explain them to someone who doesn't have a lot of exposure to the thing we are forced ourselves to slow down, listen to what we are saying, and more often than not I find I gain a clearer way of doing or looking at the thing.  Sometimes even a better way of doing a task emerges from me trying to explain it to someone else.   I've had to explain several things to my grandparents (taking today's quote literally) and can you imagine how silly and even stupid Facebook (for example) sounds when trying to explain it to them? :) It's hysterical to me.  They just seem confused.  And they are right to be confused.  In the example of Facebook - since when is virtual connection better and more fulfilling than face to f...

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says "I'm possible"!   Audrey Hepburn I never saw it before seeing this quote by Hepburn.  We need to be stronger and believe more than surface circumstances may dictate.  Deep down within us we have what it takes to make things possible.  I love that this look upon a word that bears such negative connotation turns it around and makes it a positive.  That's a good way to live life I'd say - take the seemingly negative and expose it to the light of positives.