2015 04 22

Living Life
with an
Attitude of Gratitude

I don't write every day. Maybe I should. Like most of us, life is busy, and sometimes I don't sit down to write a post.... I am still thankful.

Recently on facebook there have been a lot of memes about friendliness, trust, thankfulness, and the general lack of those things in our (predominately American) society. People can't even seem to disagree without resorting to name calling. This recently even infected one of my favorite fb groups. So very very sad. And as we head into another political season, this will just get worse... so topping my list today:


the \/ on the right side of posts on facebook...... I can love people without sharing their political or religious beliefs. And I can continue to love them and laugh with them when I don't feel like I'm having their beliefs shoved down my throat, or feel like they are accusing me of (fill in the blank here) because I am in the group at which they are pointing fingers.  I can block the content of their favorite political or religious or whatever group... and they will never know. we are both happy.

My dear Hanley...... without him Shows like Stitches and SAFF simply would not happen. We are on the road now to Stitches South. He takes vacation time to help with these shows, does 99% of the loading, and all of the driving....And for that he gets a nifty title: VP of Logistics, Transportation, and Manual Labor. He has a department of 1.

Blue Skies.  After several days of rain..and the discovery that the leak in the chimney chase is not fixed....we have blue skies... and nice weather for our drive to Nashville.

Friends who keep me sane (sorta), remind me to me a better version of me (even if they may prefer the evil side of me), and who understand -- and even share -- my addiction to fiber.

Sunflower seeds .... what's a road trip without sunflower seeds?

I would love to hear about your gratitudes.

2015 04 13 FLOWERS!

ATTITUDE of GRATITUDE

Brought to you by
FLOWERS

Photo taken on Barbados February 2010 by Denise

The other day I featured Roses. Today, a variety of flowers. All of these are tropical flowers, and the photos were taken on Barbados in 2010. It's one of the things Hanley and I like to do on vacation (and occasionally just around town): take photos. I especially like to photograph flowers. But how many photos of flowers does one person need? Like friends, can one ever have too many? 

I find flowers to be so very interesting. They are each so different: The intricacies of the designs, the varied colors, and (sometimes) the unexpected things that camera catches. Kinda like my friends!

This particular photo was taken not long after I began my SAORI journey.  I did not expect to catch the beauty of imperfection, or the joy of irregular patterns. But they are there. My friends are beautiful like that too. Imperfect (thank goodness, 'cause otherwise what would they be doing with me!), colorful, intricate. Some are delicate, some are hearty. All are full of heart.

Today I am grateful for:

* Friends.  Friends who keep me sane. Friends who challenge me to be better than I am. Friends who recognize gifts I do not see in myself. Friends who call just to say "Hi." Friends who love me in spite of my shortfalls. Friends who post their morning gratitudes.







* SAORI. It has enriched my life beyond measure. 

* Morning Workouts: I may not particularly enjoy the alarm going off at 6, or sometimes waking up 30 minutes before it goes off, but I do love the results of feeling stronger.





* ART. Separate from SAORI. I have so many friends who are artists in a variety of media. And I have a good amount of their art in my home! 






* COFFEE It may have something to do with the waking up before the alarm. It may just be that it's coffee.

2015 04 05 Roses

ATTITUDE of GRATITUDE

Brought to you by
ROSES

  

I love this photo of roses all crammed together.  Different colors, randomly placed, all sitting together sharing their beauty with the world. I think they are like my friends. Similar and different. All beautiful..... of course, some of my friends are more like Daisies ..... and others are Petunias ...... Wow! think how awesome that photo would be with even more varieties of flowers! .... so much for my great analogy...... lol

I've been thinking a lot about this ATTITUDE of GRATITUDE life.... I think it's how I was raised. I can remember my mother telling me (in response to a comment about not liking something that was for dinner), "You will eat it and be thankful for it."  The message: look at the positive, there is food to eat. And eating something you don't like is way better than starving. 

Today I am thankful for

* Friends: Last night I had a dream about a friend. she lives on the west coast. In my dream she was seated in the middle of a table surrounded by people deep in conversation. She was smiling and nodding and laughing. She likes to do all those things. She sees me and calls me over, she has someone she wants me to meet. She believes that SAORI may be what this person is looking for in their life. She has been listening to them...hearing more than the words that they say. She is good at that too. Thank you Sam for your listening skills.

* The Birds that greet the morning sun with

their song.  Even on a day when I can sleep-in, their song comforts me. ... mostly. The Wren can be a bit boisterous in its song. But that is ok. Maybe we should take a lesson from the Wren. Sing our song loudly.

* Laundry: Do not miss understand.... I don't actually like doing laundry. But the fact that I have to do laundry means that I have more clothing than just those I am currently wearing. And when the laundry is done, it means I have more choices in what to wear tomorrow.

* A day to Sleep-In. Actually it has been 2 days. Hanley gently insisted, "You aren't setting an alarm are you?" ..... well, ugh, no..... of course not! lol Two mornings of sleeping until my body said it was time to get up. Tomorrow is another story.

* SAORI I have said it before. SAORI has brought so many wonderful people into my life, has allowed me to go places I had only dreamed of, and makes my heart sing.

* and Coffee the world is so much better with coffee.

2015 04 02 Forest Green

ATTITUDE of GRATITUDE

Brought to you by

FOREST GREEN

A beautiful deep shade of Green that I find calming and meditative. Two things we all can use in our life. 

Today I am grateful for:

* Hanley: He's Awesome. I am so thrilled to be travelling this path with him!

* Allergies:'cause they mean spring has sprung!

* A good night's sleep: I feel so much better today than yesterday morning.

* Coffee! Even with a good nights sleep the morning wouldn't be the same without coffee.

* Lorrie: She makes sure the house is clean (we will not talk about neat) and when the guests are back to back, she makes an extra trip to turn-over the bedrooms.  

Wishing you a calm and meditative day.