Monday, July 26, 2010

Gratitude Break 07-26-2010

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation. ~Brian Tracy

In my life, I have a lot to be grateful for and I make it a practice to at least once a day, think of something to say "thanks!" for. Every now and again, a public acknowledgment of what those things are is my way of giving greater thanks to the universe for all the unexpected and wonderful things that happen.


This past few weeks have been particularly stressful for various reasons. There was nothing major or life threatening. I just noticed that I was getting upset about things that I would normally have a higher tolerance for. My patience was as thin as tissue: random, unrelated events were inconvenient and irritating. A veritable "pain" in {insert the appropriate body part here}. These events interrupted the normally flow of life that I have. Its like feeling turbulence on an otherwise smooth ride and that turbulence generating a nagging worry that something worse could happen. I found myself stressing out more than necessary and working hard to make sure it didn't.

A few things happened in succession over the last few days and just like "That!" I'm back on my smooth ride again. The fact that this realization happened on a Monday, the start of a new week, the beginning of a waning full moon.... coincidence?

Anyway, the point of this post is to share what I have to be grateful for so here goes:

Confessions
In the wee am hours of the weekend, an old friend who is happily married with kids found me online and we chatted for a bit. He recently went through knee surgery which was keeping him up (otherwise, we wouldn't intersect much at night, given that we're on opposite coasts). I commiserated on the knee having been through the same ordeal. We got to reminiscing and as he tells me how much he enjoys reading about my daily adventures, he reveals that when we first met, he had thought about asking me out. I laughed (virtually) and confessed that when I first met him, I had a mini-crush but I thought he was unavailable. He then told me that in the time when we first met, he had come to decision that he needed to be with someone Jewish and shortly after making that resolve, met his now wife. I joked about it saying that someone Chinese doesn't exactly qualify as Jewish and he said that I definitely have some "Jewish" in me. For some reason, this whole conversation just made me smile. I guess no matter how old the admiration or what the current circumstances are, when someone you like reveals that they like you too - that always feels good.

Jet Skiing - A First
I went jet skiing for the first time and had so much fun that despite the loss of my favorite pair of sunglasses (it jumped off my face mid-jump and I couldn't let go to catch it because I was hanging on for dear life!) I was unphased. In the past that one incident alone would've put a damper on everything but what happened was the opposite and it was really quite refreshing. Instead of dwelling on it, I promptly forgot about it, and had a blast watching my niece and her cousin (6 and 5 years old  respectively)  laugh and enjoy their turns on the jet ski!

A Totally Unexpected Outcome
Recently, I discovered that I bought a fake product from a bad seller. I took the time to try to fix it with some help (no go!), work with the manufacturer (who told me it was a fake), contact the seller (who, was clearly no longer a seller in good standing) and check policies about sellers (the guarantee had expired). I realized that based on all that, I wasn't going to be able to get anything back as compensation for a broken fake. I was making my last call to give feedback on the seller and follow-up when the representative I spoke to gave me the best resolution possible: a one time exception resulting in me getting a brand new replacement, from the real manufacturer with a net of no extra cost. BONUS!!!

Another First
A student and enthusiast of a dance called Kizomba, I was helping my teacher out at a workshop. It was a small class and we got to work one on one with everyone there. I got to dance and help some folks figure things out for themselves. All in all, a great time. At the end of the workshop, I received some money from my teacher for helping out. I realized that this is my first "official" dance teaching gig since I was paid to help teach. WOW!

Always There
I was drinking my ice cold vanilla latte on this wonderful sunny Monday as I was heading back to my office. I was feeling pretty good about being given a discount even thought it expired yesterday when I realized what a wonderful weekend I had just had, listing in my head, all the things that made up the weekend. A large part of it was the time I spent with my sister and extended family and it dawned on me right then that I will never be afraid of being alone as I grow older because I've been blessed with additions to my family and an extended family that will always be there for me (in addition to the wonderful friends that I have).

The Tumbleweed Effect
You may be surprised to see me write this as I am normally quite grounded in science and technology and not likely to be seen as "holistic" at first glance. I am very much a believer of what I've referred to as the ultimate karmic reality: "what comes around goes around".

So - if you fill your life with thing that you are happy to do and be with and be grateful for, then the universe conspires to keep you there, rewarding you with more of the same, often times in ways that you will not anticipate.

The universe as a whole, leans towards happier balance so that despite some of the bad things that can happen, there is always something that will offset it to put it right again. Some people only see the negative and thus choose to live in that space, blind to the positive things that do happen.

Why? Given a choice, be grateful for what's good: live in the good space and see what unfolds.

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