Tag: gratitude

Back to Normal, Only Better. Because I am Grateful.

For me, this week has been about getting Back to Normal.  Normal, only better.

Because I am grateful, and gratitude makes everything better.

Gratitude is central to getting organized.

Gratitude elevates even the everyday stuff to Better.

Gratitude helps us prioritize our time and efforts around the people and things that we value most.

Gratitude for what we have makes us want … less.  Less clutter, less drama, less stuff.   Gratitude helps us get organized when we can appreciate the stuff we have and purge the stuff we don’t need.

You see, while I love Advent, Christmas and New Years, I am also relieved as they draw to a close. We will keep our Nativity up until the Christmas Season’s official end on Sunday, January 11th with the Baptism of Our Lord, but we are getting back to Normal in most other areas.

And I am grateful. This Season was wonderful, and then I had the flu for a week.  I am just so thankful for our wonderful Christmas, and now to feel better, to have my family healthy and happy, to be able to do normal things again.

Expected house guests motivated me to thoroughly clean my house and get to the grocery, then the guests cancelled their plans.  So my house is clean and fully stocked, and I am grateful for our home and health, and ready for our guests when they reschedule!

I worked over the weekend, first with a wonderful coaching client and then with a new client as we reclaimed her second bedroom.  I am so grateful for what I do professionally!

As I put away our Christmas decorations, I spent a few extra minutes purging the old and broken ones, and fitting everything back in fewer storage bins.  I’ll be grateful next December that I cleaned up the decorations.

The boys went back to school, so we all returned to better routines.

I backed up, cleaned off and updated my IPhone and IPad.  And I am so grateful for technology, for keeping in touch and running a business from home.  And for making the flu a little more bearable, with downloadable books on my Kindle App, and movies via Amazon Prime.

So life is getting back to normal, only better.  Because I am grateful for normal.  We always should be grateful for all that we have, but sometimes we forget.

Today and this week and this month and this year, it’s your opportunity be grateful and to get back to normal-only-better. Be grateful for you what you have.  Let Gratitude help you focus on the important parts of your life.  Wrap around all the good things, and make room for more by letting go of clutter and want.

Right-y tighty, left-y loosey: Gratitude and a Flat Tire

ImageTo say my morning did not go as planned is an understatement.  The mental checklist I went over in my head after the alarm went off bears little resemblance to how the day actually evolved.  I did not drive the day-camp carpool (thanks Beth), I did not make my 9:30 meeting, and I did not see my client at noon (but she cancelled with me before I could call her to cancel!).  But that’s all OK, actually it’s just fine, and let me tell you why…

All the reasons I am truly grateful I had a flat tire this morning.

  • I now know how to change the tire on my new(ish) van, and it was not that difficult.
  • I taught  my 12-year-old son how to change a tire, and he was really good at it!
  • Last night’s rain cleaned most of the dust off the roads, and today’s rain had not yet begun.
  • I discovered the flat in broad daylight pulling out of my alley, 100 yards from home, instead of having it occur on a busy expressway or in the dark.
  • The event served as a reminder to check over the safety items in my car.  We are well prepared, but the flashlight could use some batteries.  Check!
  • I changed the tire myself, drove 10 minutes, and the nice people at Firestone at 104th and Cicero in Oak Lawn fixed me right up.  But this event also compelled me to confirm the phone and membership numbers programmed in my cell phone for Toyota Cares and All State Motor Club, just in case I need more help next time.
  • Sometimes we need something like this to push us out of our regular routine and cultivate gratitude.
  1. I am grateful for God’s grace and good friends.
  2. I am grateful to a boy I dated in high school for teaching me the golden rule of auto repair, “Right-y tighty, Left-y loosey”.  Thanks, Matt, wherever you are.
  3. I am grateful for a helpful son, a sunny day, my hubby for listening, the landscaper working nearby who offered assistance as well as the neighbors driving by and checking on me, a flexible schedule that allows for life’s little hiccups, and a capable mind and body.
  4. I am also grateful to be home and safe, and that I can now go change out of my clean-this-morning-but-now-grubby-with-tire-dirt work shorts…

Have a great day.  And you can make it great by listing all the things you are grateful for, too!