G is for Gratitude

Thank you for all of the blessings in my life, seen and unseen, past, present, and future.  Thank you for my heart, mind, body, and soul.  Thank you for creativity.  Thank you for all of my gifts and talents I put out into the world to make it a better place while I am here and leaving it better than I found it.  Thank you for thoughts, messages, and inspiration.  Thank you for my abilities to learn, to grow, evolve, and share my experiences with others.  Thank you for the birds and the bees, and the flowers and the trees.  Thank you for the sun, the moon, the sky, and the ocean.  Thank you for spring, summer, winter, and fall.   Thank you for my parents, my family, my friends, my loves, my co-workers, my acquaintances, and my adversaries.  “Thank you for the joy you brought me.  Thank you for the things you taught me.  Thank you for holding me close when I needed you the most”.  Thank you for coffee, massages, baths, and chocolate.   Thank you for pen and paper.  Attitude of Gratitude!

M is for Meditation

Just as the city is waking up, every morning in the midst of my subway commute, I listen to woodwinds, drums, chimes, pianos, and chants.  With ear-buds in, my journal and pen come out, and I begin writing, letting the thoughts come and go, with no judgments and no attachments.  Focusing on my breath with each stroke of the pen and each beat of the song.  Expressing gratitude for all the blessings in my life, good and bad.  Letting the thoughts flow from my head, my heart, my soul, out of my body and onto the page.  Something about the music, writing, breathing, and motion works for me.  This is my meditation practice.  It started with just 5 minutes a day and has gradually increased 20-30 minutes over the past year.  Noticing myself with more calm, more focused, and things, people, situations that may have annoyed or troubled me in the past just don't anymore, reaction is just letting it all go!