A few years ago I began the practice of writing out a gratitude list. Usually the final paragraph in my journaling for the day. This morning my journaling began with a list of “what if” questions. What if people were to start making a gratitude list each day, making it a routine just like brushing our teeth? What if it consisted of just one gratitude for the day? How would our view of life change? Would we spend less on unnecessary stuff if we made such a list? What if we wrote it down, putting pen to paper, and not just let it rumble around in our head? I know from my own experience that I was prone to make a list of what I wanted rather than a list of what I already have. And, because of that I was seldom in a place of gratitude. I write gratitude lists.
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Live in Open Space
a grove of barren trees
mws
in a snow covered pasture
thrive in open spaceAfter peaking Bingham Hill you drop into this lovely lowland meadow that always gives me some good vibes. Maybe it’s because it’s an open space. There is no invasion of a housing development, warehouse or mall to take the view away. So, yesterday morning I needed to stop and capture the open wintery scene. Enjoy your weekend!!
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How Well We Love
When all is said and done,
Steven Charleston, Spirit Wheel
The only true measure of our lives
Is how well we loved.
How well we gave love, received love, shared love,
Protected love, created love.
Nothing else will matter when our turn comes
To make the final journey—
Only the love we were will linger.
Only love will still speak our name
In the hearts of those we embraced.
We were made to love, you and I,
Made so by the author of love
Made in the image of love to be the love we are.We had a light dusting of silent snowfall during the night. However, along with the snow comes the cold temperatures, 23 degrees. I made my way to the coffee shop for an Old Town Mocha made by Winter. It was rather quiet in there this morning. People must have slept in. I drove around the CSU Oval on the way home and snapped this photo for the blog. Hope you have a wonderful Superbowl Sunday.
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Pen to Paper
as I put pen to paper
mws
at a favorite coffee shop
sunlight slowly enters
through the window
spreading its warm glow
across blank pages
and in this spirit
words are written -
I believe…
I have made it through some hard times in my life.
Steven Charleston
I imagine you have too.
Looking back, I can honestly say
That in more than one of those times
I was not sure I would make it.
The presence of a living and conscious love
Got me through.
I can only call it Spirit.
So my faith is not the product of an emotional need
Or an intellectual imagining.
I believe because I know. Because I have been there.
Because of my experience.
I cannot convince others of this truth.
I can only share it and wait to see
The light of memory in their eyes.I believe in the presence of a living and conscious love
because I, too, have been there and experienced it. -
Each new horizon…
Do I use age as a reason for not following my heart’s desire?
mws
Do I search for motives to avoid living my life?
Do I look for excuses to spare myself the struggle required?
Do I run away when I face something challenging or new?
Do I have the courage to venture towards each new horizon? -
be the love…
Today I will conjure love from the empty air.
Steven Charleston
I will call it out from thin places
Where people walk without breathing
From dark places where they stumble without seeing.
I will find love in those I do not like
And let love appear in the faces I avoid.
I will make room for love in my life
Even if I feel overcrowded with worry.
I will offer love without restraint
Even if I have not received love in return.
I will dance with love in innocent pleasure.
I will sing love as though love were a new discovery.
Today I will be the love Spirit made me be
When Spirit loved me from the empty air. -
Sunbeams of Light
sunbeams of light
mws
over field of grass and snow
clouds drift on blue sea