100 Days of Gratitude - Day 45

I am grateful...

1. And very excited that I will be attending a retreat with my guru next month!
2. That in addition to this retreat I will be spending some time with people I love and don't get to see enough in New York.
3. To my parents for always supporting my heart's desires. 
4. That my sister wants to be there for what I'm going through. 
5. That the fire alarm in my building today was false, but I still got to walk down 20 floors and get a bit of exercise after I ate lunch. 
6. To myself for choosing to paint and listen to a lecture instead of have a drink and watch a movie. 
7. To Gabrielle Bernstein for being a constant source of inspiration.
8. To be reminded to take things moment by moment.
9. That I found a towering stack of pennies on a walk.
10. For a perfect afternoon nap.  

100 Days of Gratitude - Day 44

I want to get clear on something. I'm not proposing you smile through your tears. I sure as hell don't. When I cry, I let my whole body and mind cry too. I feel the feelings. I sit with my sorrow when it comes, because I know it's what I must do, even if I realllly don't want to. If I am sad, that's ok. My intention with gratitude is to take a moment to bask in the beauty of the love that is present when something happens, no matter what that something is. Our brains come as they are. When we have a negative thought it is much more powerful than a positive one. To combat this I propose we all feel those good feelings with our whole hearts. When SiennaJane looks up at me with love in her eyes I stop the hurricane of thoughts that's the norm inside my brain and I feel the moment of love in my heart. This simple act makes everything in my life better. I admit that some days are shitty for me, and I struggle with putting together a list. Even when I have to sit for longer than other days, it always comes. There are infinite things to be grateful for. Even when I'm not ok. The point is to be mindful, and grateful, for the good that is there.

I am grateful...

1. For delicious handmade yogurt flavored with honey and homemade rosewater. 
2. That last night as I sat awake in bed I was accompanied by the beautiful whistling of the wind through my home.
3. For a compliment from my sister.
4. To talk on the phone to SiennaJane.
5. For the feeling of walking out of the salon with freshly done hair.
6. For a friends and family discount.
7. For free dinner.
8. To walk home just after dusk when the clouds were the perfect combination of blues and grays and the wind was at my back.
9. That though I'm not okay today, I know I will be again. 
10. That hope dies last.

100 Days of Gratitude - Day 43

I am grateful...

1. That my sinus situation is better today than it was yesterday.
2. That I lost another pound and I am only 4 away from my ideal weight.
3. That if I had to talk to the New York State Tax Department, I got a very sweet woman on the phone.
4. For Derby Blue.
5. For a delicious and super healthy veggie burger.
6. That I stumbled upon a recorded diary entry from when I was 22 and got to hear how much I've changed and grown since then. I'm much more centered at 30.
7. That my parents arrived safely in Budapest.
8. To myself for resisting the urge to take a nap today when I really wanted to. 
9. For an awesome Ashtanga Vinyasa class that both kicked my ass physically and forced me to open up to what's going on in my head.
10. That I'm sitting in my living room with the balcony door open and the fresh night air is streaming in. 

100 Days of Gratitude - Day 42

I am grateful...

1. That my skirt was too big when I tried it on this morning. 
2. For the look on Sienna's face when I walked into her house while she was having breakfast. 
3. That yesterday I received a gratitude letter in the mail from my best friend. That she said she was grateful for me and my posts inspired her. She shared her gratitude list with me and it was wonderful to read. Pass it on! I love hearing what you're all grateful for!
4. For another day of work. 
5. To meet some sweet new people at the event I worked today, lots of whom gave me free stuff, including a bottle of champagne and a spray tan, woo!
6. To witness my sister's awesome creativity.
7. To get invited to a yoga event, even thought I couldn't make it. 
8. For the beautiful sunset view from my balcony, and to watch it with Kellie, which very rarely happens. 
9. That I happened to take Derb for a walk during the perfect dusklight, my favorite time of day.
10. That I don't have any obligations tomorrow and I can write from my couch. 

100 Days of Gratitude - Day 41

I am grateful...

1. That I live within steps of the best farmer's market in San Diego.
2. That I got a free basket of my favorite strawberries.
3. To meet a cool woman at the market who's going to make me a piece of jewelry. 
4. For an invitation to the beach and the pleasure to make some new friends.
5. That one of those new friends helped me catch my first wave.  
6. To have spent part of my day swimming in the ocean.
7. That my cousin found a job, just in the nick of time. 
8. For beach hair, salt water and sand suck to my skin, and being the best kind of exhausted.
9. To get into clean sheets with a clean bod and clean hair.  
10. For tan skin and a sleeping Derby Blue beside me.

Purchase this cool print 

100 Days of Gratitude - Day 40

I am grateful...

1. That I made it through last night and woke up to a new day this morning.
2. To work with my sister. 
3. That my sister and I have a similar creative vision and work together so well. 
4. That I got to see and play with SiennaJane.
5. That my sister got me a delicious smoothie from Jimbo's.
6. For fresh strawberries and blueberries.
7. For air conditioning in my car.
8. For an afternoon nap.
9. For a delicious meal, eaten outside in the dusk light, across from Kellie, whom I love. 
10. For the simple beauty of watching Brene Brown speak from my couch while painting my nails with Kellie.

100 Days of Gratitude - Day 39

 I am grateful...

1. That I got up early and did a great meditation.
2. For yoga! Finally! It was wonderful to feel my body move and stretch after 6 weeks of careful inactivity.
3. To spend some time with the babies, SiennaJane and Everett, splashing around in a little pool in the santa ana sun and laughing. 
4. That when Sienna was pretending to be a dog and I said "Shake!" she did a shimmy and shook her whole body, without a clue that I meant shake hands. It was adorable and hilarious. 
5. That when I was saying goodbye to Sienna she grabbed my hand and after I said "I love you" she said "I lub you too. But I don't want you to go, and that's why I am holding yours fingers", looking up at me with her gigantic watery blue eyes. To be loved completely by a 3 year old is one of the most amazing things I have ever felt. Talk about gratitude...  
6. To my sister for thanking me for always being there to help her out. It feels really good to receive some gratitude too.
7. To my mom for taking me to the mall and buying me new bras. I felt like a 13 year old, but in a good way. 
8. That someone I have known and loved for 22 years (his whole life) has 30 days sober today! 
9. For the time I spent today with that someone, just drinking coffee and talking about life and maybe getting a little too meta (sorry, C). 
10. For the experience I just had. I was walking Derby and she paused to pee under a tree. I stood there, looking up, and as I did the breeze hit just right and a flurry of purple flowers shook loose from the tree and snowed down upon me as if I were in a Disney movie. There is much magic in this world, if only our eyes and ears are open to receive it. I'm grateful that in that moment, mine were.