Tag: gratitude

Life is Good in My Kayak

I have been on vacation for the last 1.5 weeks visiting Mother Fran and Child #7 in sunny Florida.  I usually visit in February at which point in time, I am desperate to get away from Upstate NY and the frigid winter temperatures. We didn’t have any snow to speak of when I departed but it was cold and getting away was just what the doctor ordered.

I miss the beach already!

Child #7 works really long hours this time of year so I didn’t get to spend much time with her. I did however get lots of quality time with Mother Fran. We shopped, went to a nature preserve, read in the sun and played lots of Canasta.  We watched football, assembled her new patio furniture, weeded the garden and played more Canasta. Mother Fran may be 90 but she still has plenty of interests to keep her engaged. I want to be like Mother Fran as I age!

Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote about having written a letter to a friend expressing my gratitude for her having such a positive influence on me when I was growing up? Well I got to see her twice this week and she mentioned that letter a few times. She said it was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her!

The fact that I not only felt grateful to her but shared my gratitude with her obviously made her day. Not only did expressing gratitude make me feel good, it made her feel good as well. That is a WIN-WIN in my book.

This seems like a good time of year to express gratitude!

This is the holiday season, don’t quarantine your gratitude! Let someone know how important they are to you. When I get home from my December vacation, I plan on writing another letter to an old boss who was an incredible mentor to me in my early 20’s.  She deserves to know that I am thankful for the positive influence she has had on my life! We don’t speak often but I know our friendship is important to both of us and the longer we go without talking, the harder it is to pick up the phone.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Mappy Chrisukah and Happy Holidays!  I hope each and every one of you are spending the holiday season in a manner that maximizes health, wealth and happiness. I will be hanging out with Child #1 and her honey eating yummy food, playing games and enjoying family time. Life is Good in My Little Blue Kayak!

I miss the pool too!

Paddle on my friends, paddle on!

Don’t just feel gratitude… share it

Lake Girl

 

 

Be Like Mother Fran

Many of the people I work with in the nursing home don’t seem to have much going on in their old age. They sit and stare into space or at the television screen until it is time for bed or their next meal. Whatever leisure activities they enjoyed in the past either cannot be completed in the nursing home setting or they have lost the interest or ability to participate.

I have worked with some elderly patients in their home as well and some of them are in the same position. They wait for the phone to ring, for their favorite game show or for a visitor to stop by.  I want more in my old age! I want to be more like Mother Fran and other seniors who still know how to live life with a purpose.

I want to do more in my old age

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Don’t Quarantine Gratitude

I can remember sitting around the table and my sister-in-law asking everyone for their highs and lows of the day. She wanted to know the high point and the low  point of each persons day. It was a great way to connect with each other,  to share some important aspects of what happened that day and how you were feeling about it. On Thanksgiving, she would ask each of us to state what we were grateful for that day. She was ahead of her time in terms of understanding the benefits of expressing gratitude.

I’ve read about a gratitude exercise where every day you write down on a slip of paper something for which you are grateful. At the end of the year you can pull out those slips of paper and review them. Right here in My Little Blue Kayak, I have written about gratitude many times, including here and here. It seems that being grateful is all the rage!

 

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The Devil on My Shoulder

I like to think of myself as a simple, easy-going person. A person who is happy-go-lucky and lighthearted. I have been told however that there is a lot going on under the surface that makes me a bit more complicated than I wish to be. I guess this is true for many of us.

I often feel like there is an angel on one shoulder letting us see the good in everyone we meet and  a devil on the other shoulder encouraging us to judge others. The angel reminds us that people are human and often make mistakes. When we listen to the angel, we can take a harsh word in stride and ignore the buzz of negative energy while maintaining a positive outlook.

The angel

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