Daily Inspiration 1-30-14

"Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, 

for it acknowledges the presence of good 

wherever you shine the light 

of your thankful thoughts." 

 -- Alan Cohen 

This is the second of many posts about gratitude and thankfulness.

We've often heard that there is value in being thankful and even making a list of things to be grateful for. Sometimes we may begin such a list and then we may pause for another time because we have run out of things to be thankful for. What would probably be more true, if we would allow this thought, is that when we are grateful, it would be more challenging to find things to not be thankful for. Based on CNN, Fox and all other news programs and channels, one might think that the latter is normal behavior. They would be wrong. 

I recently pulled out a trunk of saved items. Yesterday's letter was in there, and I found a list that I have done many times over the years. It is called, I Love. . .

This particular typewritten list was produced in about 1991 and it contains 12 pages and approximately 300 line items of things that I love. It is an exercise in finding things--especially common, normally taken-for-granted things, and writing them down to help remember to remember them and show my gratitude for them. I've made many such lists over a long period of time, but I thought since this one is more than 20 years old it would be interesting to see what has fallen from the list. For sure, newer lists have newer items, but have any faded over the years?

Here's a sampling of items on this list:

I love. . .

a full tank of gas and a fun car and somewhere to drive.
a warm spring day.
the smell of a good perfume.
mashed potatoes and gravy.
airplanes.
flying low to the ground.
the smell of wet concrete on a hot day.
the fact that I learned how to type.
movies that make me cry.
comedians that make me laugh so hard I can't get my breath.
clean laundry.
laughing children.
swimming underwater.
golf carts.
a woman's touch.
kissing.
seeing dogs wag their tail.
snuggles.
screen doors.
being wise.
watching it rain hard while standing under a carport.
going out to dinner in a fine restaurant.
someone cooking for me.
sharing ideas.
boats that don't go too fast.
romance.
romantic get-a-ways.
a closet full of shirts that are pressed.
walking on the beach.
the smell of skin.
sunrise.
sunset.
the smell of sawn wood and lumber yards.

Of course this list goes on for another 250 items. The point is that there are so many things all around us, preferences that we have, things that please us and excite us, arouse us and encourage us, that are worthy of our attention and gratitude. If you wanted to stay in gratitude all day long, keeping lists like this near by can be very helpful reminders that we have so much to be thankful for.


I Have SO MUCH To Be Thankful For. How About You? 

Spread Some Joy Today--When you have that look of pure joy on your face and in your demeanor, it cannot be denied or ignored.