The gratitude journal

Life has a habit of going so fast we forget to smell the roses and enjoy the little, but important things in life. And when we are in stressful situations, tired, or apathetic with our lives, these soul lifting moments are rarely seen. It is easy to wake up one morning and question why there is no joy in our lives.

But there is joy, it is all around. It flows and presents itself in many, sometimes unseen ways every single day of our lives. But as like any habit, it has to be learned to recognise it - and pay homage to it.

Sarah explains this is why keeping a gratitude journal is such an important step of changing our life for the better, and helping us tap into our authentic selves. She writes "I have a beautiful blank book and each night before I go to bed, I write down 5 things that I can be grateful about for that day".

So your task dear reader, is to go and get yourself a gratitude journal. Start tonight to recognise those things that you have, or have experienced that day which you can be grateful for.

Gratitude is the hearts memory, and like most memories, they lift us and make us smile.

There is no scarcity

Money - how many times have you found yourself saying "When I win lotto, I will............ (insert personal life-long dream)". It just never seems to be able to cover all the bills and our meet our authentic yearning needs. So many of us live hand to mouth, pay cheque to pay cheque. Like a mouse on a wheel - running but not feeling as if we are getting anywhere.

And it affects you physically as well as emotionally. Sarah writes, money worries mock you. They steal the joy of living because they follow you around all day like a dark menacing shadow, and at night they rob you of much need sleep. You cease to live and merely exsist.

But it doesnt need to be this way. You can take back the power in your life, and away from the bank balance. You can control money, instead of it controlling you. Money will ebb and flow through our lives, sometimes there will be abundance, sometimes it will be more like a drought. The simpler we make our lives, the more abundant we become. The more frugal we become with our resources, the more we can cover those items which not only feed our bellies, but our souls. And when we work smarter, not harder, we get a precious gift - time. Time which we can spend with our loved ones, which when you think about it, is much more important than those expensive pair of shoes, or the large house with the extra bedrooms for those visitors that might stay once in a blue moon.

There is no scarcity, except in our souls.

Is it recession or depression?

No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an
uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit- Helen Keller

As Harry Trueman once said - its a recession when your neighbour looses his job, and depression when you loose your own. And today, many of us are faced with financial challenges, some our own doing, and some which life has decided to throw at us. Sarah points out, that it is very easy to surrender to an emotional depression when a financial one occurs. Its easy to be pessimistic about tomorrow when today seems so bleak.

Drought, fire, flood, unemployment...................... these are just a few of my challenges. I am sure you dear reader will have a personal list of your own. But what if we were to say - stop being pessimists, and change our thinking to becoming optimists??

Sarah writes, optimism is a habit (like happiness) that can be learned. She encourages us to start today with a little experiment - smile at everyone you meet. Expect something good to happen today not matter what happened yesterday. Realise that the past holds you captive if you continue to cling onto the woes that life has dealt you.

And take ownership of your life - and of those past choices that have left you feeling financially vunerable. Living authentically is a process of working out what matters to us, and what is just a waste of our time and energy. For example, during our financial "crisis", I have learnt to pare down to the essentials. Yes I do miss the convienence of buying the whiz bang birthday cake for my youngest recent birday - but I have discovered how much more enjoyable it is to make your own. Especially when you have a little helper willing and able to lick the bowl clean for you (helps with cleaning up LOL).

And funny enough, I feel much lighter, since I have de-cluttered my kitchen of the 101 herbs & spices that I used to tell myself that we needed, now its what ever I can grow and dry which I use in my cooking extrodiaires. And yes, I feel I am much more productive. And in the process, I have re-set my personal values, and found new joys and pleasures which I never knew exsisted.

So dear reader - today think about what past decissions you need to acknowledge, pay homage to them, then place them in the past where they belong. And if the ramifications of those choices are still affecting your day to day living, then work out a plan. Re-set your own personal values, pare down your clutter, your shopping lists, etc. Consider donating to charity any item that is wasting your energy for someone more needy (and yes dear reader there is always someone worse off than you), or having a go on EBay.

Oh - and dont forget to recognise something today to be grateful for............

How happy are you now?

Do you know how happy you are right now?? As Sarah writes, most women know what makes their parents, partners, children, etc happy, but when it comes to their own awareness of what brings them joy, we often come up short.

And how easy it is to say the cliche stuff like "my children make me happy" or "my dog / cat make me happy". Yes I am sure that like me, my kids and animals (eg the external) do bring me happiness, but when I ask myself what internal activities makes me smile, well this question is one a cannot answer.

Maybe its because I really dont know myself as much as what I thought. Maybe its because life has dictated what I should feel happiness over, and what I should not. As Sarah points out, what is missing from many of our days is a true sense that we are enjoying the lives we are living. It is difficult to experience moments of happiness if we are not aware of what we genuinely love. We must learn to savor small authentic moments that bring us contentment.

So today, lie in the hammock, with a nice glass of red wine (or whatever is your decadent beveridge), and think about those simple pleasures that are unique to your soul - the ones that make you smile, even if the rest of the world doesnt understand them.

Standing knee deep in a river and dying of thirst

How many times do we focus on what we dont have - instead of what we have. If you are like me dear reader, and suffer from the glass is half empty syndrome, probably too many times to recall. And with all these negative thoughts, breed more negative feelings - and the cycle just gets out of control. Until one day, you find it hard to see any good in your world.

So today get out your gratitude journal and write about something you are grateful for. Try and pick just one thing, no matter how small, no matter insignificant others may find it. Because just as negative breeds negative, positive invites positives. And one day soon, you just might change your way of seeing the world, in a new abundant way just briming with wonderful adventures.

Today - I am grateful for my children, who upon my return from work, ran up to me and gave me a joyful "hi mum".

So what is yours......................................................????????

This isnt a dress rehersal

How many times have you said to yourself - I will do xyz when I achieve abc???? Now dont get me wrong, its great to have a reward to strive towards when you in the thick of change and need a carrot to dangle in front of your nose to stop you from throwing in the towel and giving up. Like for example I have promised myself a horse when I have achieved my post grad.

But............. when your promises put your life on hold and stop you living your authentic life.......................humm.

Sarah writes, unfortunately many of us live our lives as if it was a dress rehersal, we keep the good china only for the day when company comes, we dont take the time to dress ourselves up or put on a little makeup, etc, because somehow our everyday lives arent special enough. Sarah advises, none of us can be expected to perform every minute of our lives. But a lot of us might tap into the power, excitement and glory of Real Life more frequently if we cast ourselves as the leading ladies / men in our own lives.

So today, try to change your mindset - live like the goddess you are today. Treat everyday as if it was a gift, and not a given right.

Because tomorrow dear reader, may never come.

Simple Abundance - the inner journey

How many times has you consolled your hurt feelings by going shopping and buying materialistic things. Things that you really dont want and really cant afford? I have a whole house load of emotional stuff - items that were purchased to make me feel better when really it was my emotional need that was being swept aside. These items represent "gonna do" tasks, such as the fleece jumper that I was going to make my then 2 year old, or the melon baller that I was going to use to make fancy desserts out of rockmelon (I dont even like rockmelon). How about the size 10 jeans that I was going wear once I dropped all my weight. Its all there in the shed, reminding me of how I have "failed" in one way or another.

As Sarah writes - When we cannot access our inner resources, we come to the flawed conclusion that happiness and fulfillment come only from external events. That because I cannot fit into my size 10 jeans (in the present), that I will only be happy when I can (maybe in the future).

Sarah talks about the six threads of abundant living, gratitude, simplicity,order,harmony, beauty and joy. These, she lists as the key to an authentic life - and I have to agree with her.

I am sure that I will not have peace in my heart if I could fit into those size 10 jeans, as there is more to me than "fixing" my weight issue. And I am sure that I can be happy being a size 14.

What I am saying dear reader - is think of ways to incorparate these six threads into your daily lives.

My offering to the universe today was to create order and simplicity into that previous dark hole called my kitchen larder - it was a hard, dirty job (yes I did shed a tear when I finally threw out the packet soup with expired 4 years ago and has been transported through 3 house changes), but I did it.