It is never lost on me how every meal is a gift.  Have you recently sat down to supper though and quietly lamented, “this meal…again?”   Maybe it’s leftover soup or stew.  Maybe it’s the ‘ol standby staple casserole like my famous chicken spaghetti.  My family may blanch but I’ll go ahead and openly confess that while I make an extraordinary chicken spaghetti, it’s really not my favorite item to eat.  Maybe I’m just worn out from years of its existence.  Maybe because the process is an all-out, full-blown, multi-stepped event with various ingredients to gather and pots to clean up, I’m simply exhausted just thinking about it.  And although I put my heart and soul into creating it each time, I’m just not authentically full of cheer for chicken spaghetti (sorry, St. M and sis).

As we sit down to eat and my family is oohing-and-ahhing though, I choose to be grateful for chicken spaghetti in a different way.  Eating this meal, I am able to have fulfilling conversation with the ones I love while filling their bellies with a favorite main course.  Eating this meal, the grocery budget appreciates how additional meals are covered now with a couple of extra casseroles in the freezer (and some leftovers for lunch because the recipe makes a huge vat).  The biggest blessing is really how this meal warms and nourishes our physical bodies and soothes our souls as we partake together.

So on Day #5:  Do you have a “chicken spaghetti” in your life and what ways can you be grateful for it anyway? 

Here’s hoping you choose to focus on those grateful blessings of food big and small, on and around your dinner table each time you pull out your chair…even if it’s a big dollop of chicken spaghetti on your plate. 🙂

As a retired public educator, the unwritten rule to the start of class was always how the first five minutes could make or break the outcome for all involved.  While we never knew what occurred before a child entered the building or classroom, it was our job as educators to create a safe, nurturing, encouraging, and supportive learning community.  As the final morning bell rang, my voice enthusiastically welcomed one and all to another day of learning with Morning Message.  Whether in my own classroom or as the building principal, those first five minutes of the day created a unique opportunity allowing us to share brief moments together as we began the important work of learning.  From a funny story or joke to quotes, poems, and cheers, it was a special time to engage our attitude and effort (the two things we all control) in a positive, can-do mindset for the day.  Breathing deeply, moving body and mind, and making a commitment to be our personal best were the focus.  And as my educator Mom reminded me before my first day of student teaching, “Children are a living message we send to a future time we may not see; be mindful of the messages you share with them, especially during the first five minutes of each school day.”

Case-in-point…I recently visited with a former student who successfully completed three years with me as his teacher in three different grade levels. (I know; three years with me.  WHEW!)  He talked and laughed with me at length about the lessons he remembered most.  You know what?  Not one of the examples he mentioned involved subject matter, tests, or presentations.  More to the point, he marveled at how we worked together during each of those three years to create a class family, a supportive and safe community for all while learning the required curriculum.  He specifically mentioned Morning Message and how it continued to impact the start of his day, even with his own children.

Reflect on the first five minutes of your day today.  What do you wish they looked like?

Morning Message remains my personal reflection and quiet mindset time.  Passages, verses, prayers, poetry, and more help my mind focus and celebrate the abundance of my gratefulness as the day begins.  It’s a positive launching pad into the day by inviting gratefulness inside right away!  🙂

No matter the weather, St. M and I love a strong, solid walk each day.  Living in an area with four complete seasons, stunning trails, and more, it’s truly a breath of fresh air we both crave daily.  In fact, he often teases me with “it’s time to walk you now.”  This is one way we stop to gratefully process, release, and regenerate ourselves.

Many of you know St. M spent years running full marathons; 49 of them in fact.  While his overall health doesn’t lend itself well to this type of strenuous daily training now, his mindset of pacing and endurance are drilled into his being.  Years of cultivated habits are deeply ingrained (but, y’all know, though, if you see me running, you should run too because something is chasing both of us!).

You may have heard the phrase, “It’s the journey, not the destination.”  St. M says it this way: “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”  They mean the same to me…let me explain.

His sporty-sentiment is directly related to gracefulness, gratitude, and thankfulness.  Picture both of us on the same walking course with the finish line being our successful return home.  Our walk time together is important, even if St. M’s natural competitiveness is to always be a step or so ahead.  As he walks, he focuses on the road or path, the next marker on the trail, the next mile, which giant hills to tackle, and such.  He is efficient and purposeful in his walking; he has a plan he must complete.  Me?  I walk with purpose while focusing on the brilliant blue sky, the trees, the flowering plants, the breeze in my face, waving at someone arriving or leaving, bird songs, SQUIRRELS!, and before I know it, we’ve completed our walking journey for the day.  We both are present, thankful, and grateful to be walking even if we’re focused on different incentives.  So…  Which walker do you relate to the most and why? 

Neither is right or wrong.  The real point is to gratefully be present and experience the opportunity.  We may have a destination/sprint in mind, but what a JOY it is to experience the walking journey/marathon along the way…even if St. M has to win by a step most of the time.  🙂

Yes, it’s been a few weeks since the last post. So much life, yet we all know everything will work again if it’s unplugged for just a bit…

While I missed my usual 40 days before my personal favorite holiday of the year, the next 30 days until Thanksgiving will certainly suffice.  In an effort to jump start this focused season of thanks and giving, these next 30 days are once again about GRATEFULNESS.  As a way to express appreciation, share kindness, and reflectively narrate on the gratitudes of gratefulness, there will once again be one question posted each day, and your participation is encouraged as we reflect together during the Grateful Game.

Personally, being grateful is a feeling of appreciation for a kindness, a welcome experience of gratitude and of thankfulness.  Being authentically grateful brings pleasure and contentment on a level everyone could genuinely use in daily life.  The word itself comes from the Latin derivative, gratus, “showing grace, blessing, and JOY…” Just like daily physical exercise, we must create and cultivate mindful ways to powerfully practice daily gratitude in an effort to recharge and reboot mind, body, and soul.

Day One:   What is ONE thing you are grateful for today, only today?

Me?  REBOOT.  Waking up to a beautifully blue, crystal crisp fall morn following the torrential rains and high winds from the storms of last night, the air is quiet and clean.  The woods have regenerated to start a new day, a new beginning.  My personal battery is recharged and the multitude of worries from yesterday are gone because the blank page in the journal of life is clean, crisp, and ready to unfold a fresh story!

More patience, forgiveness, kindness, understanding, and generosity are the focus.  Perhaps we work to right wrongs, learn from yesterday’s mistakes, listen more, talk less, or put down our phones.  Hope is not lost and mercies are abundant.  Gratefully, another day comes and reboots my sagging spirit, as many times as needed!  And as my favorite Transcendentalist, Henry David Thoreau observed, “I am grateful for what I am and have…my Thanksgiving is perpetual.”   Go ahead; what’s your ONE grateful thing for just today?  🙂