Category Archives: Appreciation

Appreciate each small step and every glimpse of progress

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Appreciate each small step and every glimpse of progress. It’s almost always about the journey.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Joshua Sukoff

Where are you at this very moment? What are you doing? Who are you with? What are your thoughts, feelings, and emotions?

We have all been told that life occurs in the here and now and yet we often jump into our mental DeLorean to revisit the past or jump ahead to the future.

Of course, taking occasional trips down memory lane can be helpful to point out pivotal moments and possible missteps.

Lessons learned can also help guide you and offer suggestions about who you may wish to travel with to support your efforts.

EXERCISE:

How and in what ways have you progressed this past year? What positive qualities have you developed or enhanced? What journeys do you intend to take and what progress do you intend to make in the year ahead?

“To be a good fisherman you must detach yourself from the dream of the fish. This makes whatever is caught or found a treasure.”

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“To be a good fisherman you must detach yourself from the dream of the fish. This makes whatever is caught or found a treasure.”

—Buddhist saying

 Image from Unsplash by NOAA

I have a client and good friend named Rich, who loves to fish. Hearing him talk about his passion is a blast. Last year, he invited me to join him in his passion at a local lake.

With an early start on a promising day, we switched places and Rich became my coach. During our five-hour excursion he caught numerous fish and I — with all my giggling — came up with a single small-mouth bass, just prior to us calling it a day. Later, over a meal, I came to the realization that it was our treasured friendship that was the big fish I caught that day.

EXERCISE:

Where have you caught or discovered new things to celebrate and appreciate on your way to some other intended place? Where might detaching yourself from things you expect open you up to new people and experiences to treasure?

How can you more fully observe and appreciate all the good things in life?

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How can you more fully observe and appreciate all the good things in life?

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Tom Barrett

What has a recent hardship made you appreciate?

As you go through difficulties and darkness, make it a goal to appreciate all the good things in life. By observing this contrast, we can experience much gratitude for everything and everyone who brings richness and joy to our days.

Seek the good stuff and you will find it in abundance!

EXERCISE:

Where has experiencing some dark and difficult patches in life helped you see and more fully appreciate the light of all the good there is on your path?

Which simple things in life do you appreciate?

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Which simple things in life do you appreciate?

—Calm app Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Maarten Deckers

We often complicate our lives with a multiplicity of stimulating things, only to realize that we have lost much of our sense of peace and well-being.

Keeping things simple will bring back the calm and serenity you hope to have fully present in your life.

Appreciate the simple elements of life. Look to natural things versus man-made things for lessons.

Simplicity is a source of peace and well-being.

Seek it, and remove the complexities of the world where you can.

EXERCISE:

What are some areas in which you can reduce or eliminate the complexities of life?
Where would simplifying your personal or professional life provide you the peace and greater well-being you seek?
Where will you begin, and what will be your first few steps?

“If all you did was just look for things to appreciate, you would live a joyously spectacular life.”

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“If all you did was just look for things to appreciate, you would live a joyously spectacular life.”

—Esther Hicks, American channeler, inspirational speaker, and author

Image from Unsplash by Gabrielle Henderson

Esther Hicks narrated and appeared in the original version of the film, The Secret, as well as being a central source of the film’s inspiration.

One of the basic tenets of her teachings says that people create their own reality through their attention and focus.

Another aspect of her teaching is that the basis of life is freedom, the purpose of life is joy, and the result of life is growth.

EXERCISE:

Please consider working your appreciation muscles extra hard today.

Let me know what you see and how spectacular things go.

 

“The stars we are given. The constellations we make.”

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“The stars we are given. The constellations we make.”

—Rebecca Solnit, American writer

Image from Unsplash by Robson Hatsukami Morgan

The night sky has been watched, enjoyed, studied and interpreted since the dawn of mankind. Today we look up into the sky less often — perhaps because there is less to see. The lights from our cities are easily seen from space, and our preoccupation with looking down at laptops and phones has stopped all but a small group of us from seeking and finding the constellations seen just generations ago.

EXERCISE:

Examine how and in what ways we may be limiting our own view and appreciation of the cosmos. How can we continue to seek, find, and even make our discoveries more meaningful for ourselves and for future generations?

“You don’t need superpowers to be someone’s hero.”

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“You don’t need superpowers to be someone’s hero.”

—Ricky Maye, writer and public speaker

Image from Unsplash by H. Shaw

I recently had a small basal cell carcinoma removed from my back. Once I got the OK from my insurance company (which took weeks), my dermatologist took a good sized chunk out of me, to make sure he had a significant margin of clean tissue. This left a two-inch boo-boo with numerous sutures.

The wound care instructions required periodic dressing changes which I was unable to do on my own due to the location of the wound. Unfortunately, my wife was out of town supporting my dad with his assisted living efforts. Vidal – and a few other folks who go to my health club – came to my rescue and patched me up.

EXERCISE:

Who are the heroes in your personal and professional communities? How can you more fully acknowledge and appreciate their contributions to your life? Where and with whom can you don your own cape to be a hero to others in your world?

“I’d rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.”

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“I’d rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.”

—Emma Goldman, 20th Century Russian-American political activist

Image from Unsplash by César Abner Martínez Aguilar

Did you know that there are planets in our universe that are made of diamond?

These rocky worlds are composed primarily of carbon and the atmospheric pressure is so great, diamonds result.

Although fascinating – and one might consider a future occupation as a space miner – the more prominent focus of planetary scientists and astronomers is the search for life.

For this group, the inspirational possibility and beauty of life takes on far greater importance than any inanimate object, no matter how much it may sparkle.

EXERCISE:

What are the roses in your world? How can and will you more fully appreciate their value and beauty, to live an even more richly rewarding life?

FRIDAY REVIEW: APPRECIATION

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FRIDAY REVIEW: APPRECIATION

How do you show appreciation in your life? What makes you feel appreciated? Here are a few appreciation-related posts you may have missed. Click the links to read the full message.

 

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”

 

 

 

 

“Appreciation is a wonderful thing; it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”

 

 

 

 

“You are my sun, my moon, and all my stars.”

 

 

 

 

 

Appreciation is a wonderful thing

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“Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”

—Voltaire, 16th Century French Writer

Image of Voltaire

Image of Voltaire from Wikiquote

Voltaire lived to be eighty-four years old. Considering he was born in 1694, that is practically a miracle, given the poor sanitation levels and lack of healthcare available in Europe at the time.

Perhaps it was his considerable appreciation for the world around him that had him experience life with a sense of greater abundance and awe. With such a healthy and robust view of life, who wouldn’t keep reaching for one more day, and then another?

EXERCISE:

How might you experience and more fully appreciate everything and everyone around you in the coming days? How would such a mindful practice lead you to a richer, more fulfilling life?