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Gratitude Lounge

Welcome! We are glad you are here. This is an open space where everyone belongs, and everyone is welcome. Please introduce yourself as you feel comfortable and join in sharing your experience of grateful living. To get started you might reflect upon questions such as these: What am I grateful for? What is grateful living inspiring me to do? What are some blessings in my life (including ones in disguise)? How am I being supported right now? What connects me to wonder, awe, or a sense of the sacred? You are welcome to include images and links for videos to illustrate your reflections.

  • Annie
    Good evening dear friends, I haven't been here in a while. I have a new love....Yup no not a person....Last week I started something new for me. I said to myself I'd like to paint a picture for my living room. Now my artistic ability is sort of preschool....but let me see how it goes. Totally hooked ! It's rather interesting how it turned out. And it's a great feeling of accomplishment. So I am grateful for the opportunity to experience the joy of creating my own masterpiece....good or bad it's ...

    Good evening dear friends, I haven’t been here in a while. I have a new love….Yup no not a person….Last week I started something new for me. I said to myself I’d like to paint a picture for my living room. Now my artistic ability is sort of preschool….but let me see how it goes. Totally hooked ! It’s rather interesting how it turned out. And it’s a great feeling of accomplishment. So I am grateful for the opportunity to experience the joy of creating my own masterpiece….good or bad it’s mine 🙂

    Read More
    • Mica

      That’s exciting, Annie – do we get to see your picture? That would be fun 🙂

    • Diane

      So lovely to see you here again Annie…you have been missed! And how wonderful that you have found something new to delight you and take pride in! Good for you! 🥰
      ~Blessings ♥

      • Annie

        Thanks Diane ! What’s new in your world? I missed reading your post. Hope all is well with you and your family.
        God bless ~

  • Drew Blanton

    I drew this bow tie today.

    • Diane

      Hi Drew….we are all grateful when you share your art and creativity with us!
      ~Blessings ♥

  • Connie

    Happy Birthday today, Brother David. 95 years on this planet. I am so grateful for you and the many blessings you have given me.

    • Mike S

      Thanks for mentioning that. By the way a bunch of us from the gratitude lounge we’re going to participate in a zoom call Sunday the 25th at 11 AM eastern time. If you’re interested right to me. [email protected]

  • Rori

    Hello everyone – I am embarrassed to think that I forgot to be grateful for the last few days. But I am grateful for the temperatures being a little lower, I am grateful to sleep, I am grateful that I can walk and I am grateful for those things I have not remembered today. Thank you all for being in this community and reminding me of the precious moments.

    • Diane

      Hello Rori….thank you for sharing. Each day is a new beginning!
      I am inspired that you gave thanks for “those things I have not remembered today”. That is so lovely.
      ~Blessings ♥

      • Rori

        Yes Diane, — I do forget to be grateful for my amazing piano teacher, her kindness, the neighbour who always waves when I go by no matter what he is doing, the kind grocery clerk who is patient and not affected by the difficult temperaments crossing her path. I wish somehow I could give each of those people some extra care or wish without them realising where it came from, — spiritually, – I guess that is through a prayer for them.

    • Mike S

      Fork, No worried. I often forget to do my gratefulness work. Coming back is what is important. By the wat some of us from the gratitude lounge are going to have a zoom call Sunday, July 25 at 11 AM Eastern time. If you’re interested just write to me [email protected]

      • Rori

        Thanks Mike, – I am guessing you meant that message to go to me? The first word is Fork, — wasn’t sure if you meant me or not. But yes, I would love to join the zoom meeting Sunday 25th. 11am is 8am Pacific Time -I think.
        I am grateful for not having to work today – and grateful for the good people in this world.

  • Mike S

    Good morning everyone. I’m so glad that the weather here in South Carolina is calm after the tropical storm and it’s tornadoes. We’re out of a hot humid weather and when I took my walk today it was nice and cool. Much to be grateful for.

  • Mica

    What a beautiful quote today!
    We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty. MAYA ANGELOU

  • Mica

    “tolerant of the weak and strong” in today’s quote by Geo Washington Carver – I’m delighted by the ‘strong’ in the quote – their need for tolerance, too 🙂

  • Mike S

    Greetings Palm, Anna, Diane, Mica, Shan, Zenith, pilgrim and Drew. First I am moved by the depth an sincerity of many posts in this space, and thank God we have a place to share like this. Thank you all for being here. I am awondering who among you would like to be part of a zoom call. Drew, Mica and I had one last month and it was great being present to each other in this way. Write me if you’re interested. [email protected]

    • Shan

      Thank you Mike. I have replied am excited about the zoom call. Grateful to be included.

    • Mica

      I’m in! 🙃😁🤗😊👏🏼

  • Palm

    Dear Anna, how are you? I saw your post about living with incertitude. Life really is a paradox. For me, having to live with incertitude has also allowed me to be at home with my family. I hope you are well, dear friend. Sending a hug 🙏🌸

    • Mike S

      Palm.

      I am wondering if you would like to be part of a zoom call with folks from the Gratitude Lounge. Drew, Mica and I had one last month and it was great being present to each other in this way. Write me if you’re interested. [email protected]

    • Anna

      Dear Palm, you are so kind! Thank you for thinking of me, dear friend.
      I’m fine, but lately I feel the paradox as a deep break, as if good and comfort were only on one side. I truly dream of being like a child in God’s open arms.
      I am sure that everything will be fine, and that nothing happens that is not for my good.
      In the meantime, I try to stay in the moment, and find the large number of bridges crossing that gap.

      I am so happy for your time with your family.
      Feel embraced Palm.

      • Palm

        🤗🌸

      • Mike S

        Hi Anna,

        I am wondering if you would like to be part of a zoom call with folks from the Gratitude Lounge. Drew, Mica and I had one last month and it was great being present to each other in this way. Write me if you’re interested. [email protected]

  • Diane
    Good morning sacred community on this another Prayer Tuesday It is a joy to be here with you. That word "joy", along with "equanimity" keeps appearing to me. Calling to me really. I read something recently that really spoke to me and I have been pondering ever since: "Some people respond to their blessings with equanimity, and they quietly remove the sting from their tragedies. We can learn to do both" My journal response to this was that I don't know if I can ever respond to my bl...

    Good morning sacred community on this another Prayer Tuesday

    It is a joy to be here with you. That word “joy”, along with “equanimity” keeps appearing to me. Calling to me really.
    I read something recently that really spoke to me and I have been pondering ever since:

    “Some people respond to their blessings with equanimity, and they quietly remove the sting from their tragedies. We can learn to do both”
    My journal response to this was that I don’t know if I can ever respond to my blessings with equanimity….I am just so overwhelmed with gratitude for them! But I hope that I can quietly remove the sting from my tragedies…by being grateful for even the difficult, challenging, painful times that visit.
    I think this is where joy appears….that quiet certitude that all will be well and that God is always working for my highest good, no matter my unreliable and incomplete view of what is transpiring.

    This recent trauma that has occurred in my life…it has taken a while to process and let it play out. But I am closing in on joy for the blessings that were hiding underneath…waiting to be discovered, acknowledged and embraced. I can say that I am grateful, even if still a little shaky.
    I am indeed overwhelmed with gratitude (no equanimity happening!) that we are living here in this beautiful state with our daughters…not 2,000 miles away anymore. All the stress and anxiety that came with that move, and subsequent challenging events, pale in comparison.

    ~Have a blessed day friends ♥

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    • Mike S

      Hi Diane:

      I am wondering if you would like to be part of a zoom call with folks from the Gratitude Lounge. Drew, Mica and I had one last month and it was great being present to each other in this way. Write me if you’re interested. [email protected]

    • Anna

      Dear Diane, I bow to your kind soul, your faith, your honest letting go of your worries, putting your heart in God’s.
      I hope the best for you, you are an inspiration.
      Your overwhelming gratitude is crossing the ocean. It is contagious, finally a good contagion!

    • Mica

      Thanks, Diane, for reminding me again that it’s Tuesday Prayer Day!
      From my gratefulness doc 🙂
      ““All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”
      ― Julian of Norwich, from Diane in the Lounge

  • Mica

    Annika Samuelsen talks about finding yourself, in the gratefulness homepage video today – my fav quote was:
    “Changing yourself to fit in only enhances that critical voice.”

    • Mike S

      Yes, the video is quite poignant. I wanted to tell her, though, not to give credence to the critical voice in her hezd. It’s not real.

      • Mica

        Ah, if only it were that simple, Mike S

        • Mike S

          Mica, check out some video teachings by non dual teacher Rupert Spira. He draws A distinction between mind and awareness.. Thoughts are the content, the drama on the screen of awareness. As we become more aware or the background of consciousness, and let thoughts drift by like clouds, negativity starts to loosen its grip. Meditation on the breath helps.

          • Mica

            Good point, Mike S – it’s like “The Untethered Soul” – I loved the beginning, but by the end I was rather annoyed. Connirae Andreas in ‘Coming to Wholeness’ is like that, too.
            For me, meditation on the ringing in my right ear has become the go-to choice 🙂
            I’ll check out Rupert Spira – thanks for the reminder – “let thoughts drift by like clouds” – that’s rather like what I used to teach in Yoga classes, too – ‘let them come and let them go’ – Yoga Nidra? I’m glad I posted my response to you!

  • Shan

    Hello Mike, thank you. Any adventures on your holiday. ?

    • Mike S

      Hi Shan:

      I am wondering if you would like to be part of a zoom call with folks from the Gratitude Lounge. Drew, Mica and I had one last month and it was great being present to each other in this way. Write me if you’re interested. [email protected]

      • Shan

        Thank you Mike.
        I have sent an email.
        Exciting !

    • Mike S

      Hi Shan. No big adventures for the holiday, but we did go out for a. Nice dinner.

      • Shan

        A nice dinner, satisfying and happily shared is a good journey on a food boat. Beautiful.

  • Mike S

    Happy holiday everyone. Seemed too short.

  • Shan

    Thank you Palm. Yes watching the serenely drifting clouds gives me inner calm. I am grateful. The gentleness reassures me that in life ,,all situations move, at their own pace. Sometimes, I actually put my worrying thought on the cloud and then watch it pass me by.. Playing bubbles with life.

    • Palm

      Thank you Shan, putting the worrying thought on the cloud is the perfect thought for me before bedtime.

  • Shan

    Hello dear all. It has been an emotional, difficult week. I am grateful to be back and feeling safe. All the quotes are lovely and worth contemplating on. My main thoughts today are that like gently moving clouds, the difficult events of our life too will move away gently. Be calm, loving and patient whenever you can.

    • Mike S

      In my most difficult times I would sit and look at mountains. Anything beautiful in nature will do. And the tension starts to release.

    • Maria

      As a kid I used to watch the clouds while lying on the ground near the river in my village. It has always evoked the sense of wonder and awe in me. .I never thought it has a significant impact on my spiritual journey till today. Universe is my home.

      Thank you Shan. Sending you positve energy!

      • Shan

        I love that image of you as a child with wonder and awe, ,just now that breeze through the room made me go “Ohh” and wonder how far the breeze will travel.
        Reading your message, made me think of a gurgling river and so with a smile, I travel with the breeze perhaps holding hands today for feeling fragile. The breeze holds my hand and I am grateful..

    • Anna

      I will keep your reminder in my heart for all next week, dear Shan.
      Like Palm, I like your icon.

      • Shan

        We are connected through everything. Our vibrations will help us continue our journey. I am grateful for the breeze flowing through my room.

    • Palm

      It’s a good reminder, Shan, thank you. I love watching clouds move… and I like your icon.

  • Mica

    What will matter is the good we did, not the good we expected others to do. – ELIZABETH LESSER
    Wonderful quote today by a wonderful woman! [with barely any Wikipedia entry… 🙁 ]
    Thank you, gratefulness people.

    • Palm

      Yes, Mica. I will always remember something I read “you are in a relationship to give, not to get”, or something like that.. another one that stood out for me recently: “Our number one job in life is to love one another. Period.” From the book “Whole Brain Living” by Dr Jill Bolte Taylor

      • Mica

        Wow – I heard Jill Bolte Taylor speak once about her brain injury – thanks, Palm –
        … but it’s also fair to reassess a relationship if it’s too imbalanced, especially after one’s ‘baby’ has turned 21 🙂

        • Palm

          😄😄 thanks for the laugh, Mica. I am happy for your blessings (I got blocked again below)

        • Palm

          Fantastic, Mica! I love your divorce story 🙂 (could not answer below)

          • Mica

            Thanks, Palm 🙃[yes, it’s convenient that we can continue to reply, even when the end of the chain is blocked]. 🍀And I live within easy walking distance of our kids and grandchildren, while he’s still back in the old home in another city 😜

        • Palm

          I know, Mica… hopefully the understanding is there both ways, but not always somebody is ready… thank you, I’ll think of you 🙏

          • Mica

            Thanks, Palm – I’ve been happily unmarried for many years now – and I found him a new wife even before the divorce was final 🙂

  • Zenith
    This is going to sound weird. I am grateful for this horrid heat we are having across the West Coast and specifically Washington State. I live in Central Washington and yesterday it was about 114F. Never been that hot since I moved here 13 years ago. When I went out at sunset to get the mail I noticed the sunset was extraordinarily beautiful. Sunset is rarely that beautiful. Rather than feeling the oppressiveness of the heat, I was lifted up and was able to see the benefit of such heat, if such ...

    This is going to sound weird. I am grateful for this horrid heat we are having across the West Coast and specifically Washington State. I live in Central Washington and yesterday it was about 114F. Never been that hot since I moved here 13 years ago. When I went out at sunset to get the mail I noticed the sunset was extraordinarily beautiful. Sunset is rarely that beautiful. Rather than feeling the oppressiveness of the heat, I was lifted up and was able to see the benefit of such heat, if such a thing is possible. At that moment I was profoundly grateful for the heat and that sunset, grateful to be alive to see the glory of it. This website really helps keep me grounded in seeing the benefits in my life in spite of how the world tries to drag us down. The glory is there if we just care to see it. Thank god for the sun. It keeps us going. We CAN resolve our environmental issues. Buckminster Fuller believed and I am coming to believe it too.

    Read More
    • Mike S

      Hi Zenith:

      I am wondering if you would like to be part of a zoom call with folks from the Gratitude Lounge. Drew, Mica and I had one last month and it was great being present to each other in this way. Write me if you’re interested. [email protected]

  • Mary Pat
    This morning, I was reacquainted with a poem written by Roger Keyes, and found, I think, somewhere on this website. I share it with you now.... Hokusai says look carefully. He says pay attention, notice. He says keep looking, stay curious. He says there is no end to seeing. He says look forward to getting old. He says keep changing, you just get more who you really are. He says get stuck, accept it, repeat yourself as long as it is interesting. He says keep doing what you love. ...

    This morning, I was reacquainted with a poem written by Roger Keyes, and found, I think, somewhere on this website. I share it with you now….
    Hokusai says look carefully.
    He says pay attention, notice.
    He says keep looking, stay curious.
    He says there is no end to seeing.

    He says look forward to getting old.
    He says keep changing,
    you just get more who you really are.
    He says get stuck, accept it, repeat
    yourself as long as it is interesting.

    He says keep doing what you love.

    He says keep praying.

    He says everyone of us is a child,
    everyone of us is ancient,
    everyone of us has a body.
    He says everyone of us is frightened.
    He says everyone of us has to find
    a way to live with fear.

    He says everything is alive–
    shells, buildings, people, fish,
    mountains, trees, wood is alive.
    Water is alive.

    Everything has its own life.

    Everything lives inside us.

    He says live with the world inside you.

    He says it doesn’t matter if you draw,
    or write books. It doesn’t matter
    if you saw wood, or catch fish.
    It doesn’t matter if you sit at home
    and stare at the ants on your veranda
    or the shadows of the trees
    and grasses in your garden.
    It matters that you care.

    It matters that you feel.

    It matters that you notice.

    It matters that life lives through you.

    Contentment is life living through you.
    Joy is life living through you.
    Satisfaction and strength
    is life living through you.

    He says don’t be afraid.
    Don’t be afraid.

    Love, feel, let life take you by the hand.

    Let life live through you.

    Read More
    • Mike S

      Hi Mary Pat:

      I am wondering if you would like to be part of a zoom call with folks from the Gratitude Lounge. Drew, Mica and I had one last month and it was great being present to each other in this way. Write me if you’re interested. [email protected]

      All the best,

      Mike

    • Mike S

      Thanks for sharing that Mary Pat.

    • Serafina

      Hello Mary Pat, This one is so good! Thank you for sharing it here. Yes, you can find it on our website too. Here is the URL: https://gratefulness.org/resource/hokusai-says
      Blessings to you.

  • Bobbi Zehner
    From beneath a tattered blanket stretched from dresser to bed to book case, I nestled with childhood fantasies of serving others and saving the world.As Bobbi Anne the Great, a melding of Super Man, the Lone Ranger, Tarzan and a sprinkling of Christ, I imagined swooping down from a tree-top hideaway to rescue family and classmates, who never once recognized their savior. (I had yet to be introduced to Eleanor Roosevelt, much less Wonder Woman.)Those were the days when a heavy downpour actually ...

    From beneath a tattered blanket stretched from dresser to bed to book case, I nestled with childhood fantasies of serving others and saving the world.As Bobbi Anne the Great, a melding of Super Man, the Lone Ranger, Tarzan and a sprinkling of Christ, I imagined swooping down from a tree-top hideaway to rescue family and classmates, who never once recognized their savior. (I had yet to be introduced to Eleanor Roosevelt, much less Wonder Woman.)Those were the days when a heavy downpour actually summoned me into the streets, searching for neighborhood sewers clogged with refuse and grime. A yellow-slickered St. Christopher of the gutters, with a broom-handle staff, I freed Chicago’s rain water to flow unfettered by leaves and man-made debris.From beneath bedclothes neatly tucked into place, today’s enlightened reverie reveals that the years have given birth to another persona, with a new moniker—Bobbi Anne the Grateful—deeply thankful, wholly appreciative just to be cobbled
    together with good intentions, honest effort and more than a dollop of whimsy.

    Read More
    • Palm

      Hello Bobbi, I enjoyed your story 🙂 thank you

  • Diane
    Good morning lovely community: So grateful to be here with you on this Prayer Tuesday. I did not visit last week as I was still processing a traumatic event that I experienced. Sadly, we had to move quickly out of our rental home as there was a violent altercation followed by rapid gunfire right outside our bedroom. I had an intense delayed reaction and have since seen a trauma therapist for the PTSD that I am experiencing. It's taken me awhile to get to a place of gratitude for this...

    Good morning lovely community:
    So grateful to be here with you on this Prayer Tuesday.

    I did not visit last week as I was still processing a traumatic event that I experienced. Sadly, we had to move quickly out of our rental home as there was a violent altercation followed by rapid gunfire right outside our bedroom. I had an intense delayed reaction and have since seen a trauma therapist for the PTSD that I am experiencing.

    It’s taken me awhile to get to a place of gratitude for this trauma. And I can’t say that I am totally there yet. But, I now can acknowledge, that there are some silver linings in this dark cloud that visited me and I am working on embracing them.

    I will continue in therapy with a trauma specialist as I navigate my way through the after-effects. My husband slept through this event and our younger daughter was spending the night at our older daughter’s house when this occurred. I am very grateful that they were spared. I admit though to feeling very alone in this experience.

    For now, I am truly grateful that I and my family are safe. That I have a trained professional to guide me (who by the way came to me in true serendipity), and for the love, support and understanding of my husband and daughters when I feel overcome with fear and anxiety.

    And, as always, I am grateful for all of you here in this sacred community. Thank you for traveling with me on this often unpredictable journey.
    I’m reminded of a quote from Ram Dass that our dear friend Pilgrim once shared:
    “We are all just walking each other home”

    ~Om shanti friends ♥

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    • Palm

      Dear Diane, I missed you last week Tuesday. I’m so glad you are well. I’m sorry it had to be so traumatic, but it’s amazing how life is pushing you towards change and sending you the right support.. I’ll be thinking of you, friend, be gentle with yourself.

    • Pilgrim
      Oh, Dear Friend! I am so glad that you are safe. This is a lot to process and move through, and I'm glad you have found a trauma specialist to walk with you through this time. I sure understand feeling alone in this experience. It is my experience that nobody who wasn't present to the experience (including sleeping!) will fully understand. (I had a very different experience many years ago, and found that those few I shared with did not really believe.) I pray with you and for you in the days a...

      Oh, Dear Friend! I am so glad that you are safe. This is a lot to process and move through, and I’m glad you have found a trauma specialist to walk with you through this time. I sure understand feeling alone in this experience. It is my experience that nobody who wasn’t present to the experience (including sleeping!) will fully understand. (I had a very different experience many years ago, and found that those few I shared with did not really believe.)
      I pray with you and for you in the days ahead. We really are “just walking each other home.”

      Read More

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