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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.

  • June K C
    I read in the paper yesterday about a pediatrician who advises his patients to write in their journal daily to relieve their anxieties and fears. Keep it simple. His suggested format: 1.) Write three things you are grateful for. Be specific, e.g., “I enjoy drinking hot chocolate on a rainy day.” 2.) Write your life story in six words, e.g., “Born, school, work, work, play, play. 3.) Imagine you had a magic lamp and make three wishes. Again, be specific. I think this works great for adults ...

    I read in the paper yesterday about a pediatrician who advises his patients to write in their journal daily to relieve their anxieties and fears. Keep it simple. His suggested format:
    1.) Write three things you are grateful for. Be specific, e.g., “I enjoy drinking hot chocolate on a rainy day.”
    2.) Write your life story in six words, e.g., “Born, school, work, work, play, play.
    3.) Imagine you had a magic lamp and make three wishes. Again, be specific.
    I think this works great for adults as well. I started yesterday. Keeps me grounded and hopeful.

    Read More
  • Mike S
    Along with my visit to gratefulness site every day I also read one or more of the meditations from Marianne Williamson’s book A Year in miracles. She has wonderful short writings for every day. Along with Kristi’s book and gratefulness I have a heart full of good feelings and thoughts to ponder on as I begin my day. This is one prayer from day 29. “May my Internal Teacher remind me always that I am one with all Creation. I am not separate or apart from love. I bend my thoughts in the dir...

    Along with my visit to gratefulness site every day I also read one or more of the meditations from Marianne Williamson’s book A Year in miracles. She has wonderful short writings for every day. Along with Kristi’s book and gratefulness I have a heart full of good feelings and thoughts to ponder on as I begin my day. This is one prayer from day 29.

    “May my Internal Teacher remind me always that I am one with all Creation. I am not separate or apart from love. I bend my thoughts in the direction of love for myself and others, that I might be delivered from the pain of a fearful world.”

    Read More
  • Annie
    Hello friends, I am up late on this Saturday night or rather Sunday morning last day of January. Valentine's Day just a couple of weeks away . I love Valentines Day ...it's I love you day. And I found a perfect gift for my daughter on Amazon. It is a tiny wooden vintage music box that plays You Are My Sunshine. I call her my sunshine girl because when she was a little girl she stood at the top of a hill and sang loud and clear "You are my sunshine ...my only sunshine ..you make me happy ...etc....

    Hello friends, I am up late on this Saturday night or rather Sunday morning last day of January. Valentine’s Day just a couple of weeks away . I love Valentines Day …it’s I love you day. And I found a perfect gift for my daughter on Amazon. It is a tiny wooden vintage music box that plays You Are My Sunshine. I call her my sunshine girl because when she was a little girl she stood at the top of a hill and sang loud and clear “You are my sunshine …my only sunshine ..you make me happy …etc. So hopefully this little music box will touch her heart. Now to figure out some small token of love to give all my granddaughters. Any ideas???
    God bless 🙂

    Read More
    • Pilgrim

      That does sound like the perfect gift, Annie! How old are your granddaughters? Could be a beaded bracelet or a kit to make one, or to make anything – age dependent! A book, specially selected? A lava lamp? Fuzzy socks? I just saw some Valentine’s options in the Target ad. Special time with grandma?

      • Annie

        Good morning Pilgrim, Thank you for your suggestions. My oldest granddaughter is Alexa, my sunshine girls daughter… she is 13 years old. Next my son’s three… Samantha who is 10, her sister Katy is 7 and their baby sister River is 3 weeks old.
        Have a lovely day !

        • June K C

          When I taught first grade many years ago, one of my students was a refugee from Cambodia. She loved that song and asked to sing it every morning. I imagined the horrors she and her family had witnessed and how much joy and comfort the words of that song brought her. There were times I became teary-eyed watching her sing that song, a radiant smile on her face. I can still hear her today, “…You’ll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

  • Zenith
    I am sorry I have not been here for a while. Phone issues. Believe it or not the new phone I had to get 6 weeks ago won't let me post on the site even though I am supposedly logged in. I don't understand that but it is true. I am being censored by my phone. That said, I with you all a wonderful new year. Last year was a really good one for me in spite of everything. Yes, all the restrictions have been very hard to live with but all the good far outweighed all of it. I am proud of myself for all ...

    I am sorry I have not been here for a while. Phone issues. Believe it or not the new phone I had to get 6 weeks ago won’t let me post on the site even though I am supposedly logged in. I don’t understand that but it is true. I am being censored by my phone. That said, I with you all a wonderful new year. Last year was a really good one for me in spite of everything. Yes, all the restrictions have been very hard to live with but all the good far outweighed all of it. I am proud of myself for all that I accomplished and for what I continue to work on. My negative thought patterns are grudgingly giving way to more positive thoughts more often. I find myself much lighter overall than just one year ago. In fact, I have to say, I don’t understand why so many people are grumping about so much so often. It doesn’t make sense to me when there is so much wonderful all around us. I want to thank everyone that is part of this site and wish every single one a blessed 2021.

    Read More
  • Mike S

    Good morning everyone. This year is a time of healing for me after a very difficult 2020. I am doing so many different things both body and soul. I have started the practice of Qi gong to relieve some energy pressure in my head and I’m also doing acupuncture for some muscle groups in my hip area I’ve been nagging me for years. I’m also going to start seeing an Ayurvedic doctor, which is how holistic medicine is practiced in India. I wish you all health and balance of this year.

    • sm

      Sounds like you have an exciting year ahead! I wish you the best on your endeavors and hope your new practices leave your body and soul feeling anew. Best!

  • Janet
    a Marta: muchas gracias for your grateful voice. When you spoke of being a 'brown' person, I remembered that the NATIVE Americans are 'brown people', too. It was the Europeans who were the 'outsiders.' I am grateful for the picture you received from Brother David, and how it was so meaningful to you: the picture about pain being like a labour pain. I remember how Jesus spoke of a woman in the pain of labour, forgetting her pain because of her joy when the baby arrives. The pain can bring ab...

    a Marta: muchas gracias for your grateful voice.
    When you spoke of being a ‘brown’ person, I remembered that the NATIVE Americans are ‘brown people’, too. It was the Europeans who were the ‘outsiders.’
    I am grateful for the picture you received from Brother David, and how it was so meaningful to you: the picture about pain being like a labour pain. I remember how Jesus spoke of a woman in the pain of labour, forgetting her pain because of her joy when the baby arrives.
    The pain can bring about something good, if we let it.
    Someone I knew didn’t sleep well. Instead of tossing and turning, he decided to use the sleepless times to pray for people.
    When I broke my wrist, God gave me the idea of looking for all the things to be grateful for…and it was mainly people. There was so much to be grateful for.

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  • Anna

    Hi dear friends, today photo of “the word for the day” reminds me this one below. A friend took the image during a travel to Sicily, we were on the beach…

    • Palm

      Dear Anna, thank you for sharing this special moment, it gives me the feeling of communion with friends.
      Please know that I think of you, dear friend.
      From Palm

    • Pilgrim

      Looks like fun, Anna! I love going to the beach – a good place for fun, exploration, and meditation.

      • Anna

        It was a wonderful time, dear Pilgrim!
        I too love the sea, especially in the evening, or early in the morning. When I close my eyes for a minute of relax, I am used to listen to jazz music and I often figure the sea. I also imagine the Ocean…a sense of awe fills my heart, only by thinking of it!

  • Drew Blanton

    I got my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine yesterday. It didn’t hurt me at all. The problem if if it hurt my skin the chances of me feeling it aren’t that great because of my disability. I can feel fire and water, but I prefer water.

    • Diane

      That’s great news Drew! Thank you for sharing with us…like our friend Pilgrim said, it gives us all hope!

    • Mike S

      Good news. Thanks for the report Drew. I will eventually get the vaccine, but am waiting to learn more.

    • Pilgrim

      Drew, it is a blessing to have received the first vaccine! And a sign of hope for those of us who are waiting our turn.

  • Alicia

    Tuesdays: remembering Ursula and her husband and boys, her sister, her mother. I say prayers in remembrance of all who have lost precious family and friends or who are losing loved ones.
    I love you all.

    • Alicia

      I hope you will be able to see and hear this beautiful song. It speaks what I long for and also gives me hope

      • Alicia

        It did not “ paste “ into what I wanted to share. I am sorry

        • Pilgrim

          Link for the beautiful song, Alicia. Thank you.

          • Mike S

            Beautiful and moving. song ThanksPilgrim.

          • Ose

            Dear Pilgrim, dear Alicia, so touching, and such a blessing! May you be blessed, dear friends.

        • Alicia

          ON THE DAY WE ARE TOGETHER AGAIN is the song on vimeo.com

  • Diane
    Good morning lovely friends. It is a grace to be here with you this Tuesday morning. As always, my thoughts turn to our dear Ursula and her family. I visit here daily and it occurs to me that our community is changing and growing with new members who provide us with their own unique gifts they so generously share. And having been around awhile, I am reflecting on some of my "old" friends as well....I won't mention names because my brain is overloaded these days and I'm afraid I'll forget...

    Good morning lovely friends. It is a grace to be here with you this Tuesday morning. As always, my thoughts turn to our dear Ursula and her family.

    I visit here daily and it occurs to me that our community is changing and growing with new members who provide us with their own unique gifts they so generously share. And having been around awhile, I am reflecting on some of my “old” friends as well….I won’t mention names because my brain is overloaded these days and I’m afraid I’ll forget someone. But you know who you are! 🥰

    I wonder how our friends from the “old days” who have come and gone are doing on their journeys? Manda, Debbie, Aine, Henry, Michelle, Nancy….many more. You are missed. Thank you for the gifts you brought to this sacred community.

    Change can be hard and scary sometimes. But can also be filled with wonder, joy, and everyday miracles. So many big life changes going on in my life right now. My heart’s desire is to live through these changes with faith, trust, and hope. I am exhausted physically and emotionally but I seek each day to do “small things with great love” as Mother Teresa as said.
    In that spirit, I share this poem with all of you…may it be a blessing.
    ~With grateful love ♥

    “Already my gaze is upon the hill, the sunny one,
    at the end of the path which I’ve only just begun.
    So we are grasped, by that which we could not grasp,
    at such great distance, so fully manifest—

    and it changes us, even when we do not reach it,
    into something that, hardly sensing it, we already are;
    a sign appears, echoing our own sign . . .
    But what we sense is the wind against us.”
    Rainer Maria Rilke

    Read More
    • Pilgrim
      Thank you, dear Diane, for these poignant words of Rilke. I am reminded to gather my wisdom/poetry books front and center as I struggle in these days. I, too, so often wonder about our friends from the "old days" and hope they are well. Change is indeed hard and scary, even when it is good or necessary change. And "the wind against us" is an apt description of so much that has and continues to occur. May you be blessed with the faith, hope and trust you seek. We surround you with support and...

      Thank you, dear Diane, for these poignant words of Rilke. I am reminded to gather my wisdom/poetry books front and center as I struggle in these days.

      I, too, so often wonder about our friends from the “old days” and hope they are well. Change is indeed hard and scary, even when it is good or necessary change. And “the wind against us” is an apt description of so much that has and continues to occur. May you be blessed with the faith, hope and trust you seek. We surround you with support and blessings, my friend.

      Read More
      • Diane

        Thank you for your blessing dear friend. I feel your support ♥

    • Anna

      Dear Diane, I am so happy to see you here, and I thank you for your post remembering old friends in this xommunity.
      I long for see them again, their wisdom and tbeir nice friendship.
      At the same time I am also happy for new friends and for everyone we already know and that brings us her/his voice, from time to time, a true gift in this sacred community.
      May everyone be well.

      • Diane

        Cara Anna….grateful for our enduring friendship across the ocean mia amica ♥

  • Ose
    If you don´t mind and according to our today´s "word for the day" and taking it as an inspiration, I would like to share a grateful poem. Every life is a poem, all included is beauty, and it is all inclusive. I am grateful to have had the strength and the good fortune and intense support of so many to have overcome a strong sensation of isolation once resulted of very early imprints in life. I am grateful to have been surrounded with people in need from early childhood on resulti...

    If you don´t mind and according to our today´s “word for the day” and taking it as an inspiration, I would like to share a grateful poem. Every life is a poem, all included is beauty, and it is all inclusive.

    I am grateful
    to have had the strength and the good fortune
    and intense support of so many
    to have overcome a strong sensation of isolation
    once resulted of very early imprints in life.

    I am grateful
    to have been surrounded with people in need
    from early childhood on
    resulting in early waking to compassion and caring
    and later to learning to include myself also,
    thanks to dear friends.

    I am grateful
    to have found courage one day as a teen
    to stand up against domination and aggression
    which opened my eyes that
    to be a victim had been my choice
    and to turn my face to it.

    I am grateful
    for the constant and imperative demand
    to return home immediately to do some duty
    when just having met friends,
    resulting in developing responsibility, kindness,
    perseverance and some competences.

    I am so grateful
    to be work in progress
    to overcome the resulting hesitation or block
    to get in contact, learning to reach out and express feelings,
    learning to trust, learning to reply accordingly
    to the deep longing in myself and others
    to sharing visions and friendship as kindred hearts.

    I am deeply grateful for all of you here, and for my dear friends and loved ones, and I kindly ask your forgiveness where I failed. Gratefully yours, Ose

    Read More
    • Alicia

      Dear Ose, thank you. I am glad to have read your thoughtful post. I think of you and others here very often. Love, Alicia

      • Ose

        Thank you, dear Alicia. So good to see you here again! Have a lovely day, and thanks for sharing. 💕

    • Anna

      Dearest Ose, thank you for your honest, profound and inspiring poetry, for your freshness, kindness.
      Dear friend of a few years, I am so happy to read the long distance you have traveled, together with your dear friends, and also with us. I am happy to know that you have gained inner peace, the courage to share your strong love for life, for human beings, for nature.
      May you be blessed, every day of your life.

      • Alicia

        Anna, I just read Ose’s reply to you. I am sorry to hear of the loss of your father. My heart goes to you, your mother, your children, and all family and friends. Love, Alicia

      • Ose

        Thank you, Anna, for your care and your blessings. So good to see you here again, my dear friend. Thinking of you and your mother often and hope you have found some balance and peace of mind and heart after the death of your father.

    • Mike S

      I appreciate your candor, Ose, and please know we are with you.

      • Ose

        Thanks a lot, dear Mike, for expressing this.

    • Pilgrim

      Thank you for sharing your heart and your story in poetry, dear Ose. May you be well, my friend.

      • Ose

        Thank you, dear Pilgrim, for your kind reply 🙏

  • Mike S

    I was blessed to have first encountered brother David when he gave a workshop on Whidbey island sponsored by a local institute. I think it was around 1988, and immediately after the workshop I got his book Gratefulness, The Heart of Prayer. That book really impressed me. I didn’t find the site for a long time after and the work of gratefulness has been a true blessing in my life. Thanks to each and everyone of you for what you bring to our collective experience.

    • Mica

      Me, too – Mike S – that’s about when I first met Brother David. He is such a gift. The internet says ‘A network for grateful living’ started in 1968, originally called ‘center for spiritual studies’ and co-founded by Br. David with “Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and Sufi teachers”. I can’t find out when this website started. Warm wishes to you –

  • kaydee444

    After a difficult day (and week), last night I heard someone quote Brother David, and it took me aback, because I remember discovering him a few years ago and his words spoke to my heart. I ended up listening to a talk he gave on the present moment, and it was just what I needed to hear. I am grateful for the moment and grateful for it carrying forward.

  • Mary
    Thank you, dear Mary and Diane, for your loving encouragement. I am so touched and I trust your hopes are coming true. I am so happy that Kristi is offering a mini-retreat centered on her new book, which I find such a reflection of my own life. Her words are like a gardening kit giving me tools to attend to my life and in the same moment be in awe of what I see in the garden plot each day. And what I am learning is that what I see may be both/and...blossoms, fruit, weeds, and stones....yet ...

    Thank you, dear Mary and Diane, for your loving encouragement. I am so touched and I trust your hopes are coming true. I am so happy that Kristi is offering a mini-retreat centered on her new book, which I find such a reflection of my own life. Her words are like a gardening kit giving me tools to attend to my life and in the same moment be in awe of what I see in the garden plot each day. And what I am learning is that what I see may be both/and…blossoms, fruit, weeds, and stones….yet in all there is a miraculous gift IF ONLY I am willing to acknowledge the lessons and gifts. One moment at a time. Slowly. Yes, I keep hearing within ….slow, Mary….slow. With lots of hugs…for myself and YOU ALL!

    Read More
  • Mike S

    Good morning everyone. I am putting my faith in this day of the inauguration of a new president that some fresh air will come in to our country and revive our hearts. May we all experience a brightening of our spirits.

    • Diane

      Good morning Mike…..I am hopeful for the healing of our nation. May God abundantly bless our new president and vice president. 🙏 May we all be safe and may hearts be opened to peace.

    • Palm

      Dear Mike, today I have been thinking of our American friends here. I join in your beautiful prayer, thank you.
      Palm (an Italian-Venezuelan living in South Africa)

  • Diane
    Good morning lovely friends: So grateful to be here with you this Tuesday morning. It made me smile to see the Earth Altars that were shared here. I forwarded the article from this site to my brother because together we are trying the navigate the grief of our older sister's end of life journey. She has been very ill for a very long time and has just this week been put on hospice care. He and I are both far away from her and her family and with the current Covid crisis are not able to b...

    Good morning lovely friends:
    So grateful to be here with you this Tuesday morning.

    It made me smile to see the Earth Altars that were shared here. I forwarded the article from this site to my brother because together we are trying the navigate the grief of our older sister’s end of life journey. She has been very ill for a very long time and has just this week been put on hospice care. He and I are both far away from her and her family and with the current Covid crisis are not able to be there with her as her journey is coming to an end. How to honor her and have our own ceremony that will give us comfort and help us to say goodbye from afar? And then the gift of Earth Altars appeared and my heart just filled with gratitude.

    My brother and I are both nature lovers and I often shared with our sister over the years how connecting to the earth has been such a blessing in my life. I suggested to my brother that as a healing ritual and in honor of our sister that we each make our own Earth Altar and send each other a picture. A miracle of sorts, and as often happens on this sacred website, was offered at just the right time

    I am eternally grateful to have “found” this site (more accurately it found me!) and all the ways it has blessed me over the years. And most especially….I am grateful for all of you in this sacred community.

    ~Have a blessed day my friends and thank you for your generosity of heart in sharing. ♥

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    • Alicia

      Dear Diane, it takes courage and stamina to write as you have. Your sister, your brother, and you are in my heart.

    • Mary

      Arms stretched around your hearts for always.

    • Palm

      ❤️

    • Mica

      Good heavens, Diane – it’s Tuesday, and it’s almost over. Thank you for reminding me, and for pointing out that the beautiful images are Earth Altars. Warm wishes to you and your brother and sister, as she takes her final journey.

  • Mary

    I am finding so much comfort and care as I have begun reading Kristi Nelson’s new book. A support and a new friend to walk this path of gratefulness and new life each day!

  • Mary
    Before I chose to write my thanksgiving in this space, I wanted to quickly write Gratefulness.org. Yet perhaps this open space will become a portal for me to connect and to offer my thanks from my heart. I just listened to the video by Brother David named "Blessings." The six blessings. I am ever grateful. I needed this very much this morning. I am into my second month recovering from a fainting episode which left me with a concussion.. A health challenge I have never had to face and live...

    Before I chose to write my thanksgiving in this space, I wanted to quickly write Gratefulness.org. Yet perhaps this open space will become a portal for me to connect and to offer my thanks from my heart. I just listened to the video by Brother David named “Blessings.” The six blessings. I am ever grateful. I needed this very much this morning. I am into my second month recovering from a fainting episode which left me with a concussion.. A health challenge I have never had to face and live with in my almost seventy years. Yet I see there has been healing in small measure so I give thanks for this and do not write to dwell on this. Instead, I say huge thanks for this source of comfort and direction which I sorely needed this morning and will return to often.
    I return today to myself and am grateful that I indeed am able to return to myself. Alive. Breathing.
    I confess to having felt so very alone during this time as well as hungry for human touch. A warm, soft hug. A sense of peace when I lie down at night to sleep. Less pain.
    Yet my current condition sharpens my awareness of my love for others and my gratitude for good health when it visits me. And that I am not alone when I am faced with such challenges.
    I am grateful that I am able to walk. I am grateful that I have a table to sit at to eat foods I have prepared in my own little kitchen.
    I am grateful I have money to buy food to prepare. I am grateful I have a faithful car to take me to food stores to buy such items.
    I am grateful for the smiling faces who greet me and have wiped clean the grocery cart for me. I am grateful for the ladies at the counters when I check out.
    I am grateful for the sky and her clouds and color beyond any human description. I am grateful for the geese which fly skimming the lake and voicing their celebration for life.
    I am grateful that I may come to this keyboard and type out this message so that my heart knows I am listening to her and that I have not plummeted into a dark space unable to witness these gifts about which I write. I am grateful. I am. Bless us all with all our blessings freely given and shared. Hugs forever, Mary

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    • Mica

      A sense of peace when you lie down to sleep – yes, Mary!

    • Diane

      Good morning Mary…welcome to this sacred community. We have another member named Mary who drops by on occasion!
      Thank you for sharing your grateful heart with us and for your blessings and hugs. And I offer my prayers for your continued recovery and that you will feel God’s Presence and peace.
      Your words of gratitude are an inspiration…have a blessed day Mary ♥

    • Mike S

      Glad to have you in this space and I wish you a full recovery of your health and confidence. I appreciate your courage and openness, and send virtual hugs as a sign of caring we all need. Please know that you are not alone.

      • Mary

        Thank you, Mike, so much. Your reaching out with compassion and care means the world. I may receive medical attention today and for this another gift for gratefulness. I hope for you days filled with wondrous surprises and unexpected causes for awe! YES!

  • Nitesh Kumar Sharma

    I am grateful for my parents who did sacrifice almost everything just to make me capable of doing small things that I do with a pure heart and great thought.

    And now if I would not use my capabilities to do those small things the way they have to be done. I think it would be an injustice to them.

  • Drew Blanton

    Martin Luther King, Jr.
    by Drew Blanton

    Martin Luther King, Jr., was a man
    With a plan.
    He had a dream
    That would make any racist scream.
    He wanted equality for all races
    So we could be in the same spaces.
    For this he was killed.
    Imagine if he were billed!

    • Alicia

      Drew!!! I hope you are well and are comfortably settled in your new place.
      Thank you for posting your poem!

    • Mica

      Thank you, Drew!!

    • Diane

      Drew….I love your poem. Thank you for sharing your gifts with us here! I hope you are settling in and happy in your new surroundings.
      Have a blessed day! ♥

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