Wednesday Mojo: Let's Move a Mountain

Breaking Free

Moving a mountain?

It can’t be done by politicians.

It won’t be done by nations.

It can only be done by us …

ALL of us …

and it starts with gratitude.

On page 60 of Gratitude Mojo, e.e. cummings says:

“Once we believe in ourselves,

we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight,

or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”

Once we believe in ourselves …

Gratitude practice is a conversation with ourselves … noticing what we’re grateful for everyday, beginning to see the big and little joys in our lives, beginning to comfort ourselves when the big and little pains come our way, beginning to recognize our authentic selves, neither saints nor demons, but humans dealing with the ups and downs of our lives.

What we are grateful for, we care for.

No one of us is big enough, strong enough, powerful enough to heal our world alone. Together, though, we can, if we believe we can, if we believe in ourselves, if care for each other and for the planet we live on.

Gratitude is the foundation of peace, of love, of healing.

If you're ready to practice gratitude, we invite you to check out Gratitude Mojo.

How is Gratitude Mojo different?

In this 26-week guided journey, you will experience

- a gratitude-focused mindfulness practice that takes about 5-minutes per day,

 - inspiring ancient wisdom and current neuroscience with inspiration and thoughts from over 200 experts,

 - the joy of self-discovery in this spiral-bound workbook, printed on 8 1/2" x 11” high quality paper with over 200 pages,

- a simple progression toward your authentic self through exercises, daily gratitudes, weekly reflections, recognition of emotions, and habit creation.

💗💗💗💗

 Order now ... but only if you're ready to explore 

the amazing possibilities of your own life:

Email your contact info (name, email, address) to

info@gratitudemojo.com

and we will send you a PayPal.me link  

for $59 plus $11 shipping (US) for a total of $70.

You will be able to pay by PayPal or credit card.

(Unfortunately, this offer is only valid in the US right now.)

We believe practicing gratitude with a buddy or group

is more fun and more effective ... we'd love to design 

a group practice process for your group,

Contact us at:

 info@gratitudemojo.com

Safety guarantee:

we will never sell or release your information to anyone else.

Wednesday Mojo: Gratitude as our teacher

Diamonds and Sea
Mojo =s the spark of life, of energy, of creativity.

Robert Holden, PhD, a British psychologist, author, and broadcaster who works in the field of positive psychology and well-being, states on page 53 of Gratitude Mojo:

"I have learned that gratitude 

is much more than just a positive attitude or a nice idea; 

it is a spiritual practice that can transform 

your perception of who you are 

and how you experience the world. 

Gratitude teaches you how to live." 

Lynne and I stop in our tracks every time we read that quote. If gratitude practice could be boiled down to one quote, that seems as close as anyone could come.

Gratitude shifts our mindsets about who we are and the world around us.

Last night I listened to a successful Asian business woman talking about life as an Asian in America. It made all of us listening sad and we talked for awhile about how we might help change the American experience for those people who don’t look like "US” ... meaning, all too often, white and middle class ... the norm.

Lots of ideas about diversity were suggested … good ideas … however, it struck me that the underlying value missing as we think about equality is gratitude. Until we become grateful for the gifts of diversity, we can’t truly honor even ourselves, since each one of us is a speck of diversity and not a cardboard cutout stereotype. We have no black or white; we are a spectrum of lighter and darker; states or nations are simply lines on a map drawn by humans, rich or poor goes beyond numbers on a balance sheet.

As Margaret Mead said, 

“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. 

Just like everyone else.”

Until we honor our own uniqueness, our own bit of diversity, how can we possibly honor the uniqueness of those around us and the gifts of a multitude of perspectives and experiences? We take care of what’s important to us and gratitude helps us broaden our perspective of what’s important.

We may hate flies, but they are an important food source for birds and frogs, and the world would be a lonely place without their song.

“Gratitude teaches you how to live,” says Holden. It teaches us to appreciate ourselves and the myriad of tiny, diverse miracles around us. 

Dig deeply enough into any of the major issues of our world and you will find a lack of gratitude. Being truly grateful for everything around us is the foundation of health, happiness, harmony, honesty, honor, and how we care for our world. Being grateful for all that comes our way is not always easy, but it is always healing.

If you're ready to practice gratitude, we invite you to check out Gratitude Mojo.

How is Gratitude Mojo different?

In this 26-week guided journey, you will experience

- a gratitude-focused mindfulness practice that takes about 5-minutes per day,

 - inspiring ancient wisdom and current neuroscience with inspiration and thoughts from over 200 experts,

 - the joy of self-discovery in this spiral-bound workbook, printed on 8 1/2" x 11” high quality paper with over 200 pages,

- a simple progression toward your authentic self through exercises, daily gratitudes, weekly reflections, recognition of emotions, and habit creation.

💗💗💗💗

 Order now ... but only if you're ready to explore 

the amazing possibilities of your own life:

Email your contact info (name, email, address) to

info@gratitudemojo.com

and we will send you a PayPal.me link  

for $59 plus $11 shipping (US) for a total of $70.

You will be able to pay by PayPal or credit card.

(Unfortunately, this offer is only valid in the US right now.)

We believe practicing gratitude with a buddy or group

is more fun and more effective ... we'd love to design 

a group practice process for your group,

Contact us at:

 info@gratitudemojo.com

Safety guarantee:

we will never sell or release your information to anyone else.

Wednesday Mojo: Savor Everything!

Be happy.
Mojo =s the spark of life, of energy, of creativity.

 Savor Everything!

The wind, the rain, the warm sunshine on your face.

The smell of a baby’s neck, bubbling soup on the stove, 

   the unmistakeable aroma of wet dog.

The persistence of dandelions, the danger of high bridges, 

   the comfort of a crackling fire, the hushed embrace of falling snow.

       — Gratitude Mojo, Week 6: Optimism

Savoring is the capacity to notice, appreciate, enhance and prolong the positive experiences in your life. Gratitude practice opens you to the world around you as your senses dance with light, color, sounds, music, the taste of food, the smell of rain, and the velvety feel of a baby’s skin.

Sam Horn says, “Appreciative attention is a shortcut to awe.” It is also a way to feel more alive and joyful. It turns out that the frequency of positive experiences is a much better predictor of happiness than the intensity of those experience.

However, the world is too massive to pay attention to every detail. When we open our eyes, a kaleidoscope of colors, shapes, lines and shadows engulfs us. There’s too much to pay attention to every detail, so our brains scan the environment and pick and choose what registers depending on evolutionary requirements and our own history and preferences. 

While that process is highly efficient, we can also choose to slow down and savor particularities, study things we haven’t noticed before. That study or savoring expands our world, opening us to wonder and awe.

The image above occurred as I was sitting and watching life on a creek running into Lake Almanor. I began to watch the ants scurrying through the bark crevasses of a tall cedar. Deciding to capture one with my iPhone meant sitting there for many minutes and dozens of shots, just observing them and being part of that peaceful moment.

Attention also brings funny, unexpected insights. A few days ago, a photo of a Native American man named Walks with Thunder struck me. Why don’t I have a power name, I wondered. On my walk that afternoon, I started riffing on the name Walks with Thunder … Speaks with Thunder … Thunder Woman … Making Noise Woman … and so on. I began to feel powerful, like I was making an impact on the earth. I swear I felt taller just having those words roll off my tongue as I walked.

Find something near you to explore and savor. It could be a memento on your desk, or a flower in a vase, or a thousand other things. Touch it and explore the details of it: the colors, shapes, smells, textures, as well as it’s history and how it came to be part of your life. Pay attention to how enjoying this tiny moment of attention makes you feel.

How is Gratitude Mojo different?

In this 26-week guided journey, you will experience

- a gratitude-focused mindfulness practice that takes about 5-minutes per day,

 - inspiring ancient wisdom and current neuroscience with inspiration and thoughts from over 200 experts,

 - the joy of self-discovery in this spiral-bound workbook, printed on 8 1/2" x 11” high quality paper with over 200 pages,

- a simple progression toward your authentic self through exercises, daily gratitudes, weekly reflections, recognition of emotions, and habit creation.

💗💗💗💗

 Order now ... but only if you're ready to explore 

the amazing possibilities of your own life:

Email your contact info (name, email, address) to

info@gratitudemojo.com

and we will send you a PayPal.me link  

for $59 plus $11 shipping (US) for a total of $70.

You will be able to pay by PayPal or credit card.

(Unfortunately, this offer is only valid in the US right now.)

We believe practicing gratitude with a buddy or group

is more fun and more effective ... we'd love to design 

a group practice process for your group,

Contact us at:

 info@gratitudemojo.com

Safety guarantee:

we will never sell or release your information to anyone else.