The Daily G.I.F.T. from The GratiDude

I fingerpaint and do yoga to be a better Business Partner and Dad. Huh?

www.grateful4.org

Gratitude

Intention

First

Things

The G.I.F.T. Today

Grateful: for seeing more signs the more grounded I am. This tells me the signs are always there, it is me that is changing.

Intention-seeds in my pocket, seeds sprouting, flowers blooming, flowers in the vase in water, flowers drying upside down in my lanai.

First-Peggy request follow up

Things-Jon Starbucks

Morning Meditation from The GratiDude

The impacts of the invisible programming that we all receive are sometimes hard to put your finger on and at other times it is clear.

What I am referring to or some of the expectations that we feel for ourselves that aren’t coming necessarily from the inside, but instead from the outside.

For me personally at times I have felt external expectations as if my own personal journey and process around separating from the mother of my kids and us deciding to permanently separate through divorce would go through measurable sorts of stages of either healing or growth that I need to check off or adhere to.

There is no recipe, of course, or checklist.

I simply assumed that part of a modern transition from married life to dating life is the installation of dating apps on your mobile device.  I found the energy around everything having to do with the process of this, for me now, it was moving me in the wrong direction away from finding the answers and pushing me to look at answers outside, which is not my path for healing at this present moment.

So, I deleted bumble and Tinder yesterday.

And it feels great to not be looking at those apps for no stupid damn reason when there’s nothing or nobody in those apps that can help me with what I need for the next six months or so.

I’m going back into a mindset of significant development throughout the rest of this year and for the first quarter of next year to really push through some healing blockages, as well as to knock out projects that need massive and intense amounts of work and organization.

Furthermore, my teenage kids are 16 and 14 and even though I share custody, I like letting them know that I will be available even on the weekends that aren’t my turn for any logistical needs or activities or things that I might be able to help with as part of the very short, closing window of parenting that I have with these two beautiful humans.

Over these next six months I plan to do as much “time wasting” as possible with the things that make me happy and that I love to do.

Hobbies are good for the Heart and Head!!!

Yes, there are many health benefits to having a fun hobby, including: 

Mental health: Hobbies can improve your mental health and well-being. People with hobbies are less likely to experience stress, low mood, and depression. Hobbies can also help you build resilience and a sense of identity. 

Physical health: A study by the National Institute of Health (NIH) found that people who engage in leisure activities tend to be healthier overall. They have lower blood pressure, cortisol, waist circumference, and body mass index. 

Social connections: Hobbies can help you build better relationships with others. Participating in hobby groups can help reduce loneliness and isolation. 

Creativity: Hobbies can increase your creativity and improve your creative problem-solving abilities. 

Sense of accomplishment: Hobbies can give you a sense of accomplishment. 

Confidence: Learning a new skill or revisiting an old one can improve your confidence. 

Brain health: Hobbies can improve your brain health. 

Professional life: Hobbies can help you perform better in your professional life.

When we become adults, we are encouraged to do work related or money related things whenever possible, and reserve just a little bit of time at the end of the week to do fun stuff.

And if you buy into this, you will buy into the BIGGER message: Work your whole life doing stuff you don’t enjoy and then, JUST LIKE YOUR WORK WEEK, you can have a bit of fun at the END of your LIFE.  When your body is old. And broken. And fat because you worked all the time. Great plan, but no thanks for me and the GratiDude.

We are choosing life TODAY and making it all work. 

I’ll get up as early as I must to build and live the only life I have the way I want.

Hard stop.

For this Hombre, I am, every single darn day doing things like; recreating driving my golf car, journaling, doing poetry, yoga, meditating, listening to music, DJing,  walking, hiking, playing golf with one of my Bros I love, cooking food for my kids.

ALL these things and activities  make me better at everything else that I do, including money making and deal-doing, idea hatching, coaching, learning, strategizing, etc.

You could imagine this young man as he shared with his parents and friends, his growing interest and skill set in the world of shadow puppets.