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

It is not easy to call into a chrysalis voluntarily, but the flight(or float) after you make the hard changes makes it all worthwhile.

www.grateful4.org

Gratitude

Intention

First

Things

The G.I.F.T. Today

Grateful-to know that you can’t flow with fear, so I release my fear to stay in the flow

Intention-warm others with a smile and chit chat on this chilly willy day

First-confirm Jay is cool pushing call back to after noon

Things-email Peggy

Morning Platitude from The GratiDude

You never know what kind of life is on the other side of a period of suffering or challenging times, times that can often feel like it’s going to last forever. You have to keep faith in your ability to move beyond the current situation to understand that difficulties and obstacles are a natural part of life and they come at times most frequently when great things are right around the corner.

As my brother Sean taught me “if it still hurts that just means that it’s not over yet “.

It’s a healthy exercise to look back at periods in your life where you were going through some of the most challenging times, and that you know now resulted in a tremendous amount of either learning or growth or both. At those moments, it would be almost impossible to believe that you could feel as good as you do now or that you could have come this far when at times you have felt so low.

All of us were there.

As I walk around my neighborhood around sunset, I can remember when I first moved into this neighborhood before my divorce was finalized, and there was so much ambiguity and uncertainty, and for me lots of concern around the state of mind and the emotional state of my kids.

I can recall these walks on beautiful evenings, not even noticing the colors in the sky from the sunset nor hearing the dog bark or noticing the smells in the air because I was so overwhelmed with so many different emotions and thoughts and all I could do is just work to focus on my breath and keep putting 1 foot in front of the other and try to come back into the moment of now as much as possible to keep my mind from racing.

A cool way to move forward and to keep dreaming big is to realize that you can have really huge dreams and as long as things are happening in the direction of those big dreams, you are taking incremental steps that when added up become massive over time, just like compound interest in finance.

And when it could be healthy to dream of a future state is when you’re dreaming of your dreams coming true and picturing yourself doing great things that result in you realizing your own personal potential. Dreaming and visualizing yourself following the path that has been laid out for you by your higher self and that connection is something much bigger than you is a great future thought.

The wisdom you manifest when you are coping with hard times blooms after the suffering has passed.

Yes, it is possible to become more happy after a period of suffering, as overcoming challenges and adversity can often lead to a greater appreciation for life’s small pleasures and a deeper sense of personal growth, resulting in increased happiness; essentially, the experience of suffering can teach individuals to savor positive moments more fully.

Key points to consider:

Perspective shift:

Going through tough times can sometimes change your perspective, making you more grateful for the good things in life that you might have taken for granted before.

Resilience building:

Overcoming challenges can strengthen your resilience and coping mechanisms, allowing you to better handle future difficulties and focus on positive aspects.

Personal growth:

Reflecting on and learning from suffering can lead to personal growth and a deeper understanding of yourself.

However, it’s important to remember that:

Not everyone experiences this:

Some individuals may struggle to recover from significant suffering and may require professional help to manage their emotions.

Time is needed for healing:

Moving past suffering and finding happiness takes time and effort, and it’s important to be patient with yourself.

Seeking support is crucial:

If you are struggling to cope with significant suffering, seeking support from friends, family, or a therapist can be extremely beneficial.

If I look at just one of the many projects that I’ve undertaken in the last year and then look at all the individual tiny steps within that one project, it become somewhat amazed that I get some of this shit done.

My Coaching Certifications around Mindfulness were what seems like millions of steps, research, reading, listening and watching, traveling across the country, etc.

More recently, getting my www.grateful4.org merchandise store up and running was just a series of little steps, learning opportunities and mistakes. I learned a TON by watching YouTube videos and asking different people and finally understanding how to cobble together a solution.

When I think about some of the little steps like getting a logo enhanced and revised from a contractor in Pakistan through Fiverr, researching and checking out other merchandise stores to learn how other people were choosing products and pricing their items, figuring out how to not have to carry inventory and to instead use a site like www.printful.com which alleviate that expense and headache of fulfilling orders. And E-commerce has come so far, as we are using something as simple as PayPal to allow for credit card transactions- a novel and a really simple solution for me.

YouTube once again is an incredible resource for finding videos on just about anything you want to learn about.

My walks at night now are much more rich and enjoyable as I am more present and here for the experience. Not with anxious thoughts, but instead present moment awareness.

I love walking and feeling utterly present, feeling light in my feet, feeling really good about where my family is today and how wonderful and happy and healthy my kids are and how everybody turned out fine some 18+ months later.

I feel much like Max the dog here with the new lease on life, though it wouldn’t be Rum I would be delivering out to the boat but something healthier….. nonetheless the spirit of giving and providing along with the scenery and lifestyle looks like it is made for one very, very happy dog.