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

Serve tasty word salads to the hungry hearts in your life.

www.grateful4.org

Gratitude

Intention

First

Things

The G.I.F.T. Today

Grateful-to have the experience of being a parent- clearly it was something I needed to save myself from myself. Thanks Kids.

Intention-let everything keep emerging as it is

First-namaste

Things-dekker the dog and back yard

Morning Platitude from The GratiDude

The power of words is impossible to put into words.

The word psychology is derived from the Greek words psyche and logos. Psyche means “soul” and logos means “knowledge”

Christian theologians use logos to describe a derivative divine power.

Language and human existence and evolution and growth and culture are inextricable.

I did not understand this fully until I started learning a second language, and I came to realize that learning the language was like having the combination to the front door of the culture. You now have permission to enter because you have done the work and shown the consideration and respect, even the curiosity required to spend the time learning how to communicate with people that happen to have been born in a different part of the Earth than you.

Just like you don’t choose where you were born(I doubt I would’ve chosen cold Michigan as it seems that my body has a strong inclination to warm weather, but I digress), you can’t choose what language you learn as your first language that becomes your “mother tongue “.

The cliché “sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me” only goes so far, as we know that the words that hurt the most come from the people that we love the most when they lose control of their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

Even when you tell yourself not to take something personally when it’s about to come at you, and you can see that the person is not in full control of their emotions.

The shit still hurts when it hits your ears.

I could remember putting to work some of the things in marriage counseling going back a few years and just how frustrating and angering it was for the mother of my kids that I quickly and fully embraced some of these instructions and messages from Dr. Bruce our therapist.

My relatively chill reaction started to trigger angry reactions, and some of the things that were said were really off the charts in terms of attempts to be hurtful.

I was in a place, however, where I could see what was going on like an observer, and I was doing my best to Teflon my memory so that the words would slide right off and not stick. However, that’s easier said than done.

What is easy to do and that we don’t do enough of is lavishing praise and complements and encouragement and good words to people around us.

There’s no need to be conservative or to be stingy with praise.

You can give it up to perfect strangers just as easily and the impact is felt by the energetic message of support that you were lending through kind words.

You can just make it up. It doesn’t even have to be real folks, so when you’re walking by a woman working on her yard just complement how great the yard looks even if it looks like less than great.

They’re trying to make it look great so throw them a bone with a compliment!

It costs you nothing and this is how we grease the skids of life and move energies in the right direction to elevate consciousness through simple emotional upliftment, moment by moment.

Yes, positive words from a loved one can significantly contribute to your overall health by reducing stress, boosting your mood, and strengthening your immune system, making you healthier; research shows that feeling loved and supported through verbal affirmations can have a positive impact on both mental and physical well-being.

Key points about how positive words from loved ones can benefit health:

Stress reduction:

Hearing kind words can lower stress hormone levels, leading to a calmer state.

Improved mood:

Positive affirmations from loved ones can uplift your spirits and combat feelings of sadness or loneliness.

Enhanced self-esteem:

Feeling valued and appreciated by others can boost your self-confidence.

Stronger immune system:

Studies suggest that strong social connections and positive emotions can contribute to a better immune response.

Pain relief:

Even simply thinking about a loved one can provide some level of pain relief in certain situations

What I’m going to do is simply do it without saying anything and show folks how to be kind to strangers in the hope that other people see the impact feel the good feeling and copy me.

Full disclosure that’s what I’m doing today. It’s what I did yesterday and I’m going to do it again tomorrow.

And I wasn’t always this way, especially not when I wake up sick a few hundred days a year from alcohol poisoning the night before.

Oh sure, I could be friendly and say hello, but I couldn’t muster energy to go the extra mile and to do wonderful things for people because my hands were trembling in my stomach felt queasy.

That is no way to live.

I feel I have a lot of time to make up for not out of guilt, but just out of fulfilling my obligation and inclination to be a stoker of other people and to shine some white light and brightness in my community.