Learning to
Appreciate....
I woke up this morning to an e-
mail that touched my heart.....
And the desire to reach out and share it with you was
overwhelming!!
It was a story about appreciating a loved on and acknowledging
their
anniversary of their life on earth!!
It spoke of a woman who lived 97 years
and always gave to
others...
Even on her death bed her greatest concern was whether
or not that
the doctor had eaten dinner....
The story told of how this beautiful woman
read to her long time
husband
when he lost his sight....He loved literature and she refused
to let him "go without" after he lost his sight!
"As I look back on my memories of Papa and Mama - I cannot help but be
amazed at her devotion to the man she fell in love with as a young girl. I
can only imagine
Papa's frustration when he lost his eyesight. It must
have been terrible for a man to whom words
meant so much to be
deprived of his ability to read. But then Mama became his eyes. Who
can
forget the daily ritual of her reading aloud to Papa and stopping to check
the dictionary
or the encyclopedia ever so often, on his request? Who
can forget his constant cries of "Lena,
Lena"? And I never once heard her
complain through all this. What better example could she have
set me -
one of love and devotion to the man she had 15 children with?
We can all learn from this amazing dedication of Love!!
And I must add...Holly said it best....
"Yes, and no matter how bad we think we have
it,
there is always someone worse off. "
This person who reaches down deep and
gives
with True Love and Dedication is to be respected
and admired.
U R Abundant Because Abundance is All there
Is
"Feeling appreciated is one of the most important
needs that people have. When you share with
someone your appreciation and gratitude, they
will not forget you. Appreciation will return
to
you many times."
Steve Brunkhorst
"Before someone's tomorrow has been taken
away, cherish those you
love,
appreciate them today."
Michelle C. Ustaszeski
"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you
may look
back and
realize they were the big things."
Author Unknown
"The deepest principle
in human nature is the
craving to be appreciated."
William James
"Be verbal in acknowledging your appreciation."
Catherine Pulsifer
"Life holds
so many simple blessings, each day
bringing its own individual wonder."
John McLeod
(Jaymac)
Attract Abundance in Every Area of YOUR
Life
"Nothing is more
honorable than
a grateful heart."
Seneca
"If you don't think every
day is a great day try
going without one."
Jim Evans
As you consider the
power of appreciation in your
life, keep in mind two meanings of appreciate
from
Webster:
1. To think well of; value; enjoy; esteem
2. To rise in value
This is
how the appreciative life works: By
valuing, enjoying, thinking well of, and
holding in esteem
the best of who we are as
human beings, we can help those elements rise in
value.
So much self-help is focused on fixing what is
wrong with ourselves.
We try to hack away at
our negative tendencies with a focus on our
weaknesses and thus
create internal anger
toward ourselves.
The appreciative approach is to find what we
value
and desire and to notice those elements,
encourage them to arise in life, and
express self-
gratitude when those elements arise.
This appreciative approach may
sound sane and
simple, but it seems to run against human
nature. Most people seem
wired to see their faults
clearly and dwell on failures and at the same
time ignore strengths.
By dwelling on what we
don't want and keeping the focus on negative
habits of thought and
action, we are actually
helping those things appreciate and grow in our
lives.
If you want to appreciate the ability to be
mindful and pay attention to the
present
moment, you will no doubt quickly notice how
often your mind strays from the
present
moment. You will notice forgetfulness and will
be tempted to see yourself as a
failure in being
mindful. But every act of seeing forgetfulness is
a moment of mindfulness. If
you want to move
from patience to impatience, notice and value
your increasing patience.
if you are angry and
want to be more peaceful, notice what brings
peace to you and when
you help others to find
peace.
Reflection on what you are creating in your life
will add to valuing what you want to appreciate
and you will increase those elements in your
life.
What do you wish to appreciate in value in your
life?
When in the
last day have you seen those
elements more prominent in your life?
What do you
want to grow in value in your life
that will bring you greater contentment and
happiness?
What do you want to appreciate in value that will
allow you to be of greater service and
help to lift
up the world?
Life is short and our time is much better spent
appreciating what we want instead of dwelling
on and attempting to avoid what we don't
want.
"All that we are is the result of what we have
thought; it is founded on our
thoughts, it is made
up of our thoughts."
- The Buddha
from:
http://www.appreciateyourlife.com/appreciation/
Love - Success :)
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