Every year for thanksgiving, a group of friends and I get together with our families for dinner.  We go around the table and every person talks about what they are grateful for. Usually people talk about their family, friends, and their major accomplishments that year. As for myself, I am grateful for my parents and my siblings. I am grateful for my husband and our beautiful daughters. I am grateful for all my nieces and in-laws. Last but certainly not least, I am grateful for the wonderful friends that I have. Typically, that is what my “words of thanks” sound like and I am happy and relieved when my turn is over 🙂 . While what I expressed were my true feelings, to me, it was still just an uncomfortable social exercise.

The popular movie, The Secret talks about “the law of attraction,” which states that like attracts like; you attract to you that which is a vibrational match to your frequency. Proponents of the law of attraction say that you have to be in a vibrational match with your desires and intentions in order to manifest them. One of the practical ways suggested to be at a higher vibration is to practice the attitude of gratitude.

“Of all the attitudes we can acquire, surely the attitude of gratitude is the most important, and by far the most life-changing.”
– Zig Ziglar

According to motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, “The more you recognize and express gratitude for the things you have, the more things you will have to express gratitude for.” Zig also said that “Without gratitude, happiness is rare. With gratitude, the odds for happiness go up dramatically.”

Most of us were trained as children to say please and thank you. I was really good at saying thank you. However, even though I was truly thankful to whoever I was saying thank you to, it was more of a social norm that I had no problem following. It wasn’t until I saw The Secret for the first time that I had ever contemplated gratitude in my life. Until then, to me “thank you” was something I would say in exchange for something I received from someone, mostly material things. After watching The Secret I explored different techniques to strengthen my gratitude muscle. I wrote in my gratitude journal. I carried a counter with me that I would increment each time I felt thankful for someone or something. Initially, it mostly used to be gratitude for material things that I newly acquired. I slowly progressed to being grateful for the many things I had that I took for granted, my home, car, job, all the special people in my life that I am blessed with. Then I had heard the suggestion to feel grateful for even things like the air I am breathing. I felt silly even thinking about it. It took me a long time to get to even wanting to attempt that, but I did get there. I made the leap of being grateful for something that wasn’t in the health, wealth, or relationships categories. I started to appreciate and be thankful for mundane things like air and water. Then, something magical happened this year.

I have witnessed over twenty seasons of fall in the beautiful state of Maryland. Many years ago, my family and I would drive up to the mountains to see the fall colors. When we got up there, I would witness the beautiful sight for a few minutes and then I was done. After a few minutes, I would feel like I had seen it all and at that point it was all the same. Going to the mountains to see the fall colors was more of an item on my to-do checklist. Fall this year was different. As the leaves had just begun to change color in early fall, one day as I was driving to work, I started to notice the beauty of nature. Then little by little I began to take in the immense beauty of the trees, the skies, the rising sun and all the beautiful colors. It felt like I was driving through a massive, exquisite painting. As I was admiring the beauty of nature like I never had before, a great sense of gratitude came over me: gratitude for being alive, being in a physical body, and being able to experience nature’s beauty in this sensory way. It was a profound experience that I cannot completely articulate. Since then, each day when I am outside, I am so appreciative of nature’s beauty and having the opportunity to experience fall in this region. I have completely imbibed every bit of what nature had to offer this fall season. Having this deep sense of gratitude also led me to experience a deeper sense of happiness and joy.

What are you deeply grateful for? I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving! May it be filled with gratitude.

A while ago, my brother-in-law sent me an email with the subject “This makes sense.. No?” and with the following in body of the email:

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
– Epicurus [341–270 BC]
Given two qualities (willingness & ability) I like how he covered all combinations (00, 01, 10, 11)!!

My brother-in-law is a self-proclaimed atheist. He also loves humor in many forms. So, needless to say, he thrives on atheist satire. So, this wasn’t the first email of this nature that I received from him. However, this time I was called to respond. I replied back to him saying that I actually knew the answer to this one.

Before I get to my response, I would like to clarify a few things.

My response is based on a lower to mid spectrum of what “evil” could mean. While what is being said here could theoretically be extrapolated to heinous crimes, it addresses baby versions of evil (more like challenges) like “I always end up being betrayed in relationships”, “Regardless of how hard I am working, I always have more month left than the money I am making”, “I have serious health challenges”, etc., as a first step, and as it maybe more relevant to most people reading this.

Here is what God means to me. For me, God is not necessarily an invisible human being that resides somewhere in the skies, although personifying sometimes makes it easier for me to connect. For me God is Universe, a higher power, higher intelligence.

Here is my response based on my experience of God.

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1: 26-27)

As the above quote suggests God is able and so are humans. God is omnipotent and at the same time has empowered everyone. God is also willing but not coercing. We have a free will. We are all part of a universal energy field. And we are all equally empowered. However, each of us has our own path of evolution / learning / growing. I believe that we are spirit having a physical experience. I also believe that spirit can have several physical experiences and the current physical form is just one of them. And our current physical incarnation has a purpose. We are here this time around to learn specific lessons and through these lessons / experiences we get closer to rediscovering our true nature. So, why do we have to face challenges and why do we need to rediscover our true nature?

Here is an analogy I once heard. Lets say we are playing hide and seek. The person that is seeking closes her eyes, counts from 1 to 10 and announces ‘Here I come!’ . She opens her eyes and finds everyone right in front of her eyes. Would that game be any fun? Would you want to play that game over and over again? I think I would get bored pretty quickly. For me, the game is exciting when there is some what of a challenge that I can handle.

I believe that life is a spiritual adventure. The challenges we face are opportunities for us to learn and grow. We are empowered to handle those challenges. There are laws of nature and processes that when understood and practiced enable us to live in harmony and in the flow. Most of us were not taught to access our innate power. It takes intention and practice to understand the laws of nature and be in the flow. Ancient practices like Yoga and Qigong provide us tools, guidance and a framework for practice. There are modern techniques as well such as EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) and Sedona method that provide tools for relief in a shorter time.

In my personal experience, after gaining this perspective on life, using the available tools, I have been able to move from a place of discouragement to a world of discovery of what is truly possible. I have been able to overcome many chronic challenges and the process has allowed me to learn and grow and live a happier life. The process of learning and growing will continue for me as I continue my journey of this life time.

Albert Einstein once said the most important question a human being can ask is “Is the universe friendly?” My experience is that this is a benevolent Universe.

Get Your Health, Sanity and Fun Back This Summer

by Marci Shimoff

Do you remember those summers when you were a kid? Did you have fun, were they filled with adventure and did you go back to school feeling recharged?

Have you noticed that as an adult, your summers fly by, and they just aren’t as juicy and memorable? Well, let’s make sure that doesn’t happen this summer.

Summer is supposed to be fun and rejuvenating. But that doesn’t just happen on its own. We have to put some attention on it, if we want to make this a fabulous summer.

So, I’m creating “The Selfish Summer Challenge.” Wanna play?

Now, before your feathers get ruffled over the word selfish, let me assure you that in creating a summer for yourself that you’ll never forget, you won’t be leaving your friends and family out in the cold-you’ll be able to give to them from a more warm and fulfilled place.

How do you step into a feel-good summer? By opening up to new experiences and adventures.

The other day, I was thinking about one of my favorite summers. It was the first time I went away to summer camp, and on the second day there, I was so miserable that I called my parents begging them to come pick me up. Being the wise and experienced parents that they were, they didn’t succumb to my pleas. Even my last resort guilt tactic of “if you loved me, you’d come get me” didn’t work. They knew my discomfort would pass, and I would end up having a blast. They were right!

The fastest path to renewal and fun is to open to new experiences, venture into new territory – stretch. By doing so, your brain will create new neural pathways that will support your ongoing happiness.

Here are the 4 steps to play The Selfish Summer Challenge. Some steps may feel easy to do and some may feel uncomfortable. Play with all of the steps, no matter what your initial reaction is:

1. Take a mini-adventure every week. Each week have one novel, interesting, out-of-the ordinary excursion-something that you don’t normally do. Break out of your routine and find an adventure that ignites your passion or brings you joy, even if those around you roll their eyes. Go to an art exhibit if you haven’t been to one in years, camp out in your back yard for a night, explore a local landmark in a new way. (For example, I’ve never walked across the Golden Gate bridge though I’ve lived next to it much of my life and I drive across it every week-I’ll do that by the end of this summer and report back to you with photo evidence.)

2. Give time to your body. Our bodies need loving attention and lots of movement. Take at least 9 minutes each day to care for your body-walk, do qi gong, dance, take a salt bath-whatever will feel good to you. I just finished a 100-day qigong practice, following along to a YouTube video that took 9 minutes each day. At first, I thought I was too busy to the practice every day, and there was no way I’d complete it. But I stuck with it and now that I’ve completed it, I feel energized and rejuvenated, and I know that I can carve 9 minutes out of each day. I’m going to switch to a different practice for the summer, but I’m keeping those 9 minutes for my body. They’re mine.

3. Do the great-fullness practice. Pick a theme for each day, for example, water, and any time you see water during the day, use it as a cue to experience gratefulness in that moment. Each day, pick a new theme. I learned this exercise from an 86 year-old-Benedictine monk named Brother David Steindl-Rast, who is one of the happiest people I’ve ever met. I tell a great story about him and describe the practice in more detail in my book, Happy for No Reason.

4. Take a summer class. Sign up for flower arranging, improvisation, salsa dance, nude figure drawing, pantomime-whatever sings to you. This is a chance to take action on something you’ve wanted to do for a while and move out of your comfort zone.

Remember, even though it’s called The Selfish Summer Challenge, the idea is to have fun. And please let me know how you’re doing with your “selfish summer” on my Facebook page here.
Here’s to creating a summer you’ll never forget!
With Love for No Reason and Every Reason,

Marci Shimoff is a celebrated transformational leader
and #1 New York Timesbest-selling author. To learn
more of her powerful techniques for establishing deep
and authentic happiness and well-being, visit
www.HappyForNoReason.com/

Creating On-the-Job Happiness
by Marci Shimoff

Here are some tips from author Michael Linenberger’s system that have helped me. Try them and see how they help you lighten your load.

1. Segment your work into three “Urgency Zones.”

Critical Now–These are things absolutely due today. You should have a maximum of five things on this part of your list. Use this “going-home test”: Is this item so critical that you would work all night to make sure it was completed? If not, it doesn’t belong in this top priority zone.

Opportunity Now–These are things you would work on today if you had the right opportunity to do so, but they are not really “due” for up to a week or so.

Over-the-Horizon–These are things that can be put off for a week or much longer.

I’ve found that sorting my work into these three zones helps me relax and enjoy, because it shows me clearly what needs intense energy, what needs moderate energy, and what’s on the back-burner.

2. Convert your emails to tasks right away.

Don’t use email in your inbox as a way to track to-do’s. That just wastes time and leads to inbox churn, where you constantly rehash and reread email looking for messages that have actions for you to do. Instead, as soon as you get an email that has an action in it–one that you can’t do immediately–move that action into your to-do list system, and manage it from there.

3. Schedule “email time.”

Don’t read email as it comes into your inbox. That’s a huge productivity killer–it can take you up to 5 minutes to get reoriented to your work. Schedule your email periods once an hour or less, and leave blocks of uninterrupted work time in between. Turn off email notification so you’re not so tempted!

Getting your workday under control is one of the surest ways I know of experiencing greater happiness, freedom, and ease during your days. I know I’m smiling a lot more these days.

Marci Shimoff is a celebrated transformational leader
and #1 New York Timesbest-selling author. To learn
more of her powerful techniques for establishing deep
and authentic happiness and well-being, visit
www.HappyForNoReason.com/

Marci Shimoff is a celebrated transformational leader
and #1 New York Timesbest-selling author. To learn
more of her powerful techniques for establishing deep
and authentic happiness and well-being, visit
www.HappyForNoReason.com/