A Day of Gratitude

Hello, friends,

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, and the end of the year coming, I am anxious to learn how to live in gratitude more and more for what is in my life at this time. I felt called to develop this Day of Gratitude just this morning, and worked to get it up before the end of the day. I'm so happy to share it with you and hope that you find the exercises that I've found and/or written to be helpful to you this holiday season.

I plan to spend my whole day tomorrow working through these various experiences as a way of beginning my celebration of Thanksgiving, and I intend to continue through Christmas and into the new year. My approach is to do it all in one shot, having a kind of "retreat" in my own life all day tomorrow. I know not everyone can afford to do that. That's ok; the exercises work as stand-alone activities as well, so pick and choose what looks good and go for it any day, any time.

Whatever way you use to Experience and Express more gratitude in your life is worth it! I hope you'll share with me and others by commenting here about what is helpful for you, and how you found using any of these activities.

Enjoy and be In Joy!

~Kristin

A Day of Gratitude
(C) 2011 Kristin Firestone
Developed by Kristin Firestone
for Thanksgiving 2011
(www.kristinfirestone.blogspot.com)

Suggested Schedule

8:00 am - Morning Meditation: Anchoring in Grace

8:30 am - Waking Up to Thankfulness and Getting Ready

9:30 am - Establishing an Attitude of Gratitude

10:00 am- Your “Usual Business” (You may have work to complete or errands to run. Or maybe you’ll spend some time catching up on the news, or exercising. Remember to maintain your awareness of what you are doing while you are doing it and, of course, to experience and express gratitude as it comes up throughout this time.)

11:00 am - Reflecting on People As Gifts

12:00 noon - Eating a Meal

                          

1:00 pm - Counting Your Blessings (Watch Them Grow!)

2:00 pm - Praise and Worship

2:30 pm - Resting, Playing, Time with a Friend, Time in Nature, etc.

4:00 pm - Sharing Gratitude: Writing a Gratitude Letter        

5:00 pm - Resting, Eating a Meal, Going Out, etc.

Before bed - Thinking Thankfully

AirBorn

It's harder than it looks.
I'll wake up with a body so sore, I won't know what hit me.

I did this today: aerial tissu/silk. It was an experience I purchased off LivingSocial about a year ago.
Back when I thought I might actually want to run away and join the circus.
I had been threatening to do that off and on over the years, and having just resigned from my job,
I thought I might finally give myself the option.
So today, I cashed in on that voucher - a year later - and got up on the tissu.

Looks a lot easier than it is.
At one point, I admitted the obvious: "I'm not your typical candidate for this kind of work."
It was difficult for me to hoist my robust 170-pound body up using only my arms and one foot wrapped up in fabric.
And, I admit: after the first try, I thought I might have to just stand there and watch the other student's graceful and strength-filled moves for the next hour and a half of the class.
I thought of learning how to knit last month, and how badly I wanted to quit before I'd even begun,
and now "I'm knitting."
So, why not this? Why should I let this defeat me?

So what if I could never do a somersault, or touch my toes without bending my knees, or do a chin-up, or any of those other traumatizing events from junior high P.E.?  This was to be different.

This was an experience. And I picked it for myself. And I was going to stick with it 'til the end of class to see what I was made of.

I did 4 poses today: cocoon, sailboat, candy cane, and something with a name I don't remember. The hardest part was learning to climb, and then wrapping my foot. But with a little help from the instructor, and encouragement from the other (and very proficient) student, I succeeded.

Did I feel stupid? Yes. Did I want to cry? At times. But did I quit? No.

And so, today, I consider myself "air born."

I don't know if I'll get up on that tissu again. Tomorrow, when I can't lift my body out of bed, I'll probably tell you that I'll never get UP again, period.  Tonight, though, I check an item off my bucket list.

Someone asked me if I could spin around and sing up there like Pink. Um, not quite. I could hardly speak, let alone breathe. But I'm willing to work at it.

Check out http://theaerialclassroom.com.

A poem: I googled love

I googled love the other night

Taking too long to load, I cancelled the page

I wish I could do a search for how it used to feel to kiss you.

(C) 2009 Kristin Firestone

A poem: The Message Under the Door

Why, God, do I long so hard for so much?

I yearn today to the point of tears

for flowers already in my hands,

for just a little piece of land

For sweet caresses; a man’s touch

Someone to hold me who loves me so much

For success in projects and a focused goal

for dreams and visions, and to be made whole

For life and love and abundance abounding

to be open and sharing with courage resounding

to be close to your heart to the point I am burning

to not see mistakes, but to honor the learning

To give and let go, go big or go home

to know deep inside I’m not really alone

to grow so at peace with all that is true

to pick up my mat, rise and follow you

I want to be where you are – where are you?

I’m knocking out here – is there something else I should do?

I’m scared and it’s cold – I’ve been out here for days

And I feel so alone. Is there some other way?

to be in your house, to live in your room

to hear your sweet music

to bear in my womb

the love you’ve created – no – the love that you are

I want it so badly

Lord, you have my heart.

Lead me, O God, to the places and those

whose lives and whose souls will need me the most.

(C) 2011 Kristin Firestone

Success

Yesterday in my spiritual direction session, Sister Joan advised me that true success is determined by how well I use the gifts that God has given me. She reminded me that sometimes I won't feel the way I want to feel about things that really have been successful. That I just need to put myself in places where I can be of service, and I never know who I'll touch. Well, today I got to experience success, and that felt really good. I felt good about my performance, and then got to feel ever better when the feedback was so positive. The women at the conference were truly touched and inspired by what I shared. I realize I am blessed to complete that kind of circuit of fulfillment, and also realize that I won't always experience such closure and completion. So, today, I'm grateful for it. :)