TILT #23: Gratitude is a GOOD thing

The last couple of weeks have been eye-opening for me after I experienced a personal awakening or revelation of sorts. A blog post has been floating around in my mind about that but what has surfaced has not found a solid place to land so THIS is not that blog post. :-)

This post is about recognizing my privileges even if some days, I do not feel like I have any (related to the revelation I previously mentioned). In the last few years, I have made efforts to really live a grateful life by acknowledging regularly the blessings I can identify. This does not mean I am blind to the suffering around me or the despair I feel when what I can do seems to have no effect around me. This looking for the positive has helped prevent me from becoming a whiner, to be honest.

About a month ago, I attended a webinar about being more productive in the first two hours of the day. I promise you I took notes but I do not feel I am more effective today than I was five weeks ago. I wonder what did not take root. What did get added to my life, however, was a Google Chrome extension called Momentum Dash. It's a free extension that allows me to set one line as my focus for the day so that I am reminded of this focus every time I open a new Google Chrome tab throughout the day. I love this new tool for the picturesque photos as well as the inspirational quote at the bottom of the page.

Today, I realized just how blessed I am because of two main reasons. One was that the featured photo was a place I had actually traveled to in Thailand. The photo was of Khao Phing Kan, an island located in Phang Nga Bay in Thailand, also famously known as "James Bond Island" as it was featured in the James Bond Movie, The Spy Who Loved Me. I actually have my own photo of this island. Not many people I know in North American have the means to travel that far and so, I am incredibly thankful for this blessing of being able to go so far for a vacation.

Secondly, the numbers I have set as my focus are the numbers identifying the graduate courses which work I was completing or beginning today. I realize I set three different course numbers in my focus today. What a privilege to have access to education and for someone my age to have the freedom and opportunity to return to school to pursue higher education. I pray the road ahead becomes clearer as I seek to know how best to be of service to myself and to those around me.

For now, I keep completing one assignment at a time and work on equipping myself for the new chapters that I know I will live and write, by God's grace.