‘Tis the season for gift planning, gift wishing, and gift giving. How about considering what priceless gifts you could offer this year? The greatest gift you can give someone is your time, because when you give your time you are giving a portion of your life that you will never get back. Unknown Often the gifts we hold most dear to our hearts can’t be bought with money. A gift that gives twice Is a present without a price. Jean Wise [bctt tweet="A gift that gives twice Is a present without a price. Jean Wise" username="Jeanwise"] On a recent podcast, Marie Forleo stressed the difference between gratitude and appreciation. Gratitude is the quality of being thankful. We are grateful for the things we have in our life – our family, food, home, etc. Appreciation recognizes something great in someone else. Then to express that appreciation to them. Wouldn't that be an awesome priceless gift for someone? “Next to physical survival, the greatest need of a human being is … [Read more...]
Being Grateful – Henri Nouwen
Being grateful. I am being grateful to you all today. Let's give thanks to God today and everyday. Check out this post about the powerful practice of gratitude. Being grateful was a spiritual discipline one of my favorite authors, Henri Nouwen, wrote about. Besides turkey, chew and digest these words today: "To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives—the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections—that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say "thank you" to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for. Let's not be afraid to look at everything that has … [Read more...]
How To Savor the Season
The holiday season is upon us. In the U.S. this week welcomes Thanksgiving. Advent begins December 3 then time spins and speeds to Christmas and New Years. I don’t know about you, but I was bombarded by Black Friday ads right after Halloween amidst Christmas music. Whew! How do we catch our breath during the busy holiday rush? Wait! I want to savor the season, not just survive its spiraling spin. How can we slow down and breath this time of year? Savor the Season Tips When I began to write this post, I tried to create a clever acronym, an easy to remember witty expression or a wordy recipe to follow. I felt tense, making things too complicated. My writing mirrored the crazy muddled holiday emotions I was striving to avoid. I paused. I hit delete. I chose simplicity. Not a bad plan of action for the holidays either - pause, delete, and chose simplicity. Here is what I am going to do during Thanksgiving and Advent to prepare my heart to welcome … [Read more...]
Be a Blessing to Power Up Gratitude
"Life is not about receiving at all times; it is a combination of being thankful for what you have as blessings and sharing those blessings with others who need a little fraction of what you have." Catherine Pulsifer Be a blessing, share our blessings and count our blessings all power up gratitude in our lives. Thankfulness isn’t an “ego-stroking, let me feel better because it is all about me” action – being grateful opens our hearts to realize all we do have and then share these gifts from God with others. Gratitude is November’s Tending the Holy Thursday theme. Each month on my Thursday posts, I pick one theme (or person of faith) to explore in depth over several weeks. Last week I introduced ideas about gratitude and challenge you to write a thank you note to God. Did you try that? I did. My note to God evolved into prayer and a deep conversation about what I take for granted, forgiveness for times I ignore God’s gifts, and an overwhelming thankfulness for my … [Read more...]
Who Are You? Insights from the 2017 Readers’ Survey
Who are you? You are part of the Healthy Spirituality community and a record number of you took the time to fill out this year’s readers’ survey. Thank you so much. As you read this blog, you get to know me, my story, my flaws, my quirky life. But unless we write in emails, talk in comments, or when the wonderful blessing happens that we meet in person – I don’t know many of you. I want to know you better. And I want this blog to be a place for you to connect, find inspiration, and maybe learn something that draws you closer to God. To achieve this mission, it helps to know your needs, struggles and joys as we walk together on this life’s journey. Today I am sharing with you just some of the insights I am learning as I analyze the survey. All answers were anonymous, so I have no idea who said what. Whether you completed the survey or not, I think you will enjoy seeing the responses. Lots of food for thought in these answers and I think a sense that we are on this … [Read more...]
The Powerful Practice of Gratitude
Gratitude nourishes the soul and refreshes the spirit. Intentionally practicing thankfulness brings peace and joy to our hearts. Gratitude is a powerful spiritual practice. Just as I learned last month and continue to nurture the phrase “grace before guess,” this month I am focusing on gratitude and “living with thanksgiving.” [bctt tweet="Focusing on gratitude and living with thanksgiving. Jean Wise" username="Jeanwise"] “Maybe the simplest and most effortless habit for living a happier life is to take one or a few minutes every day to focus on what is already here and that you can be grateful for in your life.” Henrik Edberg Gratitude is November’s Tending the Holy Thursday theme. Each month on my Thursday posts, I pick one theme (or person of faith) to explore in depth over several weeks. This is the time of year many of us ponder what we are thankful for in life and generally live with an increased sense of gratitude. Living a life of gratitude helps us find the … [Read more...]
I Choose Praise – In Spite of Myself – Book Review
I choose praise. Isn’t that a wonderful refrain? Finding a short simply statement like this realigns my heart and redirects my eyes on God. The words set my intention. The line serves as a landmark on the shore to prevent me from going too far adrift. I choose praise. An option we always have when faced with discouragement, destruction, and disillusionment. I have heard these types of sentences can be called “sticky statements” as they cling to our ears and fix to our souls. Many of you commented about the phrase I wrote about last week – grace before guess – as one you wanted to remember and use. I choose praise gained my attention from the new book by Katie Hornor called “In Spite of Myself - How Intentional Praise Can Transform Your Heart and Home." I Choose Praise – In Spite of Myself – the Book In Spite of Myself is a four-week Bible study exploring how praise heals and provides hope even in dark times. I love her personal illustrations, thought provoking … [Read more...]
The Spiritual Practice of Letting Go and Swedish Death Cleaning
Have you heard of Swedish Death Cleaning? I read about this new idea – at least new to me – last month as I was writing the series on Healthy Spirituality about the spiritual practice of letting go. Sorting and throwing out all our physical stuff fits our exploration of letting go. Decluttering is a form of letting go and can be extremely challenging to get rid of piles of papers and those out of sight/out of mind boxes tucked away in the basement and garage. We boldly decide to relinquish bad habits, attitudes and assumptions, but avoid the physical material we accumulate and cling to that encumbers our lives. I am bewildered by a local television ad about the solution to having too much stuff – just rent another storage unit so you can buy more stuff. We are packrats! Collect more stuff? No, it’s time to let go. What is Swedish Death Cleaning? Letting go begins with the decision to move from disorder to order, burden to unburden, and confusion to clarity. It starts with … [Read more...]