How Does Your Hobby Benefit You?

I've always thought it strange that someone could go through their whole life without a single hobby.

I actually know a couple of people who don't have one. 

Maybe it isn't necessarily that they don't have a hobby, but they don't have any particular interests to occupy their time and minds. Nothing that they like to do that helps them clear their heads and rejuvenate their souls.

What Are Your Hobbies?

What is it that you enjoy doing. Perhaps it's running, baking, sewing?

I personally have to do something. Through the years my interests and "hobbies" have changed but there has always been something.

I use to love reading and went through all the Anne Rice and Stephen King books I could get my hands on. But then I found it difficult to find quite time with three girls bouncing around around.

I use to love painting - in acrylics - landscapes and portraits. But it also turned out to be a difficult hobby with children.

At this point in my life crocheting is my fav. I can crochet just about any where at any time. Unfortunately right now all my crocheting gear is in storage. 

I was feeling a little lost and needed something. So of course I went online - just browsing. Then I came across some pretty pictures - doodles - tangles - in black and white. 

I immediately knew that I found something I would love to do. 

All I need is a sketchbook and black markers. A hobby that doesn't take up much space or cost much money. I could get these items at a dollar store. It cost three dollars for the book and one dollar for the marker. 

Mind you I realize that at some point I may want to invest in better paper and markers. But for now I found my creative outlet. I found something easy to learn, relaxing and fun. 

The Benefits of a Hobby

Physical activities have obvious benefits. But what about the other kind like crocheting?

There are some very wonderful benefits of having a hobby. Hobbies are a means to finding happiness, an overall sense of well being and reduce stress.

Fun

Positive psychology is a relatively new branch that studies what makes life worthwhile. They discovered that activities which bring fun into your life is a good way to relax and to live in the moment which provides an over all sense of well being and happiness.

Good Stress

Hobbies promote Eustress which is a positive kind of stress created at times of great enthusiasm. Hobbies are a great way to create Eustress because you are doing something you love to do and it makes you feel excited.

Gratification

Gratification is also a part of positive psychology. If you are like me, I enjoy activities that make me feel productive - like I have accomplished something other wise I feel like I am wasting my time. Knowing that I will have a completed project of some kind gives me a fantastic feeling of achievement which equates to happiness.

Staying In the Moment

A hobby can engage you in a sense of flow, which can put you in a near-meditative state. 

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. It's the kind of activity where you lose track of time and before you know it hours have passed by. You are concentrating so much in what you are doing that everything else (including stress) disappears. The end result is feeling less stressed out and feeling over all pleased with life - happy.

Hobbies Help Prevent Burn Out

What is burn out? It's the result of stress. If you are feeling overwhelmed at work, a hobby gives you something non work related to look forward to and it relieves stress. Your hobby may be the one thing that reduces the impact of chronic stress. 

Health Benefits of Hobbies

Hobbies are great for the body. Research has found that leisure time fun activities are associated with lower blood pressure, total cortisol, waist circumference, and body mass index. 

Hobbies are great for the mind. There is also a relationship between enjoyable activities and an increase in a positive outlook -reducing levels of depression.

Hobbies Promote Socializing

Hobbies can bring people together. Even if your hobby is meant for one person, there are groups out there  composed of others who also enjoy that activity. Connecting with people in a fun way relieves stress and contributes to your overall happiness.

Now we know why I have been so desperate to find a new hobby. I need something to to get me in the zone - flow (refer  Mihály Csíkszentmihályi's concept of "flow") - to decrease stress and depression - to increase my positive outlook -  - to make me feel HAPPY.

So next time someone you know is feeling stressed or down, ask them what is their hobby. What do you do for fun? Then tell them to get out there and get a hobby!

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I would like to thank Maz Kwok at Crafting Along Blog Hop for featuring my post. I am extremely grateful.

This post was one of four most clicked at the party. To check out the other features please click HERE.

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Forgive But Don't Forget

If there was something simple that you could do to remove negativity in your life, would you do it? 

What could that something be? It is forgiving those who have transgressed against you. You need to forgive, but not forget, because once you forgive, you can start to heal and the negativity in your life will melt away. 

I am not talking about forgiving the other driver on the road because they cut you off.  I am talking about a traumatic event or repeated events over a period of time that left you feeling hurt, angry and bitter. 

Don't allow yourself to be consumed by these negative emotions because you are robbing yourself of happiness and inner peace. As long as you hold onto these feelings you cannot let happiness in.

Forgive

The only way you can let go of negative feelings and live your life to your fullness is to forgive.

Forgiveness does not mean:

• forgetting
• you approve of the unacceptable behavior
• you want that person to be in your life (or maybe you do - that is your choice)
• they can repeat the behavior
• your life will change immediately

Forgiveness does mean:

• you know your happiness is your choice
• you decided that you want to be happy
• you are taking responsibility for your emotions and reactions
• you do not want revenge
• you are leaving the past in the past
• releasing all the negativity and allowing good things to come into your life
• you are free to live your life in a positive way.

How do you forgive?

1. First you must decide that you want to make a change in your life. 
2. You decide you want to be happy.
3. You know you deserve to be happy.
4. You see your past as over, knowing that holding onto anger only keeps it alive. 
5. You accept others and yourself as you are.
6. You are determined to get what you want in life and focus on those possibilities rather than thinking about the past. 
7. You know that no one can make you feel happy or feel sad or angry. 
8. You are able to express you feelings about the grievance (without hurting yourself or anyone else) 
9. You do not need or want to take revenge or ask for an apology. 
10. You notice you are spending less time and energy on the past transgression and eventually there will be little to no emotion tied to those memories

My Story

For some of you, it will be easy to forgive and move on while others will hold onto grudges forever. I have seen how negative feelings can poison the person who will not forgive. And to be honest my life was also affected by events in my past that I was not ready to release.

I was angry, hurt, depressed. I felt guilty. Then I decided I had to make a change. I had to forgive.

At first I had a difficult time wrapping my brain around the concept that I am responsible for my own happiness and that no one person could make me feel happy or sad. I cannot control someone's actions but I can control my reactions. I can just let myself respond in the same ole way or I can make a conscience decision to take control of my life. Happiness was my choice.

Fortunately, I was able to confront a person who hurt me in the past. At first she was angry, then she began to cry. I realized she was not the same woman who whipped me with the vacuum cord (among other things). She was older. She was . . . different. She had regret. It was then that I was able to forgive her. I was lucky that I could spend many good years with her before she passed away. I miss her.

Now it would have been nice to be able to confront my father but I couldn't do this because he passed away when I was ten years old. (That was when my Aunt moved into our home)

It took some time before I could actually forgive my dad. In the end, I rationalized that he was an ill man. His illness consumed him. I honestly believe he did not have complete control over his actions and I could not hold him responsible. 

I also held the belief that my father loved me and he wouldn't intentionally hurt me. If he understood the kind of damage he was inflicting, he would have stopped himself.

I found it helpful to use visualization. I imagined his soul drifting away from his physical body. As he moved out of this world, he was released from the illness that had consumed him and he could look at me with love and kindness. His spirit - his soul was no longer bound to a physical form that was racked with illness, distorted perceptions, or personal baggage. As a result he would feel bad about his actions and he'd wish he could protect me from further pain.

Eventually I felt the negative feelings - all that pain and anger fade away. And I was free. It is true. Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves. 

A Dream

If you have the time, I would like to share a dream I had many, many moons ago. I was about twenty years old at the time. 

I was sound asleep. In my dream I woke up. I lay there looking around the dark room. I couldn't get back to sleep so instead of waking my boyfriend with my tossing and turning, I decided to leave our bed and go into the living room.

It was snowing outside. The light from the parking lot bounced off the snow on the ground and poured in through the curtains.

I wasn't sure what to do with myself. I didn't want to turn on the television in fear of waking my boyfriend and I didn't feel like reading because the brightness would hurt my eyes.

Out of habit I walked over to the electric heater and leaned against it to warm up.

There was a knock at the door.

I didn't find it peculiar to have someone at my door in the middle of the night. It wasn't that I was accustom to late night guests. I was just curious.

I opened the door just enough to see outside. The screen door screeched and hit the side of the building. A gust of wind blew the swirling snowflakes into my apartment.

There standing in the snow was my dad. Smiling. He was wearing his work clothes and work boots. Snow landed on everything but him. There were no footsteps in the snow.

I asked him what he was doing here. I knew he was dead so it just didn't make sense for him to be standing there.

I don't remember his lips moving but I heard him say that he was there to see how I was doing and to let me know that he loved me. This being said he told me that I should close the door and get out of the cold - to get back to sleep. I didn't say anything but I felt grateful to him for stopping by. I think he sensed it as he smiled at me.

Being the obedient child, I closed my apartment door and returned to bed. I lay back down and pondered my ghostly visitation. I wiggled in bed, feeling something was not quite right. I sat up and looked back at my pillow. To my horror I saw myself sleeping on the bed. 

I was not in my body. I lay back down trying to force myself back inside. I sat up again only to realize I was still outside. Panic was about to set it just as my spirit regained control of my body. I opened my eyes and looked at my hand just to be sure. I rolled over and fell back to sleep.

I had this dream shortly after I forgave my dad for the abuse. I knew I did the right thing. 

Can You Forgive?

At some point in your life you may have someone do something to hurt or harm you. You must remember that you are not responsible for their actions and they are not responsible for yours. 

Forgiving is a process which will free you to travel the road into the future without emotional and mental baggage weighing you down - travel the road to inner peace and happiness. 

Start now. You deserve it.

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. 

Lewis B. Smedes (1921-2002)

I hope you find this post helpful or at least amusing! Let me know what you think by leaving a comment. I can never get enough of those.  :) And if you know someone else who may enjoy this post, please share it with them.

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Attitude of Gratitude . . .

and How it Relates to Happiness

For some people happiness is just an unattainable dream because they have never known true sustainable happiness. 

For me, that first sentence provokes images of starving, poverty stricken children because it would have to be something as severe as this to cause life long depression. Right?

Wrong. There are countless reasons for unhappiness and depression in this world. It may be biological. It may be a series of life's bumps in the road of life or a catastrophe that shakes your world.

When it comes to those bumps or tragic events, not everyone reacts the same. Some people may be able to bounce right back while others suffer for years. What could be the difference between these two types of people?

The answer lies within you. Happiness is a choice.

Before you jump all over that, let me explain.

Stop and think about it. No one can control your feelings except you. Once you take ownership, you need to take control of your emotions. 

I know, easier said than done right. The truth is, making a change can be difficult and it takes commitment  It has been a struggle for me but I can now say that I have found happiness. I am still working on it; improving it ; but at least I am on the right path now.

So what makes me happy? What brought sustained happiness? The kind of happiness that has no reason but just glows from within?

Yes, getting a good night's sleep helps. So does eating properly, regular exercise and setting goals. But for me, those fall in line once happiness is achieved.

And you know it isn't that nice new shiny car that brought it or my beautiful home. Not the raise at work, not the weight loss. Surely those things do bring happiness but it is short lived. 

So what is the secret of attaining sustained happiness - inner peace? 

The answer my friends is gratitude. 

Attitude of Gratitude

When I wake up, I say to myself, "Today is a great day to be alive. Thank you, thank you, thank you." Throughout the day I take a moment to relax, and just be grateful. I keep a gratitude journal. Before I fall asleep at night, I review my gratitude list from the previous day and decide which one I am most grateful for.

Are you wondering how being grateful makes me happy? It works like this;  when I feel grateful I can't feel sad, angry, resentment, jealousy. When I am grateful all I can feel is happy.

And you can too.




Are you ready to invite happiness into your life? Are you ready to have an attitude for gratitude?

You can start right now. I hope you can learn from my experience. The road to inner peace and happiness.

Seven Paths - Lesson 4

This lesson from Seven Paths to Freedom by Curtis Rivers is called Gratitude. Not just gratitude for the life you have imagined but gratitude everyday under all circumstances.

If you have been following my blog, you would know that I read Rhonda Byrne's book The Magic which is all about gratitude and I completed the assignments from each chapter. 

If you haven't read any of those posts you can start at the beginning, The Road to Inner Peace and Happiness.

If you are familiar with the concepts of gratitude then you are ahead of the crowd and know how to implement it into your meditation/visualization.

Many people do take their lives for granted. They don't stop to feel grateful for what they have here and now. They seem to hold back their happiness for some day in the future. 

Have you ever heard someone complaining about their weight then say, I will be happy when I lose ten pounds? Or things will be better when I get that raise? I'll be happy once I get the house renovated.

Wanting more is good but at the same time you need to be grateful for what you have right now. Be grateful for your health, for having a job, for your home.

Feel grateful. Feel happy. You have so much to be happy about. Look around you. You are alive. People love you and like spending time with you. Are you grateful for the opportunity to use the internet and computer right now? 

My Family in 2012

I look around and can list so many things I am grateful for. My granddaughters playing on the other side of the room. My daughter who is doing dishes. The sparkling Christmas tree. My comfy couch. The heat in our home cause it is really cold outside. The food in the fridge. The phone ringing. The clean fresh water we have access to all the time. 

Everything, every occasion, everyone gives you an opportunity to feel gratitude - happiness. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

Don't misunderstand me. My life is not perfect. I could grump and complain, and sometimes I do, but over all, I choose not to.

I could freak out because my granddaughters are making a big mess with their toys over there. But why would I? Messes can be cleaned up. They aren't hurting anyone. They are enjoying themselves. And am I grateful for that. Their happiness is contagious.

So what is all this discussion about gratitude and feelings? I will let Curtis Rivers explain. "Introduce gratitude into all of your daily visualisations, and watch the magic happen. It WILL happen, that's what is so exciting about this course, and about my book - this is REAL. It doesn't' just work 'some of the time' it works all of the time, 24/7 - by natural laws of the Universe. It was designed that way."


I FEEL HAPPY. I AM GRATEFUL. 

It is a wonderful life.


What are you grateful for?

Seven Paths - Lesson 3

Today's lesson from Curtis Rivers' free course, Seven Paths to Freedom, is called Focusing the Image. I definitely need help with this one. 

I can create vague images in my mind and enhance them by adding emotions. I FEEL happy. 

But the images are  still vague to me. I wonder what I have been doing wrong or is there something I am missing?

Lesson two answers this question. 

More practice.  Practice makes perfect. Use or lose it. Well, in this case, you may not have used that part of your brain; that part that creates vivid images in your mind so you need to work at it and with time the images will become clear.

Using all your senses. This will sharpen the image in your mind.

• What do you hear? Are they kids laughing? Birds singing?
• What do you smell? Cookies baking? Flowers? 

Unfortunately or should I say fortunately my sniffer is broken. Intense scents, I can smell, otherwise it is a blank. A couple of weeks ago, for some reason, I could actually smell just about everything. It was so weird. I did not like it. How can people go through life smelling all these odors and fragrances? They were leaping out at me from everywhere. Invading my senses. Much of it was not pleasant. Made my stomach turn. Not good at all. Thank goodness it didn't last more than a day. What a relief it was to be back at my odor/fragrance free life.

• What do you touch/feel? The warm sunlight on your skin? Cold metal in your hand?
• What do you taste? The fresh, hot out of the oven cookies? 
• Lastly use your sense of awareness.

I will try again.

I am getting out of my red shiny Impala. I love that car. I hear the sound of my feet hit the driveway.
I take a deep breath of the fresh air and look up at my house. I hear the car door close and I walk up the sidewalk to the front door. The sound of my heels click click click follow me.

I reach out and grasp the cool metal door handle and give it a twist to the right. The colour on the front door matches my car. I don't know why that colour brightens my spirits but it does so I have it sprinkled throughout my house.

The foyer is brightly lit and I have a smile on my face as I anticipate my granddaughters rushing to see me. I call out, "Hello."

Sidney comes running and collides into me as she yells, "Grandma!" Her little arms wrap around my legs and I lean forward to try to squeeze her.

Just as Sidney loosens her grip on me, Faith, comes running up to me and gives me a great big hug. "Grandma, I missed you." "I missed you too."

www.branthaven.com

I kick off my sling back shoes and step onto the cold ceramic tiles. I love the way my bare feet feel on the smooth clean floor.

Actually my little piggies wish they could always be naked in the fresh air. Socks are so confining.

My little angels have already run back to the kitchen. 

With each step towards the kitchen, the sound of my daughters talking and laughing gets a little louder. I can smell the banana bread baking in the oven. As I enter the kitchen we exchange hellos. I look around and FEEL so blessed.

www.livingdesignhome.com

I notice some white fluffy towels on the floor because the girls were swimming again. One of our favorite past times. We have an indoor heated pool - a dream come true. I can't tell you how many wonderful hours we've had in the gorgeous pool. 

I promise to go for a dip after supper.

I walk upstairs to my bedroom and change into some casual clothes. My room is so relaxing - a true retreat for unwinding. I love, love, love my room. That colour again that brightens up my day.

After taking a few minutes for myself, I work my way downstairs to my art studio/home office/rec room/exercise area.

 I check emails and stop myself there because I know time flies once I get on the computer. It is the weekend and I promised my girls to spend time with them.

I look around and feel so grateful. I have large canvases holding paint that I put there. Someone has already bought that picture. 

www.minimalisti.com

Over in the corner is a work station that my girls and I sit at and create all kinds of fun items. 

In the opposite corner is a area dedicated to exercising. Everyone in the family takes advantage of that space.

My heart leaps as I scan the walls which are covered with pictures of my family and the trips we have been on. 



There are awards and letters of gratitude for my volunteer work and donations to various charities. My daughters insisted on framing and hanging them. 

I go back to the kitchen and they are cleaning up. I look out the window at the four nearby houses that belong to Beth, Nicole, Christina and my Mom. 

Its fantastic that my granddaughters can run over to see me whenever they want.

Some of my fondest memories are of my maternal grandfather spending time with me. He made me feel important, loved and accepted. I wish I could have seen him more.

I walk past the great room. It is a warm welcoming space which I enjoy everyday with my girls. Another wave of happiness flows through me.

I go through the patio doors that leads to the deck and garden. I give a quick wave of my hand to Gary. He is sitting there with my son-inilaws doing whatever guys do.

From picasaweb.google.com

I have a huge garden filled with large blossom flowers. The colours are so vibrant and the fragrance mild and beautiful. I stir up the scent of mint as my fingers gently run over the plants.

I look up and admire the cyan blue sky and fluffy white clouds. I savour the moment because I feel so grateful and happy. A rush of inner peace overwhelms me.

I glance back around the garden. 

My granddaughters get so excited when they see a fruit or vegetable ripe for the picking. 

The cucumbers are doing great this year.


This time was a little easier. I included the six senses. Nope. I lied. I missed taste. Tomorrow I will taste the banana bread. Yum. Can I have mine loaded with chopped up walnuts? 

If I am going to be completely truthful, I have to admit that once I stepped into the house, I felt a pang of anxiety and I wondered how am I going to maintain all of this? I let the thought roll by as suggested in the lesson and continued with my vision. The self doubt was there haunting me. I don't know why.

Maybe someone could enlighten me. What could that barrier be?

How have you been doing with the lessons?




To read the today's lesson, you can sign up for Curtis Rivers' Seven Paths to Freedom Course at http://www.curtisrivers.com/products.html.

Seven Paths to Freedom by Curtis Rivers

Curtis Rivers

Curtis Rivers wrote a book with this title which will be out sometime next year. He also has a free seven day course with the same title. I thought this course may just be the ticket to help me on my journey to inner peace and happiness.

I am blogging about this because I want to share it with you in the hope to inspire those who also want to make some positive changes in their lives - who want to enjoy living life with passion, having the courage to transform dreams into reality. Even if you don't follow me, you can check out the site, Seven Paths to Freedom.

So why aren't I where I want to be? Let me think this one through. 

Hey. I am pretty much where I wanted to be at this point in my life. I have a lovely home, a job I love, a nice car, wonderful friends, a loving family to share my life with . . . What else could I want? 

I want to up my "standard of living" so I can spend more time with my family, time to pursue other interests and finacially help friends and family. 

I want financial freedom. Everyone's dream, right? Not exactly. As a teenager I wanted to live in a house that I owned, have children and a job doing something I enjoyed.

I got what I wanted. Didn't I? Of course I did. But I got a little older and a little wiser I hope. 

Now I want something else too. And that's okay. People change and their needs/wants change right along with them. 

I want financial freedom. So what is stopping me?

There are so many barriers to my destination and I know it can be a difficult journey. We all have preconceived perceptions and fears to overcome. 

For instance, I was raised to believe that money doesn't bring you happiness. But I beg to differ. We need money to survive in this world and to maintain happiness we need at least enough money to pay our bills, put food on the table, get us from point a to point b and provide some of the niceties in life. Without the money for all these items, we are filled with stress, unhappiness, depression, low self esteem. You get the the picture.

Perhaps my Mom taught this to me because money was tight when she was growing up. And after my father died money was tight for us. She learned how to get by and make the most of it. Her mother lavished her with love and attention and my Mom did the same to us.

Tobacco Sucker Between
Stalk and Large Plant

I also grew up thinking you have to work hard for your money. Not  a completely true statement is it? I know there are many people in the world that do have to work extremely hard for their money. 

Tobacco Flower

As a matter of fact, I remember working very hard, as a child, along side my mom and younger sister. My little brother was somewhere playing by our feet. We suckered tobacco and broke off the flower tops.



The predominant thought back then was yuck and gross. We wore kerchiefs to cover our hair and over sized clothes to protect us from the sticky, tarry build up you get from the leaves rubbing against you. Our hands were black from the tar. I call it tar but I'm not sure what it really is. It is almost black in colour and it covered us from head to toe. 

Tobacco Caterpillar

Yes the tar was gross but accidently squishing a tobacco caterpillar instead of grabbing a sucker is really gross. I can't even say it without distorting my face in disgust. Just the thought makes me want to jump up and do the "oh my gosh that is so disgusting" dance.

My mom says we also picked strawberries and tomatoes but I don't remember that. 








I do remember picking apples.  My sister and I picked what we could reach on the trees while standing on the ground and we put them into a small basket which was dumped into a large wooden bin. I think Mom got twenty dollars a bin back then.


We also picked the "grounders" which were the apples that fell from the tree and sat in the long grass basking in the sunshine. I can almost smell the strong aroma of fermenting apples. 

Grounders

It didn't take too long before my sister and I were begging for gloves. So many of the apples were rotten, even moldy. Poking your fingers through an over ripe apple was not a favorite pastime. And actually we had to fight with the long grass to give up the apples because it would be entwined all around the fruit.



On the funny side, you never knew when gravity would pluck an apple from the tree and toss it to the ground. Bombs away!

Tobacco. Apples. Hard work. Very little money.

www.findingdulcinea.com

Now on the other hand, once I became an adult I learned there are people in this world who love their jobs, who do not think of their jobs as work and some actually make a nice living. I often wonder who those people are, where they are and what they are doing? :)

Another perception is that people who have "money" are stingy, self absorbed, maybe "stuck up." 

The rich get richer. That's because they rip people off, take advantage of the poor and weak. So you don't want to have loads of cash because you will become one of "them." Ebenezer Scrooge is not the kind of role model you aspire to become when you grow up.

My debit card for my bottomless bank account.

Fears. Most of us fear failure. We are afraid of what people will think about us. Having to start all over again. Afraid of the dark. Afraid of crowds....

I want to be a money magnet. Money comes easily and frequently! I want to fulfill my dreams and desires. I want to be happy. I want to break free from this small confined space I have boxed myself in. I want to enjoy everything that life has to offer!

I am ready to make a change! Are you?

Where did the Magic go?

Hi everyone. It has been nine days since I last wrote. In that time, I have not practiced the magic at all. I fell off the wagon and I hit bottom.

I looked around the house and utter despair consumed me. Nothing changes. Nothing gets better. Why even try?

Sunday was a blur. I slept most of Monday. And I slept until noon today.

Both days, my Mom came here. On Monday she gathered all the dirty clothes and took them to a laundromat. It was a mountain that I did not want to tackle.

Today she washed dishes. The kitchen looked like a hurricane had hit it. The counters and stove were covered with all kinds of crap. It took my Mom a few hours to straighten up that mess.

While Mom was working away in the kitchen, I stood there staring off into space. I needed to talk about it. I stammered because I didn't know how to begin explaining the way I was feeling.

Mom listened. Then she told me how she was feeling. She comes over to my house to do the dishes. To do the laundry. To help out in any way she can. She comes here to have something to do but more importantly  she does it for her baby, me. And she does it for Faith and Sidney. 

Those two sweet little angels deserve the best. They deserve to have a clean home. Clean clothes. 

Those two little girls deserve so much more. They deserve to be surrounded by positive happy people who get out there and live life.

My Mom was right.

The house got tidied. The laundry got put away. And me? I got dressed. Something I haven't done in the last three or four days. I even brushed my hair. 

I held my gratitude stone tonight. I am most grateful to my Mom for helping me see what was right. 

Tomorrow? I will start my day with magical footsteps and see how it goes from there.

Please throw some magic dust my way. 

 When was the last time you felt down? And what did you do to get back up?

Your Magical Future

The 28 Day Journey has come to end and it leaves me feeling sad. What does my magical future hold? What will be my next steps?

I would like to share a quote that Rhonda Byrne has in this chapter.

"To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven."

Johannes A. Gaertner (1912-1996)

Professor, Theologian, Poet

Rhonda's advice is to move forward from here is to "maintain the foundation of gratitude you've built, and gradually keep building on it through increasing your depth of feeling. The more you practice gratitude, the deeper you will be able to feel it, and the more deeply you feel it, the less time you will need to give to it."

She also has some suggestions for practicing The Magic. 

Plus she advises us to make the Magic Rock a part of your daily live. We can carry it in our pockets as a constant reminder and put it on the nightstand to remind us to be grateful at the end and beginning of each day. 

She also suggests practicing Magic Dust on a daily basis. We "can sprinkle Magic Dust on everyone and everything!"

I am grateful:

1. For the perfect day. Everything went smoothly and happily. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
2. For the food I ate today. It is wonderful to be able to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into my meals and snacks.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.
3. For the abundance of energy I had today because it meant I was able to get a far amount of cleaning done today.   Thank you, thank you, thank you.
4. For my car because it got me to the grocery store safely and conveniently.   Thank you, thank you, thank you.
5.  For the money I have received, the money I am receiving and the money I will receive. I am grateful for the groceries I was able to purchase today.   Thank you, thank you, thank you.
6. For my health. I am healthy  and it feels great.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.
7. For the health and happiness of my loved ones. It is so wonderful to see everyone so lively and smiling.   Thank you, thank you, thank you.
8. For my laptop. I love it so much. I love typing on it.   Thank you, thank you, thank you.
9. For the electricity that lights our home and runs our appliances.   Thank you, thank you, thank you.
10. For the clothes we own that are in such good condition, clean, and neat because it contributes to our mental and emotional well being.   Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Gratitude Stone

I am most grateful for the scratched record in my head being thrown out. You know the one that keeps singing out to me, "I hate my life." It has been replaced with, "It is a great day to be alive." Thank you, thank you, thank you.

To be honest, I don't think the record has been trashed, just taken off the player. The "I hate my life" song came on a few days ago but I quickly replaced it with the "gratitude song." Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Conclusion

I have one chapter left in Rhonda Byrne's book titled The Magic.

I welcome all comments. Have you finished your 28 days yet?