Off-Topic Pretty OT but Just oozing with gratitude and happiness

LizEMA · 03-09-16, 11:53 AM

I really hate for my first original post to be so completely off topic and SO self indulgent, but I feel like I am just radiating with gratitude and happiness right now

that if I just don't share it with someone, I'll pop.

I don't want to get into all the WHYs of my gratefulness (in that I mean, why I am, at this very moment, so ridiculously Zen), I just wanted to share.

Are you ever struck, suddenly, sometimes inexplicably, with just deep, serene happiness, peacefulness, and gratitude? Like, at that very moment in time, everything in you has just lined up to shine, light and radiate? :-)

I don't want to come off sounding like an I -don't-know-what!

but I'm a firm believer in not only being actively grateful for the good things in one's life but to VOICE that gratitude.

The silly thing is that NOTHING has happened! :-D I am fortunate enough to live in a house, with a large yard, room and time to garden, to have a wonderfully patient partner who just adores me for some reason

, the room and finances to fuel my exercise hobby (and other interests), and, though we are quickly outgrowing/have OUTGROWN the space, I am grateful for it. The weather is positively Spring-like, a slight chill in the fresh, reawakened air, in a (at the moment) quiet street, only disrupted by the beautiful sound of happy birds chirping. My Spring bulbs are starting to come up, and, though, there is no sight of any greenery budding up on the trees, yet, I know in just a few short days, I won't be able to say that. I spent a lazy morning shopping for some herbs and spices to replenish my dwindling supply and doing various web searches and am going to spend the REST of my day getting my mess of a place in order, get in a workout, shower, watch some old gameshows :-), make a leisurely dinner (a new recipe) and enjoy some delicious food, relaxing on the couch with my SO, catching up on House of Cards. I cannot think of any other way I would rather spend my day or being any happier about my quiet, relatively boring life.

I certainly have about 1,000 areas of my life needing improvement, things I would prefer to be different, situations that frustrate me, hurdles I am constantly having to get over and obstacles I have to work around, problems I think I have resolved that surface again, recurring issues that will NEVER go away and times that I lose sight of this gratitude. But, throughout my days, there are so many small things that I am so thankful for and often catch myself saying "thank goodness" or "at least" (as in "it can be worse") multiple times a day.

I have a laundry list of other teeny, tiny little things (sometimes, completely ridiculous things) that will mean nothing to anyone but me that I am extremely grateful for nonetheless, and it just all has added up to me teeming with all this "good stuff" right now.

Living life appreciating what I DO have is SO much better than living one focusing on what I don't. :-D

I LOVE these moments and just want to hold on to them for as long as I can, hoping to string enough of them together so that I can't remember NOT feeling like this. :-D

So, I'd like to thank everyone who has made it this far in to my post

(and maybe apologize?), but to also extend to my fellow VFers, the proposition and opportunity to leave below the things that YOU are grateful for. No matter how small, no matter whether or not anyone else will be able to make sense of it, no matter how longstanding or fleeting. What has made you happy today? What has made you smile? What is the thing that keeps you going, that you look forward to, that you are just so pleased to have in your life?

Please share!

PS I went WAY past my limit of smiley and heart faces in this post I had to go back and cut out almost HALF of them! LOL I didn't even know there WAS a limit. (TOTALLY learning the ropes here.)

sherry7899 · 03-09-16, 12:02 PM

Liz- what a lovely post! It is a great reminder to be thankful for everyday things. I am very glad you are feeling so positive. Please keep posting!

anniew1964 · 03-09-16, 12:05 PM

It sounds like you're really blessed. I love hearing how happy and blessed people are. It makes me happy

sherry7899 · 03-09-16, 12:06 PM

I am still happy from a very sweet remark from my dh yesterday. I am happy from the hug goodbye from my son this morning and that one of my cats cuddled next to me for most of the night and greets me with ankle rubs and purrs every time he sees me.

Cybersparkle · 03-09-16, 12:13 PM

What has made you happy today? What has made you smile? What is the thing that keeps you going, that you look forward to, that you are just so pleased to have in your life?

Thank you for sharing your joy

I sooo needed this today!
I am at a crossroads & it is time for me to walk my talk & reap all the rewards of years of self-healing & inner work.

Today, I am happy for my art, color & how the Universe has blessed me by allowing it to all come together & be a such a soothing source for me. After over 2 decades of difficult lessons, I am nearing the light at the end of the tunnel. And it's brightly multi-colored, creative rainbow

Today is the birthday of someone who truly was there for me when I was deathly ill and vulnerable. She had my back when I was flat on my back. She is celebrating by going to Hawaii with her husband and there is not a more deserving person who keeps her word & takes care of so many people. Blessed to have her in my life and to know true kindness does exist in the world, including my world too!

Thanks again for the beautiful reminder Lizema

Continue to bask in & choose joy today & from now on

Juliepie · 03-09-16, 12:15 PM

Liz, you and your post are quite inspirational! Thanks for sharing!

debbied · 03-09-16, 12:41 PM

Thanks, LizEMA, for posting such a beautiful account of how I try to feel on a regular basis, but could never have communicated it in such a wonderful way.

I'm grateful that I CAN work out.

I'm grateful that everyone in my life is healthy.

I'm so grateful that tomorrow I'm going to take my older daughter to meet FRIENDS and go to a movie. Initiated by her....twenty years of work.....and I get to bask in the glow.

Here's hoping lots of us have only things to feel gratitude.

Lauren · 03-09-16, 12:43 PM

Liz, what a great post. We all have so many things to be grateful and thankful for.

I am gratefully, thankful, that I am alive today!! God's grace and mercy, protected me yesterday from what could have resulted in a fatal accident. An eighteen wheeler ran a red light on the green light that was mine, and fellow drivers.

On a lighter note ♡♡♡. I enjoy the Purple Martin birds that return to nest each year in a birdhouse my husband built several years ago. It was so nice to see one safely, tucked inside, as he watched the rain falling this morning.

sherry7899 · 03-09-16, 12:47 PM

Lauren-I am so glad nothing happened to you-how terrifying!

Debbied-yay for DD!!

She is fortunate to have such a loving and caring mom

Cyberspakle-It is wonderful you are feeling better and you had a friend stand by you through everything.

bzar · 03-09-16, 12:49 PM

welcome to our home!

it's refreshing to read a post that is just a "being" kind of post, if you KWIM.

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03-09-16, 11:53 AM
LizEMA Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Northeast	Pretty OT but Just oozing with gratitude and happiness I really hate for my first original post to be so completely off topic and SO self indulgent, but I feel like I am just radiating with gratitude and happiness right now that if I just don't share it with someone, I'll pop. I don't want to get into all the WHYs of my gratefulness (in that I mean, why I am, at this very moment, so ridiculously Zen), I just wanted to share. Are you ever struck, suddenly, sometimes inexplicably, with just deep, serene happiness, peacefulness, and gratitude? Like, at that very moment in time, everything in you has just lined up to shine, light and radiate? :-) I don't want to come off sounding like an I -don't-know-what! but I'm a firm believer in not only being actively grateful for the good things in one's life but to VOICE that gratitude. The silly thing is that NOTHING has happened! :-D I am fortunate enough to live in a house, with a large yard, room and time to garden, to have a wonderfully patient partner who just adores me for some reason , the room and finances to fuel my exercise hobby (and other interests), and, though we are quickly outgrowing/have OUTGROWN the space, I am grateful for it. The weather is positively Spring-like, a slight chill in the fresh, reawakened air, in a (at the moment) quiet street, only disrupted by the beautiful sound of happy birds chirping. My Spring bulbs are starting to come up, and, though, there is no sight of any greenery budding up on the trees, yet, I know in just a few short days, I won't be able to say that. I spent a lazy morning shopping for some herbs and spices to replenish my dwindling supply and doing various web searches and am going to spend the REST of my day getting my mess of a place in order, get in a workout, shower, watch some old gameshows :-), make a leisurely dinner (a new recipe) and enjoy some delicious food, relaxing on the couch with my SO, catching up on House of Cards. I cannot think of any other way I would rather spend my day or being any happier about my quiet, relatively boring life. I certainly have about 1,000 areas of my life needing improvement, things I would prefer to be different, situations that frustrate me, hurdles I am constantly having to get over and obstacles I have to work around, problems I think I have resolved that surface again, recurring issues that will NEVER go away and times that I lose sight of this gratitude. But, throughout my days, there are so many small things that I am so thankful for and often catch myself saying "thank goodness" or "at least" (as in "it can be worse") multiple times a day. I have a laundry list of other teeny, tiny little things (sometimes, completely ridiculous things) that will mean nothing to anyone but me that I am extremely grateful for nonetheless, and it just all has added up to me teeming with all this "good stuff" right now. Living life appreciating what I DO have is SO much better than living one focusing on what I don't. :-D I LOVE these moments and just want to hold on to them for as long as I can, hoping to string enough of them together so that I can't remember NOT feeling like this. :-D So, I'd like to thank everyone who has made it this far in to my post (and maybe apologize?), but to also extend to my fellow VFers, the proposition and opportunity to leave below the things that YOU are grateful for. No matter how small, no matter whether or not anyone else will be able to make sense of it, no matter how longstanding or fleeting. What has made you happy today? What has made you smile? What is the thing that keeps you going, that you look forward to, that you are just so pleased to have in your life? Please share! PS I went WAY past my limit of smiley and heart faces in this post I had to go back and cut out almost HALF of them! LOL I didn't even know there WAS a limit. (TOTALLY learning the ropes here.) __________________ Liz

03-09-16, 12:02 PM
sherry7899 Join Date: Jun 2003	Liz- what a lovely post! It is a great reminder to be thankful for everyday things. I am very glad you are feeling so positive. Please keep posting! __________________ "Say you are tired and you will be. Believe you are strong and you are." (Sean O'Malley) The cat in my avatar is my sweetheart named Bonkers

03-09-16, 12:05 PM
anniew1964 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Ohio	It sounds like you're really blessed. I love hearing how happy and blessed people are. It makes me happy

03-09-16, 12:06 PM
sherry7899 Join Date: Jun 2003	I am still happy from a very sweet remark from my dh yesterday. I am happy from the hug goodbye from my son this morning and that one of my cats cuddled next to me for most of the night and greets me with ankle rubs and purrs every time he sees me. __________________ "Say you are tired and you will be. Believe you are strong and you are." (Sean O'Malley) The cat in my avatar is my sweetheart named Bonkers

03-09-16, 12:13 PM
Cybersparkle Join Date: Oct 2009	What has made you happy today? What has made you smile? What is the thing that keeps you going, that you look forward to, that you are just so pleased to have in your life? Thank you for sharing your joy I sooo needed this today! I am at a crossroads & it is time for me to walk my talk & reap all the rewards of years of self-healing & inner work. Today, I am happy for my art, color & how the Universe has blessed me by allowing it to all come together & be a such a soothing source for me. After over 2 decades of difficult lessons, I am nearing the light at the end of the tunnel. And it's brightly multi-colored, creative rainbow Today is the birthday of someone who truly was there for me when I was deathly ill and vulnerable. She had my back when I was flat on my back. She is celebrating by going to Hawaii with her husband and there is not a more deserving person who keeps her word & takes care of so many people. Blessed to have her in my life and to know true kindness does exist in the world, including my world too! Thanks again for the beautiful reminder Lizema Continue to bask in & choose joy today & from now on __________________ Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine! ~Anthony J. D'Angelo, The College Blue Book You can't stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf! ~Jon Kabat-Zinn

03-09-16, 12:15 PM
Juliepie VF Supporter Join Date: May 2008 Location: Chicagoland, IL, USA	Liz, you and your post are quite inspirational! Thanks for sharing! __________________ --Julie Surely a person of sense would submit to anything, like exercise, so as to obtain a well functioning mind and a pleasant, happy life. --Socrates

03-09-16, 12:41 PM
debbied VF Supporter Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: South Florida	Thanks, LizEMA, for posting such a beautiful account of how I try to feel on a regular basis, but could never have communicated it in such a wonderful way. I'm grateful that I CAN work out. I'm grateful that everyone in my life is healthy. I'm so grateful that tomorrow I'm going to take my older daughter to meet FRIENDS and go to a movie. Initiated by her....twenty years of work.....and I get to bask in the glow. Here's hoping lots of us have only things to feel gratitude. __________________ Debbie *Constantly in a state of gratitude.* Dream big because the only thing that can hold you back is a life without dreams. Sean O'Malley If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs, it's just possible you haven't grasped the situation. Jean Kerr

03-09-16, 12:43 PM
Lauren Join Date: Nov 2001	Liz, what a great post. We all have so many things to be grateful and thankful for. I am gratefully, thankful, that I am alive today!! God's grace and mercy, protected me yesterday from what could have resulted in a fatal accident. An eighteen wheeler ran a red light on the green light that was mine, and fellow drivers. On a lighter note ♡♡♡. I enjoy the Purple Martin birds that return to nest each year in a birdhouse my husband built several years ago. It was so nice to see one safely, tucked inside, as he watched the rain falling this morning.

03-09-16, 12:47 PM
sherry7899 Join Date: Jun 2003	Lauren-I am so glad nothing happened to you-how terrifying! Debbied-yay for DD!! She is fortunate to have such a loving and caring mom Cyberspakle-It is wonderful you are feeling better and you had a friend stand by you through everything. __________________ "Say you are tired and you will be. Believe you are strong and you are." (Sean O'Malley) The cat in my avatar is my sweetheart named Bonkers

03-09-16, 12:49 PM
bzar Exchange Moderator Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: PalmTreeVille	welcome to our home! it's refreshing to read a post that is just a "being" kind of post, if you KWIM. __________________ ~jeannine Miyagi: Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand. Wax on, wax off. Breathe in through nose, out the mouth. Wax on, wax off. Don't forget to breathe, very important. [walks away, still making circular motions with hands] ~ Pat Morita, The Karate Kid, 1984 disclosure: in the years 2002-2004 i had a professional relationship with a distributor of fitness videos; see profile.