Miracles: noticing delightful surprises

Pausing for gratitude

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“If you stay committed, your dreams can come true. I’m living proof of it. I left home at 17 and had nothing but rejections for 25 years. I wrote more than 20 screenplays, but I never gave up.”

—Michael Blake, author of “Dances with Wolves”

Most of us have tried and failed at trying to make or break a habit. When success finally comes, after countless failures, it feels like a miracle … and it is. However, it is a miracle based on persistence and understanding the power of trying one more time.

Gratitude is a super power in the arena of habits.

 Lynne Snead, co-creator of the Gratitude Mojo Journal, recalls, “Back in my twenties when I was a smoker, I often said, ‘I know I can quit because I’ve done it so many times.’ The final time, I had just turned 30 and a friend gave me this advice: ‘Beware of the day you want to buckle. Something will happen. You will be devastated, angry, hurt, or something else will make you want to grab for a cigarette.’

“That day came, but I remembered those words. I remember thinking to myself, this is the day he was talking about. Because I was prepared for the experience, I didn’t buckle.”

Pausing to feel gratitude is a habit. Of course, there will be days when you don’t feel gratitude. You may be angry, hurt, busy, grieving, and gratitude is the last thing on your mind. We live in a world of paradoxes. Often, what we need to do most, is what we want to do least. Accepting that when we are feeling like the world is against us helps us pause and look for something to be grateful for. It opens a bigger perspective and helps us pause the emotions we are feeling so we don’t get stuck in them.

As we practice these pauses for gratitudes, they go from being something we are forcing ourselves to do to becoming who we are. At that point, we have created a mindset of gratitude and we begin to see even more of the miracles that surround us.

And, in the meantime, the miracle of a super bloom continues on Mt. Figueroa, CA.

What miracles do you see around you right now?

Thank you for reading gratitude mojo. We love your “hearts” and please feel free to share this post if you think any of your friends and family would like it.

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In good times and challenging ones, practicing gratitude helps us recognize the good things in our lives and build resilience for the challenges that come our way. Gratitude journaling is one of the best ways to better understand yourself and deepen your practice of gratitude.

Any journal will do … however, here are two we are biased toward:

Gratitude Miracles, a 52-week journal filled with inspiring quotes and the science behind 13 amazing benefits of gratitude. Available from amazon.com:

Or, Gratitude Mojo, a 26-week, workbook format, which comes to you free with your annual paid subscription … including one copy for a friend because having a Gratitude Buddy makes the journey better.

We want to help everyone develop a deeper practice of gratitude, therefore, all posts are always free. … However, it is paid subscriptions that help support this work.