This morning as I contemplate the ending of another month I keep hearing Petrie from The Land Before Time (a animated movie from when I was a kid) in his eager voice questioning,  "I flied?" Throughout the movie his friends would inform him, "no, Petrie, you falled." As I have faced a number of opportunities being offered to me this month I too have turned to my friends to talk it out. They all have their opinions and advice to share and all are helpful in the piece they contribute. Ultimately I will be the one to make those decisions, however, because it is my life and my story. I know which friends to ask to get which aspects that I may have overlooked. Most of us have a friend that is more conservative, a friend that plays by the book, a friend that throws caution to the wind, etc. Yet these opinions are only to give me another perspective because they have not walked the same path I have walked and they are not headed to the same place I am going. I love that in talking to my friends about the possibilities and brainstorming the pros and cons of each that they also recognize this role. I cannot help but wonder how Petrie's story would have been different though if his friends had not corrected him. If instead of asking them if he had flown and them responding he had not, what if they had given him the belief he had for just a short flight. What if they had responded, "You flied a little!"? In the end it did not matter because Petrie kept trying and he did fly. In the end it was up to him whether he gave up or kept trying. In the end it was only himself that could write his story and he succeeded. I'm grateful to have friends that are supportive and encouraging. I'm grateful to hear all their opinions and brainstorms on all that is going on in my life. I'm grateful to know that they will be supportive if I follow their advice or not. I'm grateful to know I can fly. I'm grateful to have experienced it in many ways and I'm grateful for the new opportunities that offer more ways to grow and fly. I'm grateful to trust my judgement on what is best for me. And I'm grateful to know that if I stumble those same amazing friends will be right there. How have you "flied"? Who is there for you whether you fly or fall? What opportunities are you willing to take that risk on? May your day be blessed with supportive friends and may you take the opportunities that allow you to fly. Have a beautiful day!

I'm grateful to have the flexibility to take my time getting around this morning. I have been feeling run down lately and it made all the difference allowing myself the time to sleep in a little. My body tells me what it needs and when it needs something changed. As the days become shorter and my commitments increase their needs I am grateful to listen to what I need as well. By taking the time and space I need for myself I strengthen the foundation from which I can give. I give myself love and from that space I have more love to share with others. I grow my roots down and gain the solid foundation I need to support all the outlets of my efforts and love. I'm grateful to strengthen those roots today. I'm grateful to give myself the love that I need first. I'm grateful for the opportunities that await me today. I'm grateful to know that I can handle the tasks ahead. I'm grateful to sleep in, have breakfast, set some appointments, and now be sharing with you. What do you need today? How can you honor those needs within your obligations so that you can plant those roots more strongly in the ground? So often  many of us get caught up in what we "need" to get done and are always keeping a running list of what has to be done next. Today I invite you to reevaluate that list. There are things on that list that while you want them done, or while someone else may want them done, no one will die if it does not get done. The world will not end, your job will not be jeopardized from this one task that is not completed. Today, focus on what is truly important and make sure to write time on that to do list for self-care. I'm grateful to listen to my body and soul's needs. I'm grateful to pass this message along in hopes at least some of you will give yourself the love you deserve. I'm grateful for the image of the tree that I identify with so well. May you acknowledge y

Early this morning I had a dream that some people I love and I were riding in a horse drawn carriage. We came across another carriage that had obviously been ambushed and there were several people lying dead. Up ahead there was a carriage that some people were rummaging through. We stopped ours and got out fleeing into the woods for some time to devise a plan. It was dark and foggy and visibility was poor. Before a plan could be made a man with a knife followed by several people with guns came out. The man was hollering about paying for our sins. He said the greatest sin of them all was miscommunication. He said this was our judgement day. He came at my boyfriend and put the knife to my boyfriend's stomach but I noticed something about it was wrong. (The knife did not shine or look metallic and one of the "dead men" was standing there holding a gun.) I grabbed both their arms to stop the man from continuing and my boyfriend from reacting in defense. My observation was right. His knife was fake and plastic. I asked him why he would scare people so badly just to get his message of miscommunication across and wasn't that itself a form of miscommunication. He said we didn't understand the power of our words and he was showing how our words create our reality. Just by him saying a few words most people jumped to their own conclusions. (I didn't stop him to point out the "props" may have been a big part of that!) He wanted to show us how willing we were to jump to action versus using our words to understand each other. It was a powerful dream and message. Miscommunications are bound to happen. We all have different backgrounds, experiences, and reactions. But if we can remember that at our core we are all searching for the same things, love and acceptance, it makes it easier to step back and take a minute to translate the message. And even when that message is not clear, we can still give love in return. We do not have to meet it with action, fear, or hostility. I'm grateful for the message of this dream. I'm grateful to have seen the signs of illusion. I'm grateful to wake to a beautiful day, safely snuggled with the man I love. I'm grateful to see that our own miscommunications can be worked through with love and compassion. I'm grateful to know love and I'm grateful to use it as my translator. I'm grateful to know that there are multiple messages within this dream and that the cameos of its participants were itself a message. I'm also grateful to know that each of those people represented a side of myself so that I may see the different aspects of my own communication. Thank you for allowing me to share my dream with you today. What are your dreams telling you? How can you use love to mediate your own miscommunications? If you are seeking guidance on understanding your dreams and the depth of messages within them, feel free to email me at ReyofGratitude@gmail.com for more information on this service. May your day be blessed with understanding and love. May you find compassion for those around you. And may your heart be renewed. Namasté. Have a beautiful day!

There is something about the connection, laughter, and love shared with other people that cannot be replaced with anything else. Last night my boyfriend and I had the opportunity to go to the wedding reception of his long time friend. The bride was positively gorgeous and radiant with love. The groom was absolutely bursting with joy. Often I say how grateful I am for friends that are like family and family that are friends. Last night was a great example as everyone laughed and played games. I believe joy begins within yourself. No one can "make" you happy if you can't find the love and joy within yourself. But last night was a great reminder for me that while we create our own joy it is multiplied when we share it with the ones we love. I'm so grateful to share that special moment with friends. I'm so grateful for the beauty of everything last night. I'm grateful for the laughter we all shared. I'm grateful for the games we played and all the people willing to be silly. I'm grateful for the photo booth and all the creativity people found in taking pictures for the guestbook. I'm grateful for the union of two beautiful people and for the love they share. I'm grateful to know that I do not need a caught bouquet to believe I will one day be married. And I'm grateful for the man that shows me love each day and accepts my love in return. I'm grateful for all the joy we share with each other and the strength of our friendship within our relationship. I'm grateful to have more social plans with great friends today. I'm grateful for this abundance of amazing people in my life. What joy do you find within your friendships? How do you share your gratitude with these people for the connection you share? May today be blessed with laughter and may your joy burst out to be shared with those you love. Have a beautiful day!

I'm so grateful this morning to wake before my alarm and have some time in the quiet before the sunrise. Even though I am tired, I cherish this time. I'm grateful to reflect back on all the wonderful things that have happened over the last couple days. I'm grateful for the abundance of opportunities and the courage to say yes. I'm eager to see where each will lead. Abundance is always right here waiting for me. It is like a full crop waiting to be harvested. In my mind, I picture it like homegrown popcorn. Waiting for it on the stalk until it is not only grown but dried. While it may seem like the wait was too long, it took that wait for the corn to get to its prime harvest. Now in harvesting the popcorn, it is still not a bounty that is just handed to me. It is an opportunity that becomes what I desire only when I have added some energy to it. While some opportunities are just ready to be enjoyed right off the vine, some require additional work and attention to truly create what I seek. The opportunities this week have been an amazing blessing but each one will need a little more TLC and some of my energy added to become their full potential. I'm grateful for the popcorn analogy that comes to mind even as my brain is half awake. I'm grateful for the idea that when I put some energy into the opportunities in front of me they will explode into a bounty that is even more. I'm grateful for this beautiful world. I'm grateful for all the blessings in my life and the continued abundance of opportunities and support. I'm grateful to see what will come of saying yes to these great opportunities. What are your popcorn opportunities? What are you willing to wait for and then put your energy into? What ideas have you been allowing to grow in your mind that now may be ready for harvest? May you be blessed with the opportunities you have been waiting for and may you have the courage to put your energy into them to make them "pop". Have a beautiful day, everyone! Happy "popping"!

This morning I woke with the image of a yin yang symbol in my head. I do not remember the dream but I remember being very comforted in the idea that even within yin there was a circle of yang and vis versa. Very few things in life are wholly and completely one thing. Many women, no matter how feminine, display certain aspects of "masculine" traits, as men can equally display certain feminine traits. I wouldn't fully comprehend the volume of something without having the silence to compare it to. Would we comprehend day if there was no night? This duality or perceived duality is, in fact, wholeness. It all just is and yet we have found different labels to understand it. The same is true with gratitude. Within a situation I am not grateful for, there are still things for which I am very grateful. And within the things I am grateful, there are things that may not be my favorite. For example, I am grateful for a later sunrise so that I may catch a little extra sleep and still see its beautiful appearance. Now, the days that I have to wake at a certain time anyway, I'm not necessary grateful that there is no sun to rise and greet me. But at the same time I am grateful for the quiet darkness that allows me to move from sleep to awake in a gentle way. There are always things we can appreciate within our situation and perhaps some things that we do not within that same situation. There is nothing wrong with being aware of the things we are less than grateful for each day. Yet it is within the gratitude, the joy, and focusing on the blessings that we can shift our lives toward the positive. It is a choice. There are millions of things to witness in each moment and each of us has the power to choose not only what we witness but how we will choose to interpret it.  Practice in your journal. Write something you are not grateful for and then practice seeing all the things you are grateful for with that same situation. A mother may write that she is not grateful her child was up sick all night. Not only is her child ill but she has gotten no sleep. Perhaps she finds gratitude in the fact that her child is rarely sick and this is not a common occurrence. Perhaps she finds gratitude in knowing her child's body knows how to fight off illnesses. Maybe she is grateful that as she stays home with her child today she can nap along side the beautiful child she brought into this world as they both catch up on the sleep missed last night. The more focused on gratitude we are, the more positive we see our world. Like the yin yang, there is always another side to things. There is always positive even within the things for which we are not so grateful. Try it for yourself. What is the yin yang in your life today? What are you grateful for within the situations you are not grateful? How can you choose to focus on the gratitude in each situation? I'm grateful to wake slowly within the still dark sky. I'm grateful to be able to witness the sunrise. I'm grateful for the stillness. I'm grateful for a patient dog and I'm grateful for one that is not afraid to ask for what she wants. I'm grateful for communication and I'm grateful for the many forms of love. May your day be blessed by focusing on your gratitude and may the World show you more things for which to be grateful! Have a beautiful day!

As I ride some interesting waves of emotion this morning I had a novel idea. Lately I seem to find turbulence in looking back either at how far I've come or at the idea that I "should" be farther. But when I counter that by looking to the future I also find it rough when I have ideals of an image without a clear picture. In these moments I, of course, turn to my gratitude. What am I grateful for right now, in this moment, without prep and planning as to how this blog or day will look. I'm grateful for the odd noise that the shower upstairs is making as it fills the drain. I'm grateful for the sound of rain pattering outside even though I would be grateful for some sunshine. I'm grateful for the sound of my dog eating her breakfast without any prompting. I'm grateful for the smell of the banana peel on the table next to me and the remnants of its taste in my mouth as I decide if more breakfast is needed. I'm grateful for a half full water glass and to know that I can walk over and refill it whenever I need. I'm grateful for the jacket that takes the chill off. And with these feelings of gratitude, armed with my list is where my novel idea comes into play. What if for today I did not focus on what has been or what is to come? What if I have the novel perspective to just be okay with the moment I am in right now? It does not address any fears of future income or illuminate a clear photo of the future for my mind to grab. It just simply is. It is within this perspective that I can ask myself "am I happy?" If I could be doing anything right now, what would I be doing? The absolute honest answer to this question is helping people. Working with people. It is so easy to answer the skewed version of that question which is often what happens. What would I be doing if everything were going my way and were already aligned in this moment? That is the question I hear most people, including myself, answering. Well if that were the case I would be mothering my children and preparing to go into my library/ office to work from home. But as my children have not been born yet and my library/ office is an empty room with a few boxes of books it does not really help to answer it this way. So I take a step back, back to the present. In this moment, what can I do? I can help people. I can be there when they need a hand. I can give love and trust that abundance will flow back to me in a number of forms including the monetary means of paying my bills. And I do believe this. In this moment I see that the waves have settled, my emotions are reset, and I am ready to start this beautiful day. Which question have you been answering? How can you step back into the present moment? What are you grateful for right now? May you find the answer to this question in the present moment and may every action take you to the answer of the next question. Have a beautiful day and thank you for joining me in my process as I return to a place of balance and gratitude. 

I'm so grateful to wake to the sunrise for the Autumnal Equinox this morning. I'm grateful for the crisp, cool Fall air that came in the window with the morning sun. The sky in all it's orange and pink beauty blended with the clouds to give me a beautiful view. I have mentioned cycles several times in the last couple weeks as it continues to show me more insights. Today we begin the next phase of a cycle as Summer turns to Fall. I recorded the New Moon meditation yesterday (which can be listened to by clicking the video link at the bottom of the Events Calendar page at http://www.reyofgratitude.com/events-calendar.html ) and in combination of it falling near the Autumnal Equinox and as we move into Libra I focused on the word balance. I assumed I would wake this morning feeling that message strongly again and would speak more about that today. Instead as I watched the sunrise over the rooftops I was struck by the word Fall. Though few of our trees have started their change of color, it is surely approaching as the temperatures cool and the days shorten. The cycles of life cannot be stopped. The World continues to turn. Yet we cling to some things in our lives even when we know we cannot change them. Loved ones will pass and new ones will be born. Relationships will wax and wane as we move through our individual stories and strive to meet our own needs. So how do we fall gracefully? How do we accept the shifting of our needs and the changes within ourselves as we continue to walk our paths? If I am to look to the tree for this lesson, it would appear that the key is in continuing to dance with the wind. The tree doesn't stop dancing. It let's it's leaves twirl around until they naturally float to the ground and yet all the while it stands tall, firmly planted in the ground. In my life many things have grown, changed, and fallen away. Many of those shifts have been within my beliefs and understanding. There is one thing I can say for certain does not go away, love. It shifts for sure, and looks different at different times. It is given and received in various ways by different people at different times but love is always there. And within that is where I find my gratitude. I'm grateful for love in all it's many, beautiful forms. I'm grateful to give myself love. I'm grateful to believe that this world is a beautiful place and can be shifted as more people choose to live in love and gratitude. I'm grateful for the Fall Equinox and I'm grateful to practice falling gracefully as I embrace the changes that come with each cycle. I'm grateful to watch the trees and to dance in their reflection. I'm grateful to smile and laugh. I'm grateful to allow myself to sync with the sun for today's cycle; waking in its beautiful light. I'm grateful for all the blessings in my life and I'm grateful to know that whatever blessings may shift and fade will be replaced by new blessings. Falling gracefully is not about giving up or pretending I didn't stumble. I am human. Falling gracefully is about knowing it's part of the dance and that sometimes the fall is what it takes today to become more tomorrow. How will you fall gracefully? What changes will you allow to shift easily knowing that something more is waiting for you? May you show your beautiful colors and dance in the wind today. May you dance to the music of laughter and love. Have a beautiful day, everyone! Happy Autumnal Equinox!

I'm grateful for all the restful sounds of the morning and night that create a sort of soft, natural, lullaby. Sleeping with the windows open allows the cadence of the insects outside to drift in, mixing with the hum of the fan and rhythmic sound of breathing. Much like a drum circle where the drummers fall in sync then shift slightly and fall in sync again as the rhythm and energy flows freely, so do the restful sounds of night shift and flow. I'm grateful that even when I am unable to sleep I can find restful meditation within these sounds. I'm grateful for weather that is cool enough to allow the windows to be comfortably opened and the sounds of nature to filter inside. I'm grateful for the sunlamp next to me that can imitate the sun when I am needing a boost of energy to start my day. Tomorrow is the Autumnal Equinox and with that a day of balanced night and day. I'm grateful to have the opportunity today to record the next New Moon meditation including the energy of the equinox. I'm grateful for the balance of nature as light and darkness divide their time evenly, even knowing that the night will begin increasing as we move toward Winter. I'm grateful for the connection I feel to Earth and to honor this connection as it moves into the cycle of rest. I'm grateful for the restful sounds that support these quiet moments. It is so important to find balance in action and in rest. We all know the sounds of action, traffic, music, voices talking, and phones ringing for example. Take a moment today to listen for the restful sounds. What sounds do you find soothing? What sounds support these times of rest? May your day be blessed with balancing action and rest. May you find peace within the sounds of nature. Have a beautiful day!

YEA! It's one of my favorite days of the year! Today is World Gratitude Day, a great time to start shifting your life by focusing on gratitude! It has been a couple years since I truly made the commitment to focus on gratitude and make positive changes in my life. Practicing gratitude does not mean that everything will always go the way you want but it does give you the power to find the beauty and benefit in each situation. There is always something to be grateful for. In fact, there are things to be grateful for in every area of our lives. It is easy to focus on gratitude for the amazing people in our lives or the things we have received. Today, challenge yourself to also look for gratitude in yourself and the beauty that is in your imperfect perfection. Find gratitude in your accomplishments no matter what those may look like because in being grateful and recognizing what you have already accomplished it empowers you to reach new goals. Look for gratitude in the ordinary, for the one flower that pops up in the rock bed or for the twinkle of the stars at night. There are millions of things to be grateful for each day! If you have not already started a gratitude practice, here are some tips. Start first thing in the morning when you wake up. Write your Grateful Four in a journal. Try to make at least one of those things something you are grateful for about yourself. After you have written them down, sit and FEEL them for a few minutes. Feel the gratitude in your heart for these four wonderful things in your life. Throughout the day if you find yourself stressed or upset, remind yourself of the Grateful Four you wrote down or even better try to find something to be grateful for within that situation. Then as you lay down at night, write something you are grateful for that you accomplished or that happened that day. Focus on the positive moment of the day no matter what else happened and allow yourself to focus on feeling truly grateful for that moment. If your mind tries to shift to the stressful things just keep bringing it back to that positive moment. Once you can focus on that gratitude and the beautiful moment of your day, then go to sleep. Let the positive be your last thought before you drift into dreamland. It sounds like a big commitment but as you practice you will find it only takes a few minutes each day to shift your life to gratitude. Remember, it takes 21 days to create a habit and when you think how long you've been practicing your current habits give yourself patience as you begin this new, positive one. Before you know it you will be automatically seeing the positive side of things and finding gratitude in each situation. I'm so grateful for what my gratitude practice has shifted in my life. I'm grateful to share my gratitude with others and help others find their gratitude. I'm grateful for this beautiful morning and the sun shining down. I'm grateful for my two seer dogs that always rest by my side as I blog in the morning. I'm grateful to have celebrated one year with my boyfriend yesterday. I'm grateful to have an amazing, loving and supportive family. I'm grateful for friends that are family and family that are friends. I'm so grateful to be a Gratitude and Empowerment coach so I can help inspire other people to live the life they dream. I'm grateful to have a beautiful home and all my needs met. I'm grateful for the beauty and love I see in my reflection, in my smile, and in my eyes. I'm grateful for my playful nature and to be able to express who I am. I'm grateful to say that my biggest accomplishment has been falling in love with myself and that it does not seem to be a one time thing as I continue to shift and see myself in new ways and have the opportunity to fall in love with the woman in the mirror again and again. What are you grateful for today? Is there gratitude for yourself within your Grateful Four this morning? What would it take for you to make a commitment to practicing gratitude and shifting your life in a positive way? May your day be blessed with finding gratitude in yourself and your surroundings. May you see the beauty that is always around you. Have a beautiful day!