Rants, Rita, and Realities – A Grace Full Life
I was driving in my car the other day, listening to music, when the song Beautiful Life by the artist Soll came up on my playlist. I’ve shared this song here before. It’s a lovely song with lovely lyrics, but one line in particular resonated with me…
“can I get out of my own way before it’s too late?”
For the past six months, I’ve kept a spiral notebook in which I record things I’m grateful for daily for on a daily basis. Some days I can think of a lot of things, but others I can’t. It’s gotten a lot more difficult recently. It can be difficult to discover the positive at times, and that’s okay.
During my morning soul homework, I was working on an assignment for my latest Julia Cameron book, which prompted me to check over my gratitude notebook.
It read like an inspirational novel as I flipped through the pages of wonderful things in my every days. And I had an epiphany: my life is good.
I’m just as guilty as everybody else of claiming that the last two years have been terrible.
Are we ever going to get out of this mess?
Is 2021 going to be just as bad as 2020?
A lot of good has happened to me and in my life that I would have missed if I hadn’t written it down.
I’m so glad I have evidence.
I can see why therapists, monks, sages, and others advise individuals to keep track of the good things that happen in their lives.
We tend to get in our own way. Because we have a tendency to focus on the negative.
After reading all of the things I’d written down, I thought to myself, this is a book that everyone should have. This is a book I wish each of you would write.
I mentioned in last week’s podcast that two of John Hughes’ films hadn’t aged well. I reflected on it, and I realized that I’ve had old posts that haven’t aged well either. I’ve said and written things in the past that I’d regret if someone held them up today.
A few years ago, I wrote a screenplay based on John Hughes’ films while I was in the midst of perimenopause. I was a very different person back then. I thought what I wrote in the screenplay was solid material.
It wasn’t.
If you showed me that work now, I’d cringe at some of what I wrote. I might even tell myself, “You know, your screenplay isn’t aging well.” I might feel hurt at first. Then edit the hell out of it.
I still stand by what I said in that podcast, but I also continue to enjoy John Hughes and his films. Thank you to one of my readers for prompting me reconsider the matter. 🙂
A Grace Full Life 
What a sweet podcast today. I loved hearing your gratitude list; so much to be happy about. I giggled as I was listening and I thought: She has a lot of food on here and then you said the same thing. Food does bring us joy, as does our kids, friends and pups.
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Thank you, friend. Family, food, and animals. 🙂
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I don’t keep a formal gratitude list. I tell myself each night what I’m grateful for, so I’m not without thankfulness in my life. I’m more focused on your question: Are we ever going to get out of this mess? That’s where my thoughts and writing take me now.
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It feels never ending, doesn’t it? Sometimes I think we were intended to go through all of this to make necessary changes. I know it sounds heartless in the face of so much death, but thinking of it that way makes it feel a lot less endless. 😦
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Early in the pandemic, my family and I wrote out things were grateful for each day. We wrote them on construction paper leaves and flowers that we then added to a “gratitude tree” on our kitchen wall. I loved seeing it spread and bloom (my family, not so much, so it petered out eventually). Now, we all list something we are grateful for each night when we put the kiddo to bed. It gets easier with practice, and there are SO many things. I find myself casting my mind over the things I think the others should be grateful for, and then they come up with something else, and I am struck anew by how incredibly lucky we all are!
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Suzanne, this is a lovely idea!! I think I might do this in my home as well. I want my family to see all of the things for which I am thankful. I think seeing it might make them look at their lives differently. I believe that seeing it will change their perspective on their lives.
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I’m working on consistency with my gratitude list each day. I am following the three blessings exercise by Martin Seligman where you write three things each day that you’re grateful for and WHY they happened.
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Martin’s book, which you recommended, is still on my TBR list! However, I keep adding books to the wrong end of my list. LOL. I’m getting there Martin! Hang in there. 🙂
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It’s worth the read. He heads up the positive psychology department at UPenn. At least he did when I read his book.
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I’m bumping him up to the top of my list.
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It’s a dry read but easy to get through.
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🙂
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Even if things don’t age well, it doesn’t mean they weren’t necessary as part of the process
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Exactly!
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You know I am a gratitude girl; though it can be hard some days to come up with something I have never had a day where I couldn’t come up with anything… even if I am only grateful for something simple.
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This is how I feel. Even on the most difficult days, I can always find something.
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You mentioned a gratitude list or journal on your blog not too long ago. And I did start one after that. But did I keep up with it? Nope. Stuck the notebook in a drawer and forgot about it. Tell you what…as soon as I’m done here, I’m getting up and getting that notebook out of the drawer and putting it with my journal. I write in my journal every night, so now I can’t forget about my gratitude journal if it’s right there.
I’m especially needing to find gratitude right now, with my cat dying. Sometimes that’s all I can concentrate on.
Love the song, Beautiful Life by Soll. Found that through you/your blog, too. 🙂
FWIW, I loved your screenplay. And so did Brian. We both enjoyed reading it each time you published a new act. I thought it was engaging and hilarious!
xoxo
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I’m so glad I was able to inspire you back then! It’s not always easy to stick to these things. I’m so glad you’re going to give it another try.
Melanie, I’ve been thinking about you all week. I am sending you all of the love.
When I was writing about my screenplay, I couldn’t help but think of you and Brian. You two were such a huge support to me, and I will never forget it. Actually, it wasn’t all that bad. Every now and again, I think about opening it up and reworking it. 🙂
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I love your Attitude of Gratitude! I try to cultivate gratitude throughout my day. I recently listened to a podcast about, of all things, the alphabet. It was fascinating, thinking of the written word and how we got here. It made me feel like a small blip in this world, but in a good way.
I sometimes look back on my old posts and think “who was that person” but I think as we journey through life we grow and change and evolve. It’s a beautiful thing, really.
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I really like your way of thinking. We take so many minor details for granted.
I’ve changed a lot since I started writing here. I’m thankful that I can look back and see how much I’ve changed, even if it makes me cringe. 🙂
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I think overall I find the pandemic annoying but I am also grateful for so much. Coach and I are still working and we are still comfortable. I am thrilled that the pandemic lead me to being able to workout in my house. Life changing.
I do agree that it is easy to focus on the negative. How great that you have gotten into the habit of writing it all down.
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I’m so glad I’ve been keeping track of it. I’d have lost out on so much. 🙂
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I have enjoyed going back and seeing how I have grown and healed over the last two years. I am no longer Feb. 2020 me. I have done a major up level.
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It’s amazing to see the progress, isn’t it? Good for you! 🙂
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I think I need to stand in front of a mirror every morning and play this song instead of trying to write morning pages!
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Isn’t it a wonderful song?
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