“Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today.” ~Ernest Hemingway
The greatest gift you ever give yourself will probably come in the form of time…
Unstructured time is the gift many of us have forgotten to schedule into our busy lives. Sometimes, we must be reminded that almost everything works better if it is occasionally unplugged… Yes, that includes YOU!
I recently had an article delivered into my inbox by the prolific author Jeff Goins! You know you’re really on to something when you get an article in your inbox on a topic that you’re already writing about. His article was delivered into my inbox a week after my trip to Yosemite where I intentionally unplugged from my day-to-day activities so I could reconnect with both nature and my inner-being.
If we ever hope to accomplish what we’re truly capable of, it won’t be by working harder, hustling, grinding, or trying to find the 25th hour in the day. Trust me, it doesn’t exist, I’ve looked for it, I’ve searched for it, and I couldn’t find it anywhere.
The same way I searched for “someday” that fictitious place we create to park our dreams, I also was unable to discover the 25th hour because it doesn’t exist either. We each have 24 hours in any given day to accomplish whatever it is we choose and if we can’t manage our time within that 24-hours, we do make a mess of things! Resource on Time in the article link below:
We must, and I will emphasize the must, we MUST make time for ourselves. We need space between the space. We need time between the time. The only way to make sure you get this most precious time is to schedule unstructured time into your day. Avoid the temptation to fill up every single minute. It can be intoxicating to look at a schedule that is full, from top to bottom, front to back, side to side, and say to yourself look at all that I’m doing, look at all that I have accomplished, when in reality, what you’ve really done, is cheated yourself out of the most important gift you could ever give, to the most important creature on the planet, “you.”
No one will be impressed when you show them your schedule and there’s no time in it for you. And, the truth is, there’s no way you can be as effective as you possibly can without making sure that you’ve taken the time to fill up your cup first. If you’re attempting to fill the cups of others without making sure to fill your own first, there will be nothing to pour into the lives of others. You cannot fill the cups of others from a depleted cup.
If you wish to make a real difference in the world then you absolutely, positively, must make time for yourself. This is non-negotiable. Well, hopefully, after reading this article, it will NOW be non-negotiable for you.
The purpose of this article is to get you to slow down long enough to understand that the only way for you to be the absolute best version of yourself is to make sure that you’re taking time for yourself. Unstructured time is the time we create on our calendar to reconnect with our breath. There is a space between our breath. We breathe in, and we breathe out. Between the breathing in and breathing out there is a space, there is a natural pause. I’m asking you to extend that pause. I’m asking you to intentionally extend that pause. Then, after taking the pause, I invite you to take a deep breath… Breathe in, breathe out, now one more thing, embrace the silence of the space between the space.
Our minds need room just like we need room. One of the best places to find the extra room we need is in the great outdoors. If the outdoors is not your jam, then maybe it’s the spa. I don’t know what does it for you, but whatever it is, you need to schedule time for it. Schedule unstructured time to embrace the space between the space. Schedule time to reconnect with your breath, to reconnect with your inner-coach, to silence all the chatter, including your inner-critic.
This is one of the greatest gifts you will ever give to your mind, and your soul will thank you later… It is the greatest gift you will ever give to your soul. It’s the greatest gift you could ever possibly give to your TEAM, to your family, and to your friends.
The “you” that returns to whatever it is you do on a regular basis to earn what you earn to provide for those you provide for, will be a “YOU” that is 10 times better than “the you” that left, than “the you” that was in the trenches, on the hamster wheel, grinding out the daily grind. Take a moment right now to reconnect with your breath.
Breathe!
And if you’re wondering about how you’re going to get everything done, let me remind you of something shared with me by my coach and mentor. He reminds me on a regular basis that slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Let me say that one more time so it sinks in, so you don’t just read past the words.
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast!
When I slowed down to experience everything available to me in Yosemite National Park, I gained clarity about the direction of not only my next book but the future of my life. I saw in the space between the space a life that looks exactly as I choose, a life by design, a life designed by me, for me and those I intend to serve.
You will find my most recent article on Yosemite here: Bobby Kountz
I made a commitment to a life of service over 31 years ago and I’ve done my best to honor that commitment the best way I know how. However, until we’re ready to look in the mirror and truly see our own inner-awesomeness, or as Michael describes, our inner-awesome sauce, we will only ever be providing a sliver of what’s possible in the way that we can show up for others, because we must first learn to show up for ourselves.
I am done playing small. I am finished hiding in plain sight. I am ready, willing, and able to embrace my inner-awesome sauce and share it with the world in every avenue I can possibly think of so that I can create a ripple across the planet and make the world just a little bit better so that my grandkids can experience a world worth experiencing.
I can’t pretend the challenges that face our planet are so great that there’s nothing I can do. I may not be able to solve all the challenges that currently exist, but I can show up and do my part every single day. And one of the best ways I can show up is to make time for myself. If my cup is overflowing, then I will have more than enough to spread across the planet to create the ripple that I’m capable of creating to make the difference that only I can make by fearlessly sharing the story that is only mine to share and I invite each of you to do the same.
Find a way to share your story in a way that only you can share it, because no one else can share the story that is “you.” If you want to make a real difference in the world then embrace your inner awesomeness, stop hiding in plain sight, find your voice, and share your message!
Here is my promise; when you find your own authentic voice, when you discover who you really are and what you’re capable of, you will have more confidence than you could have ever possibly imagined. It will show up for you in everything you do. Your family will notice. Your friends will notice. Your team will notice. Your employer will notice. Everyone will notice and the most important person that will notice will be you when you go to the mirror when you see yourself for the very first time. I mean, to really see yourself, the REAL you, the you that you always knew was somewhere inside…
Most of us are barely scratching the surface of what we’re capable of.
If you want to take your life to the next level, then give yourself permission to get off the hamster wheel. Go out and connect with your breath, connect with nature, connect with the space between the space and when you do, you will find the “you” that’s been hiding in plain sight all along. When you return to the mirror and you take a long look, what you will see will be a vastly different you than you’ve ever seen. Because you will be seeing you, the real you, for perhaps the very first time.
PPAUSE • BREATHE • REFLECT…
Image from Author’s Collection
My dear friend, mentor, and coach, Michael O’Brien has created a movement to get people to reconnect with their breath. The movement is very simply titled as you see in the line above, pause, breathe, reflect. He has a meditation room on clubhouse where he offers 5-minute meditations throughout the day, typically three to four times a day, and I’m inviting you to step off your hamster wheel and join us in the PAUSE, BREATHE, REFLECT room where you can get your breath on!
Get your BREATH on! Get your PAUSE on! Come reflect with us as we step off the hamster wheel of life to PAUSE, BREATHE, REFLECT… Join our 5-minute guided meditations to re-connect with your breath. You’ve got nothing to lose and a brand-new appreciation for life to gain! See YOU soon!
Finally, here’s a link to an amazing challenge: It’s the 20 Ripple Challenge to commemorate my friend’s last bad day ever! There are only 2 days left in the official challenge but any ripple you create is sure to make a difference!
If my words somehow inspired you to pursue your gift, then I succeeded…
Advance Confidently is still the title of my next book, but you will have to wait to celebrate its release as I celebrate my 60th birthday. I have concluded the world doesn’t need another self-help book from me right now, so I am listening to my muse and will write a sci fi — personal growth, story of self-discovery instead. I believe you will be INSPIRED with the story that chose me to write it! I never saw it coming, but now that it’s here, I can’t wait to share it with all of YOU! I know it will be worth the wait because that’s my commitment to you, my readers.
Thanks in advance for your trust and patience!
In the meantime, I released a special audio short story on Twitter to commemorate my Independence Day and my 31st year of sobriety. You can watch the story here:
You can find me on Twitter @bobby_kountz
Keep Pedaling, Keep Going, Keep Growing!
Advance Confidently!
If you enjoyed and found value in this article, please share it.
In Gratitude,
Bobby Kountz, Author, Speaker, Sobriety Scholar, Inspirationalist!
PS. You can find out more about me here. You can find my book on Amazon.
“Mindfulness is the practice, silence is the tool, equanimity is the gift.” ~Karen Hand
I was introduced to The Miracle Morning on Clubhouse by my friend and mentor Michael O’Brien.
The introduction came in a roundabout way. Michael introduced our peloton (a group of like-minded individuals moving together in the direction of awareness) to a book by Brianna Greenspan. The Miracle Morning Art of Affirmations: A Positive Coloring Book for Adults and Kids is not your normal book of the month kind of a book.
Why? Because it’s not a traditional self-help or personal development book. No, it’s so much more!
Disguised as a coloring book, it teaches the core foundational principles of Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning Philosophy, which over the last several years has become a global movement. And now, the community is available to anyone with a mobile device 7 days a week on Clubhouse in The Miracle Morning Room.
The room begins at 7:00 AM Central, 7 days a week and is hosted and moderated by the co-founder of the room, Brianna Greenspan.
The Mission of The Miracle Morning® movement is to elevate the consciousness of humanity one person and one morning at a time.
The “movement” is based on a morning routine built around 6 key practices known as “LIFE S.A.V.E.R.S” — Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing — can help you get more done and live your best life.
Brianna is a connector of people, projects, and products that elevate consciousness and uplift the planet. She is a lifelong learner of many modalities. Unified Mindfulness, Appreciative Facilitation (Xchange approach), Reiki master, Jewish Energy Healing, Permaculture Certified, etc…
Brianna is also a Cheerleader of GOODNESS. She is a Chronic Illness patient, advocate, coordinator, and researcher. Her illness to wellness journey is featured in The Miracle Morning Documentary. She is an Advocate/Advisor to The Miracle Morning Movement.
Mindfulness is a set of three attention skills. Concentration, Clarity, and Equanimity all working together. You can learn more at: UnifiedMindfulness.com/core
Brianna is #zebrastrong and believes in: “Doing all the good you can, in all the ways you can, at all the times you can, for all the beings you can, as often as you can.”
“A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.” ~James Keller
Every day in The Miracle Morning Room on Clubhouse we are crowdsourcing the collective consciousness and wisdom of the co-moderators and the audience that shows up to participate in the room. A topic of discussion is provided by Brianna and we all collectively do our best to inspire and lift each other up with our authentic truth and experience with facing and embracing the events of life and the subsequent adversity that often accompanies life as we know it.
Through the collective practice of the room, we learn from each other taking some of the best strategies and applying them to our lives in an experimental fashion to see what works, what needs to be refined or adapted, and what’s available by showing up with a curious rather than judgmental mindset.
“Be curious, not judgmental.” ~Walt Whitman
Using the S.A.V.E.R.S to keep us grounded with a strong foundation, we explore the many different ways the community is using these foundational principles to make the planet a little bit better, one person, and one morning at a time.
Below, in quotes, is an example of the way I was able to describe a current situation to someone who was feeling taken advantage of due to their kind nature (all names have been removed to protect their identity). I don’t believe I would have been able to clearly articulate what I was thinking without the clarity I have received as a benefit of regularly showing up for myself as a Miracle Morning Practitioner.
You may or may not find my example useful or helpful. If it doesn’t serve you and your beliefs, then go within to discover your own answers to whatever challenges you are facing.
“Hidden within each of us is everything we need to achieve anything we can imagine.” ~Bobby Kountz
“Hello Beautiful Soul…
The Universe has its own rhythm, and I am doing my best to honor it. I used to push so hard and along the way forgot that my best work always comes when I surrender.
Today, I have surrendered.
I am honored to have met you behind the scenes here on the platform. I have an immense appreciation for your gift, for your art, for your words, and more importantly, your inner beauty.
Being a conduit, or a vessel is no easy task and is certainly not for the faint of heart. Unfortunately, there will always be those who see our kindness as weakness, and they will attempt to exploit it. I used to try to figure this stuff out and now I simply realize it’s just part of the fabric of society. I believe it takes the darkness for us to see the light. It takes greed for us to understand generosity. It takes meanness for us to understand kindness.
The Tao is my teacher in these matters, and I respect the wisdom captured there.
It helps me to understand my place in the world and that if I remain humble, if I remain low like the ocean, then the river of humanity can pour into me. The ocean is so vast it even seems to tolerate all the ugliness that’s poured into it. There are literally floating islands of plastic in the ocean and even still it stays low, it remains low and continues to receive everything that’s poured into it. And even still, I see the beauty in it. The ugliness can be found on the coral reef where a discarded plastic bag drifted over the top of a piece of coral and caused its untimely death. It also shows us that we must each do our own part and how we both get to and must choose how we show up in the world.
My only hope is that both you and your partners will understand that when you make yourself a vessel of The Universe, particularly a vessel as big as the ocean, people might pour things into you that you don’t necessarily want to receive.
I believe the lesson is that those things don’t define you. The ocean continues to remain an abundant blessing for all of us even when there’s a massive oil spill or slick that washes ashore and causes great pain, havoc, and destruction.
The beauty of the ocean remains and on the other side of the world, away from wherever the disaster happened, away from wherever all the oil spilled into the ocean, you will find people sitting on a tranquil beach enjoying the sounds of the waves.
I choose to see the world as an ocean. I choose to hear the tranquil sound of the waves coming in and going out. It reminds me of my own breath and when I’m present with my breath, I feel everything will be ok…
In loving kindness,
Bobby-“
My name is Bobby. I am The Inspirationalist!
I inspire people to pursue their gifts!
If my words somehow inspired you to pursue your gift, then I succeeded…
By the way, if you enjoyed this article, I believe you will thoroughly enjoy my next book, Advance Confidently. I look forward to sharing it with you on the 4th of July.
Keep Pedaling, Keep Going, Keep Growing!
Advance Confidently!
If you enjoyed and found value in this article, please share it.
In Gratitude,
Bobby Kountz, Author, Speaker, Sobriety Scholar, Inspirationalist!
PS. You can find out more about me here. You can find my book on Amazon.
“We are all born with wonderful gifts. We use these gifts to express ourselves, to amuse, to strengthen, and to communicate. We begin as children to explore and develop our talents, often unaware that we are unique, that not everyone can do what we’re doing!” ~Lynn Johnston
One of the easiest ways to overcome the feeling of not being good enough is to stop comparing your beginning to someone else’s middle or ending. For some unknown reason, we have a propensity to compare ourselves to other people instead of figuring out what our own unique contribution might be.
If you’re feeling some form of not quite enough, it’s most likely because you’re comparing yourself to someone else who’s further along than you or who you believe shouldn’t be further along than you. Maybe, because they’re younger than you and you have a preconceived idea of where your life should be at a specific moment in time and because you have not yet reached the destination you originally identified, you somehow feel less than the person who’s already achieved or attained the thing you believe you’re also equally capable of achieving or attaining…
There is a quote often misattributed to Einstein about how “everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
It doesn’t matter that Einstein never actually said what the quote expresses. The important lesson is wrapped up in the message. As expressed earlier in the article, everybody has a unique genius. Our job is to figure out what that something is. When we stop trying to compare ourselves to everyone else and embrace our own unique gift, whatever it might be, to make the difference in the world that we were intended to make, in that moment, we become a genius.
I believe the moment we were born, God (insert your own definition here), placed something special inside us and it’s our obligation to discover what that something is. When we discover our gift, we will no longer need to compare ourselves to others. We will only need to compare where we are today in relation to yesterday. And, if we have taken even the smallest of steps in the direction of what we feel called or compelled to do, we will be on our way.
One of the best descriptions I have ever heard as it relates to our gift was a definition given by Steve Harvey where he said, “our gift is the thing we do the absolute best with the least amount of effort.” Once we identify our gift, if we acknowledge it and embrace it, our lives will be changed forever.
Where most of us get hung up is trying to figure out how to monetize whatever we believe our gift is. This is normal, this is to be expected, because each of us have a responsibility at a minimum to ourselves, and many of us to our families. It can be exceedingly difficult for you to pursue your gift if you’re the one who’s responsible for making sure that the rent or mortgage gets paid and there’s food on the table for your children. This is the trap. This is the trap that so many get caught up in and struggle their whole life to escape from. It’s hard to trust in something we’ve never done before and then if we follow that gift, if we follow that dream, that it will provide for us in ways that we can’t even imagine…
It should also be understood that following your gift will come with a cost. There is a cost associated with pursuing your gift. Something will have to be sacrificed. Something will have to be given. Most are not prepared to give what’s required to follow their gift. There are so many stories about the starving artist and the struggling writer, and those stories dissuade others from pursuing their own gift. It’s hard to understand that if they gave themselves permission, they could find a way to make it work.
Where we get trapped is in believing it can only be done one way. If your gift is music and you’ve decided that the only way you can ever make it with your gift is to be a musician, then that might not be what you were called to do. There is an entire industry that supports the musicians that play for their audiences and many of the individuals in the music industry make a great living for themselves, but they are not musicians playing on stage. Instead, they support the musicians with their gift, and they play in a band with their friends for their own personal enjoyment or to make music just for the sake of it, rather than trying to make a living from it but they’re still working in music and they are therefore fulfilled.
As a writer and a speaker, I don’t know at what point I’ll be able to make the kind of living I’m accustomed to. However, doing what I know is my gift will eventually make room for the level of income I desire. Patience is required and I am becoming better at being patient because I have already seen my desired outcome. I have visualized it and now I am simply waiting for The Universe to catch up. What I do know however, is that if I’m not attached to the outcome, in other words, if I’m open to everything and attached to nothing, if I’m working in my gift, my gift will make room for me. Do I believe that gift will be in the form of a book and a speaking career that comes forward from that book? Absolutely!
It could just as well however come from me creating a business that supports other people in the pursuit of their dreams. A business that helps people overcome their self-limiting beliefs, their doubts, their fears, their shortcomings, their misgivings. It could simply be me saying enough times what I absolutely believe to be the truth about human beings and that’s simply this:
“Hidden within each of us is everything we need to achieve anything we can imagine.” ~Bobby Kountz
it is my steadfast belief in my own ability that I am certain will be what opens the door of infinite possibility for me and the work that I hope to do in the world. It will be me being curious, not judgmental, it will be me following the advice of Walt Whitman that will open the door of possibility. It will be this philosophy that will allow me to focus on my gift and co-create the life of my dreams. And, it will be done, one day at a time. It will be done the same way everything that has ever been done is done. It will be done, one day at a time.
Whatever it is you want to do, be, or become, if it involves your gift, I believe your gift will make room for you. Let go of the how and focus instead on the who and the what. Figure out who you need to become and what skills will be required to support whatever it is you want to do, be, or become. If you will do this, success is almost guaranteed.
There is a caveat. It is simply this, success has its own timeline and rarely does that timeline ever match up with the one we have created for ourselves. There is no such thing as an overnight success. If you investigate the lives of those who have achieved or accomplished great things, you will see that their lives were full of obstacles and adversity that they simply overcame, one day at a time.
Make your commitment. Make it today. Begin the work. Stay the course. Pay the price. Do the work. Follow your dream. Embrace your gift!
I am a writer.
I am The Inspirationalist!
I inspire people to pursue their gifts!
If my words somehow inspired you to pursue your gift, then I succeeded…
By the way, if you enjoyed this article, I believe you will thoroughly enjoy my next book, Advance Confidently. I look forward to sharing it with you on the 4th of July.
Keep Pedaling, Keep Going, Keep Growing!
Advance Confidently!
If you enjoyed and found value in this article, please share it.
In Gratitude,
Bobby Kountz, Author, Speaker, Sobriety Scholar, Inspirationalist!
PS. You can find out more about me here. You can find my book on Amazon.
“I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. And I have trained myself to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to. But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings. You may not know where you’re going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.” ~C. JoyBell C.
In his wonderfully inspiring book, The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy has the character of “The Horse” reveal something to the boy. Here’s how the conversation unfolds:
“There’s something I haven’t told you.” Said the horse.
“What’s that?” Said the boy.
“I can fly. But I stopped because it made the other horses jealous.”
“Well we love you whether you can fly or not.”
To their amazement, the next thing the boy and the mole realize, they are watching the horse’s wings unfurl…
In the next scene, the boy and the mole are seen crawling up the horses outstretched leg to take their place upon his back. The boy and the mole are seated on the horses back. With wings outstretched, the majesty of the horse is undeniable. The word “Ok” sits in quotes at the top of the page.
On the next page, we witness flight…
The next two pages provide for a powerful transition…
“Is your glass half empty or half full?” asked the mole.
“I think I’m grateful to have a glass.” Said the boy.
“We don’t know about tomorrow.” Said the horse. “All we need to know is that we love each other.”
The book goes on in this magical way and once again I offer my highest praise and strongest recommendation that you purchase a copy for yourself. It is a stable resource in my day to day, one day at a time, approach to life.
Why do we mute ourselves? Why do we hide our shine? What are we afraid of?
Why would our ability to fly make other horses or other people jealous?
Why would our response be to hide our wings?
Which fear is rearing its ugly head when we hide our shine or fold our wings back so no one can see them?
Each of us comes to this world with a special gift that only we can give to humanity. If we do not find the courage to give it, then as Martha Graham says, something wonderful will be lost.
Here is the good news:
“We always may be what we might have been.” ~Adelaide Anne Procter
In the Miracle Morning Room on Clubhouse today, we talked about self-confidence. We asked each other how the Miracle Morning and the SAVERS practice helps us to discover or further develop self-confidence. The array of answers is what the Leader of this incredible experience refers to as crowdsourcing wisdom.
Brianna Greenspan is the Co-Author of The Miracle Morning Art of Affirmations: A Positive Coloring Book for Adults and Kids and the Co-founder, Host, and Moderator of The Miracle Morning Clubhouse Room. Every morning, the wisdom of the room is crowdsourced to make the Universe just a little bit better for my grandchildren. (No, this is not the stated purpose of the room, but it’s “my personal why” for being a part of it).
Photo from Authors Collection
What I just described is the natural consequence of creating a safe container for people to come together with a likeminded purpose of growth.
Everyday, we “get to” witness the magic of the Miracle Morning. It’s as if we can hear the following if we are willing to listen:
I am the miracle. I am the morning.
“The Miracle Morning is elevating the consciousness of humanity, one morning at a time.” ~Hal Elrod
I am the miracle. I am the morning.
It repeats itself in every share and every affirmation of whatever is openly shared as a response to an intentional question, a vulnerable and authentic disclosure, or a deep reflection.
Not only is wisdom being crowdsourced, but so is courage, confidence, appreciation, humility, dignity, respect, self-love, self-confidence, self-esteem, self-reflection, gratitude, and ultimately, Joy and yes, sometimes, dare I say, even bliss…
When we show up with purpose and intention, grounded in community, we can do, be, or become, whatever we choose. We can do this because we are no longer trying to do it on our own or in an unsupported or unnatural way. We do it by showing up and putting into practice, to the best of our ability, the SAVERS.
Don’t make it harder than it is. One of our regular contributors who is all about doing it her way simply says this: You can start with 6 minutes if that’s all you have to contribute right now and then just show up for yourself every day. The cumulative effect of your one day at a time approach to honoring yourself will give you results you only once imagined were possible, but with the help of the community, you will see that they are possible for you as well.
If you are not interested in Clubhouse or not an iOS user, you can find the Miracle Morning and the SAVERS at MiracleMorning.com or you can find them on multiple social media platforms, in bookstores, on Amazon, or wherever you go to get your daily podcast download.
In other words, The Miracle Morning is everywhere. It is as is expressed by one of my favorite unique words, ubiquitous, which simply means in scientific terms, everywhere.
For those wondering, the SAVERS stand for:
Silence
Affirmations
Visualization
Exercise
Reading
Scribing (just a cool way of capturing what journaling is).
The SAVERS are not only the backbone of the Miracle Morning Movement, but they are also “the six most powerful, effective, and time-tested personal development practices known to man … known as the Life S.A.V.E.R.S.” and I assure you, if implemented into your daily practice, your life will be almost unrecognizable in the shortest amount of time possible.
If your life is already magical and magnificent, then someone might just ask you when you decided to let your wings show. They might ask you if you know your wings are showing?
Your reply will be humble, just like the horse, and you will invite them to join you on your journey of curiosity and together you will fly into the uncharted territory of self-discovery. You will not go alone, but instead, supported on your path of learning about all you are capable of, not all at once, but “one day at a time” in a community ready to support you on your quest to become whoever YOU choose to BE!
Together WE can!
I am the miracle. I am the morning.
If you enjoyed today’s article, watch for the next one where I will explain for those of you who have little ones, how to modify this practice for your kids. When the SAVERS become CHARMS, magic happens!
By the way, if you enjoyed this article, I believe you will thoroughly enjoy my next book, Advance Confidently. I look forward to sharing it with you on the 4th of July.
Keep Pedaling, Keep Going, Keep Growing!
Advance Confidently!
If you enjoyed and found value in this article, please share it.
In Gratitude,
Bobby Kountz, Author, Speaker, Sobriety Scholar, Inspirationalist!
PS. You can find out more about me here. You can find my book on Amazon.
Author’s Note: I completed my 30-Day Spring into 2021 writing challenge!
“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” ~Helen Keller
If ever there was a phrase that captured the essence of what was the year 2020, I believe this might be it. As we look back, as we reflect on everything that happened since March of 2020, there is an underlying feeling that all of the things that were always in plain sight, people either simply ignored, or refused to pay attention to.
It’s not until something begins to affect the greater numbers of our society that people start to notice things, that people start to actually see. Prior to the pandemic, poverty was in plain sight. Prior to the pandemic, there existed an epidemic of underlying illiteracy in the richest country in the world.
How is it possible that in the year 2021 we still have schools across this country that don’t have the necessary resources they need to serve the students of their respective communities.
The children of this crisis are the ones who will be responsible for the future of the world. There is an incumbent responsibility amongst all adults to come together and make sure that these children have everything they need to make sure that in time, their children have a world to grow up in that’s better than it currently is.
We can continue to pretend that there are no major challenges facing our future or we can start asking better questions. What kinds of better questions could we ask? What if we started by asking the individuals in charge of all the schools across the country about what their number one unmet need is as it relates to providing inspirational education to the children?
Teaching children the basic fundamentals of reading, writing, science, and arithmetic, will only ever take us so far. How different would things be if we were also able to teach them lessons of compassion, understanding, curiosity, confidence, empathy, and so many other lessons that we currently are not taking the time to show them.
If thinking is what separates us from all the rest of the animal kingdom, then maybe we should spend some more time teaching children who are incredibly resilient and much brighter than we give them credit for, how their brains actually work. Operating from a place of fear or a predetermined curriculum about what we can and can’t teach kids is what’s keeping us from making any major advances with the very kids we claim we want to educate.
Education isn’t about facts and figures and taking tests and memorizing things. Education is about teaching problem solving. Education is about providing the tools children need to take on the challenges of the next century.
Clearly, we know that the level of thinking that led to the place that we currently are is not the level of thinking that will create a different place for the children to grow up in. With the population of the world rising at an alarming rate, children must be educated in the process of creative problem solving. As a matter of fact, maybe we should change the language around the word problem because when we label something we negate it.
“No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.” ~Voltaire
What if we started calling what are perceived problems, opportunities instead? For example, if there’s not enough food to feed everybody, that simply means there’s an opportunity to find a better way. What if we empowered the children with the ability to create solutions where it seems none exist? And where do these solutions come from? We need only look to the great minds that have produced some of the major advancements in our world to know that it comes from creative capacity, from the ability to think outside the box, from the ability to imagine solutions for challenges that don’t yet exist.
The word imagine, in and of itself is a unique expression. The word translated in a literal sense simply means, to bring an image in. It’s an expression of how as human beings we think in pictures yet use words to describe what we see. And therein lies the conundrum. We can’t describe what we are unwilling to see…
Would there be anything wrong with teaching children that their world doesn’t have to be completely full every single moment of the day, that it’s OK for them to take a pause, to breathe, to reflect on the experience of their day. Are children educated in matters such as these? Is anyone talking to the children about the importance of self-care, of taking time to focus on or think about the things that most excite them? Or to just sit silently in a park and listen to the birds, watch the squirrels play, or to see the colors that emerge when winter turns to spring?
Mary Oliver once wrote a poem about a grasshopper. Most people know the most famous line from the poem, but I don’t believe the majority of people understand the nature of the poem, what the poem was really written about… Because of the profound nature of the final line, the message of the rest of the poem is often missed.
The quote everyone is familiar with is about what we will or won’t do with our one wild and precious life. The unknown part of the poem is a conversation with a grasshopper. Questions are asked. Questions that don’t necessarily have an answer, but we’re contemplated anyway for the purpose of contemplation, for the purpose of observation in a moment of presence free from distraction, focused only on the subject at hand, the grasshopper. Here are the other lines from a poem that was so richly written.
The Summer Day by Mary Oliver.
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Let’s take the time to teach our children about what it means to put words together in a sentence written to evoke the senses instead of proper syntax and grammar, better yet, let’s do both.
Imagine a world where we teach children the importance of silence. The power of affirmations, of using language with purpose and intention to invite more of what we want into our lives. What if we could teach children to see what does not yet exist and because we taught them this skill, they created a future better and brighter than the one we currently live in. What if children understood the physiological reasons for exercise and that because we empowered them to understand this, we ended the current obesity crisis prevalent throughout America and many other parts of the world. What if we taught children not just how to read but how to tell a great story and why that’s important to the future of the world. And what if we taught them to write down the reflections from their day so they could have a written record of all the things they were able to experience. What if they were afforded an opportunity to also reflect on the impact of their decisions with the understanding that they never had to repeat an undesired action again if they chose not to, because being aware of it gave them another choice?
What if we taught them that every day is a blank canvas, an opportunity to write a fresh new script for how they choose to experience the day? What if we grounded them in the understanding that the one and only thing we have control over, is our thinking and how we choose to respond to the events unfolding around us?
And what if we taught them that choosing to see, or choosing not to see, sight or no sight, is a choice?
If we chose to do this, then I think we could end blindness and there’s no telling what kind of world our children might create.
Wouldn’t it be great if we taught our children how to both see and then say, I see you! And even better, wouldn’t it be great if they understood why that’s important…
Let’s end blindness. Let’s do it together!
Let’s empower our children to understand that they are the change agents of the future, the stewards of the Universe!
Written in honor of my grandchildren…
By the way, if you enjoyed this article, I believe you will thoroughly enjoy my next book, Advance Confidently. I look forward to sharing it with you on the 4th of July.
Keep Pedaling, Keep Going, Keep Growing!
Advance Confidently!
If you enjoyed and found value in this article, please share it.
In Gratitude,
Bobby Kountz, Author, Speaker, Sobriety Scholar, Inspirationalist!
PS. You can find out more about me here. You can find my book on Amazon.
“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
What does it mean to move from speaking gratitude to
enacting gratitude to living gratitude? When we speak gratitude, we are engaged
in the act of expressing our thanks or thankfulness to another. Speaking
gratitude is the simplest and most common form of everyday gratitude.
When you expressed thanks to your Barista this morning
for your grande, extra shot, non-fat, no whip, extra caramel, caramel brûlée latte, you were speaking gratitude. When I
ordered my simple grande Christmas blend, and said thank you as it was handed
to me through the window, I did the same.
Enacting gratitude is where we consciously decide to
do something that involves some form of gratitude action. A great example most
everyone understands and can relate to is the simple act of giving a gift. The
gift can be something as small as a thank you card, a more robust message in a
card or letter, buying a meal or a cup of coffee for a friend or stranger, or
an even bigger gift for a birthday or special occasion.
When
we begin to live gratitude, it shifts from being something we do sometimes or
on a special occasion, to becoming a way of life. We gradually learn to live
from gratitude, from the space of gratitude, and for gratitude. Gratitude as a
way of life is a reframing of both our outlook and our perception. We move from
taking life for granted to an inner awareness that suddenly expresses itself in
everything we see, everything we do, and everything we are.
Gratitude can even be viewed as a state of
consciousness. It involves opening your heart to the abundance of love and
splendor that surrounds us in our earthly world every day.
When I watched the sun rise above the horizon this
morning I was once again in awe of the splendor of the sun. This life-giving
orb is taken for granted by countless thousands of individuals every day and
for many years I was one of those individuals. I never really gave the sun much
thought. Once I did, my perception changed and that’s the power of gratitude.
Sunsets are an easier grasp for most people because
almost everyone has at one time or another experienced a cinematic sunset ablaze
with the hues of burnt orange or crimson red against the backdrop of wispy
cotton balls splashed across the sky.
The saying or phrase of “stop and smell the
roses” suddenly derives new meaning when we realize the world is full of
fragrance, and roses are just one simple yet beautiful element that
demonstrates this fact.
When we live gratitude, we discover people have a
fragrance as well…
It is the essence of their being, how they make us
feel when we’re around them, what they have us thinking about and considering,
the ideas and inspiration they openly share with those who are willing to
listen can be life-changing!
My friend Chris Palmore from www.GratitudeSpace.com is one of those people. He is just one of many. His most recent book, Dear Gratitude is full of stories reflecting the lives and experiences of people who have embraced gratitude as a way of life.
His
next endeavor is a bold one!
Dear 2020, his second Anthology, will give people an
opportunity to reflect on this most challenging year to see if they can find
the silver lining in what we are all painfully aware has been an incredibly difficult
time in our history.
His hope is that gratitude can serve as a powerful
elixir to ease some of that suffering by engaging in the cathartic practice of writing
about the 2020 experience.
Chris knows all too well the pain of loss and grief
and understands the difficulty of this experience. He also knows from his own
experience just how much gratitude helped him process his own grief, pain,
loss, and adversity. His only wish as a dedicated gratitude conductor is to
create a safe space for potential healing with the life-altering power of
gratitude.
The link below will give you an opportunity to express
yourself in a way that just might be the beginning of a life-changing process
for those not regularly accustomed to focusing on gratitude. Submissions are
being accepted thru January 10th, but my suggestion is to submit
your story or essay while you are inspired because if you say you’ll do it Someday,
it will most likely never happen…
One of the most talked about and probably
misunderstood ways of embracing gratitude as a way of life is some form of a
gratitude practice. Having a gratitude practice is a great way to develop a
gratitude lifestyle, but it’s also easy to get caught up in the practice and to
begin to see it as more of a check the box kind of activity rather than a true
lifestyle change.
Exercise is an activity that often gets a check the
box approach rather than embracing movement and resistance training as a part
of daily lifestyle. It’s a mindset shift. It’s the difference between asking
did I get my 30 minutes in and checking the box if the answer is yes to, did I find
a way to incorporate movement and activity into my life today?
I hope you can see the difference.
If you’re interested in embracing gratitude as a way
of life, there are several practical methods you can use to begin the
process. We can ask ourselves empowering questions and we can create
activities that raise our level of gratitude awareness.
Here are a handful of easy to implement suggestions.
Begin each day thinking of what we both are and can be grateful for!
List at least 3 things we are grateful for!
Imagine your life without some of the things we take for granted…
Use a gratitude journal to capture all that we are grateful for…
Use who, what, where and why to ask empowering questions of gratitude.
Examples:
Who inspired me today? Who provides small kind
opportunities for interactions that lift my spirits or brighten my mood? What
made me smile today? What touched me today? Where can I make a difference
today? When did I feel gratitude today?
As a bonus, and to go a little deeper, you can also ask
“how” questions.
Examples:
How can I experience more gratitude in my life? How
can I be thankful for the struggles and challenges I’m currently facing? How
fortunate am I?
There are hundreds of others… You get the idea, be
creative, let’s commit today to living lives of GRATITUDE!
Here’s an additional resource to help with your
gratitude questions as part of your daily gratitude practice. And remember, it’s
a practice. Gratitude isn’t done with perfection; it’s about making a conscious
commitment to think about ways of being grateful, expressing, and living
gratitude.
