Quote of the Day:  “Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.  Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.  Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.  Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so.  One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.”  Mary Jean Iron

I find myself becoming more complacent with normal when all the while I know that normal is fabulous.  It must be human nature, as you move farther away from the precipice, that extreme cliff, you start to expect more than just normal.  I’m ok with that but I want to always appreciate what I have.  Yesterday, Alex and I got up early to do the Red Pine Lake hike in Little Cottonwood Canyon.  It was a glorious morn.  It was cool when we started on the trail and immediately we saw a fawn jumping along the trail.  It soon went into the woods and as we gazed from the trail down into the brush, we could see an anxious doe.  The mountain flowers were incredible.  After we got to the lower lake, we missed the trail to the upper lake and ended up hiking over a boulder field but we eventually found our way.  We mused about how hiking is like life, sometimes you miss the easiest way but you learn so much from having to struggle to get to the desired path.  One thing I know, all nature speaks of a higher being.  It’s nature where I feel the strongest connection to God.

Joe sent me this great e-mail on GRATITUDE and I’m including it in this e-mail.  I think you will enjoy it also.  It’s from Inc Magazine by Geoffrey James.

True Secret to Success (It’s Not What You Think)

If you’re not exercising this emotional muscle, you’re probably setting yourself up for failure.

I’m utterly convinced that the key to lifelong success is the regular exercise of a single emotional muscle: gratitude.

People who approach life with a sense of gratitude are constantly aware of what’s wonderful in their life. Because they enjoy the fruits of their successes, they seek out more success. And when things don’t go as planned, people who are grateful can put failure into perspective.

By contrast, people who lack gratitude are never truly happy. If they succeed at a task, they don’t enjoy it. For them, a string of successes is like trying to fill a bucket with a huge leak in the bottom. And failure invariably makes them bitter, angry, and discouraged.

Therefore, if you want to be successful, you need to feel more gratitude. Fortunately, gratitude, like most emotions, is like a muscle: The more you use it, the stronger and more resilient it becomes.

Practice Nightly

The best time to exercise gratitude is just before bed. Take out your tablet (electronic or otherwise) and record the events of the day that created positive emotions, either in you or in those around you.

Did you help somebody solve a problem? Write it down. Did you connect with a colleague or friend? Write it down. Did you make somebody smile? Write it down.

What you’re doing is “programming your brain” to view your day more positively. You’re throwing mental focus on what worked well, and shrugging off what didn’t. As a result, you’ll sleep better, and you’ll wake up more refreshed.

Reprogramming Your Brain

More important, you’re also programming your brain to notice even more reasons to feel gratitude. You’ll quickly discover that even a “bad day” is full of moments that are worthy of gratitude. Success becomes sweeter; failure, less sour.

The more regularly you practice this exercise, the stronger its effects.

Over time, your “gratitude muscle” will become so strong that you’ll attract more success into your life, not to mention greater numbers of successful (i.e., grateful) people. You’ll also find yourself thanking people more often. That’s good for you and for them, too.

This method works. If you don’t believe me, try it for at least a week. You’ll be amazed at what a huge difference it makes.

I love this.  I’m going to try it out and incorporate it into my life!

Hiking on Red Pine Trail, July 24 w/ Alex