Attitudes of Gratitude
By LuAnne Silvia, ASID
Every Monday at LiLu Interiors we start the week with a staff meeting. We reflect on good things that happened the week prior, take note of people who have helped us out and share things with each other that we find inspirational. By coming together as a group and taking time to give thanks we are taking time to acknowledge the moment before we continue on with our journey. It is the act of being in the present, and more importantly being awake to the present. We wrap up the meeting by sharing inspiration. It isn't required and we don't have a schedule outlining whose turn it is to share. And each week it is a pleasant surprise to discover who brought something to the table and what it means to them. More often than not the inspirational stories are tied together, simply reinforcing our teamwork and attitudes of gratitude. It is a wonderfully renewing way to begin the week.
Two of my favorite books that keep a constant home on my night stand are gifts I have received from others. The first book, Attitudes of Gratitude, I received from a friend in the year 2000, and the second book, Giving Thanks, from my Mother several years later. They both happen to be written by the same author, M.J. Ryan. Here are some of my favorite quotes and excerpts:
That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet. - Emily Dickinson
There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. -Albert Einstein
It is not hard to live through a day if you can live through a moment. What creates despair is the imagination, which pretends there is a future and insists on predicting millions of moments, thousands of days, and so drains you that you cannot live the moment at hand. -Andre Dubus
"With every leaf a miracle..." writes Walt Whitman in his poetic tribute to lilacs, and this is what he is talking about - when we are in touch with a profound sense of gratitude, we connect to all of life, recognizing the miracle in the tallest tree, the smallest bug. -M.J. Ryan
Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. -Francis P. Church
Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary. -Margaret Cousins
Our work-a-day lives are filled with opportunities to bless others. The power of a single glance or an encouraging smile must never be underestimated. -G. Richard Rieger
