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PostTue Nov 24, 2020 9:39 am 
This thread is dedicated to Gratitude and Good News. There is enough bad news, depressing things, arguing, bickering, slamming etc etc in the world today and sometimes sad to say on this site. Why is Gratitude important? "Gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity and build strong relationships." Hearing/reading about Good News basically does the same for us. What Good News stories have you heard/read lately? How do you increase your Gratitude in your daily life? There is no right or wrong answers here... As we have heard a million times... We are all in this together.

It's all about the fun, oh and maybe the chocolate - half fast
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PostTue Nov 24, 2020 10:42 am 
I read Steven Pinker's book "Enlightenment Now". In it he goes over dozens and dozens of ways the world is better today than it was 1000, 100 or even 50 or 30 years ago. Presents a lot of data to back everything up. It was a good read for me this past spring when everything was dark.

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IanB
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PostTue Nov 24, 2020 10:50 am 
Given the preposterous improbability that the universe winked into existence, that our sun and earth formed, that the precise molecules bumped into each other giving rise to life, and ultimately to ourselves pondering it all - and yet here we are anyway. That's worthy of some pretty big gratitude right there. Personally, that in spite of some infirmities and illness, that I'm still plugging along 55 years into it. That I have friends and loved ones that have proven true through adversity. That I'm self-employed, making a decent living, doing work I really enjoy. That I have food and shelter, including the luxury of indoor plumbing! Thankful. Thankful. Thankful. Thankful. Not to mention the coyotes and hummingbirds, maples and pines, the moon and the tides, sunsets and rainbows, spring mornings and autumn storms... Pretty darn amazing at every turn! And I try to remember to stay aware of how lucky I am to be here in the middle of it all, for however long I get to stick around.

"Forget gaining a little knowledge about a lot and strive to learn a lot about a little." - Harvey Manning
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PostTue Nov 24, 2020 9:20 pm 
One of the positives of Covid for me has been that I have had the time and inclination to take part in all kinds of what I call spiritual webinars. I have pages and pages of notes that were fun to take during the webinars and have been fun to review as well. Certainly one of the common denominators of almost all the webinars has been Gratitude. During this pandemic there have been times when it seemed almost impossible to feel gratitude... I am sure that I am not alone in that. I was telling someone about how the webinars that I had been listening to all were sharing the importance of gratitude. They mentioned that their practice of showing gratitude includes saying 10 things that they were grateful each night before they go to sleep. Another thing some people are doing is to keep a gratitude journal, although I have not tried that. I decided to try the 10 things I was grateful for each night before I fell asleep. I have to admit that the first few nights it was weird and even challenging... I literally had to count them on my fingers to get to 10... LOL Fast forward to now and I am thankful that I no longer have to count. What I learned is the more grateful we are the more we have to be grateful for... and the more we are grateful for... the better this world looks... I love it!

It's all about the fun, oh and maybe the chocolate - half fast
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PostTue Nov 24, 2020 11:17 pm 
On the news tonight, a search volunteer using a drone located a dog that was lost in the forest for 2 week in New York state. https://www.whio.com/news/local/troy-dog-reunited-with-family-after-going-missing-new-york/LVBL24JDLBATXIXJKSMKQREHNY/ That's a nice feel good story!

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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PostTue Nov 24, 2020 11:30 pm 
I am grateful for a lot of things. Earlier this evening my mother sent me a line out of a poem and asked me if I knew the author. It took me a few minutes using Google and my copy of Modern American Poetry & Modern English Poetry ( © 1962 Harcourt, Brace, and World ) that she had given to me years ago to figure out that she was referring to Stephen Vincent Benét's "Love came by from the river smoke" ( from "John Brown's Body" ). For a mother who taught me to appreciate the greatest works of literature and poetry I am eternally grateful. Love came by from the riversmoke, When the leaves were fresh on the tree, But I cut my heart on the blackjack oak Before they fell on me. The leaves are green in the early Spring, They are brown as linsey now, I did not ask for a wedding-ring From the wind in the bending bough. Fall lightly, lightly, leaves of the wild, Fall lightly on my care, I am not the first to go with child Because of the blowing air. I am not the first nor yet the last To watch a goosefeather sky, And wonder what will come of the blast And the name to call it by. Snow down, snow down, you whitefeather bird, Snow down, you winter storm, Where the good girls sleep with a gospel word To keep their honor warm. The good girls sleep in their modesty, The bad girls sleep in their shame, But I must sleep in the hollow tree Till my child can have a name. I will not ask for the wheel and thread To spin the labor plain, Or the scissors hidden under the bed To cut the bearing-pain. I will not ask for the prayer in church Or the preacher saying the prayer, But I will ask the shivering birch To hold its arms in the air. Cold and cold and cold again, Cold in the blackjack limb The winds of the sky for his sponsor-men And a bird to christen him. Now listen to me, you Tennessee corn, And listen to my word, This is the first child ever born That was christened by a bird. He's going to act like a hound let loose When he comes from the blackjack tree, And he's going to walk in proud shoes All over Tennessee. I'll feed him milk out of my own breast And call him Whistling Jack. And his dad'll bring him a partridge nest, As soon as his dad comes back.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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PostWed Nov 25, 2020 12:02 pm 
Ski wrote:
For a mother who taught me to appreciate the greatest works of literature and poetry I am eternally grateful.
Thank you for passing on Stephen Vincent Benet, now beyond just "name recognition", for me. And here's a riff of interesting historical note on it: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/brown-history-john-browns-body/

It is as though I had read a divine text, written into the world itself, not with letters but rather with essential objects, saying: Man, stretch thy reason hither, so thou mayest comprehend these things. Johannes Kepler
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PostWed Nov 25, 2020 12:14 pm 
Due to no longer having access to a doughnut (more accurately a maple bar) every day I have lost nearly 15 lbs since March. My doctor said that I was the only person he has run into that can claim that as result of the pandemic situation. All my various foot pains have gone away. doh.gif I still get in about 6-8 miles a day walking. I am Grateful for this: There were days And there were days And there were days between Summer flies and August dies The world grows dark and mean Comes the shimmer of the moon On black infested trees The singing man is at his song The holy on their knees The reckless are out wrecking The timid plead their pleas No one knows much more of this Than anyone can see anyone can see There were days And there were days And there were days besides When phantom ships with phantom sails Set to sea on phantom tides Comes the lightning of the sun On bright unfocused eyes The blue of yet another day A springtime wet with sighs A hopeful candle lingers In the land of lullabies Where headless horsemen vanish With wild and lonely cries, lonely cries There were days And there were days And there were days I know When all we ever wanted Was to learn and love and grow Once we grew into our shoes We told them where to go Walked halfway around the world On promise of the glow Walked upon a mountain top Walked barefoot in the snow Gave the best we had to give How much we'll never know we'll never know There were days And there were days And there were days between Polished like a golden bowl The finest ever seen Hearts of Summer held in trust Still tender, young and green Left on shelves collecting dust Not knowing what they mean Valentines of flesh and blood As soft as velveteen Hoping love would not forsake The days that lie between lie between The finest ever seen

Since I have no expectations of forgiveness, I don't do it in the first place. That loop hole needs to be closed to everyone.
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PostWed Nov 25, 2020 9:28 pm 
Even though my wife and I both lost our Fathers this year - her’s at 103 in March and mine at 93 in August (neither from covid) and even though I have been separated from my wife since March, I am so thankful that all my close and extended family have, to date, not been affected by covid-19. And most of our close friends are also still healthy! We are well down the tunnel - but we can see the light at the end. Stay safe and be thankful! We are so close to getting out of this..... Thankful!

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PostFri Nov 27, 2020 8:50 am 
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. No doubt it was different than what you usually have done...at least it was for me. There are five of us that ride motorcycles where I live. Four of us started our day with a 80 mile ride through farm lands and country roads...it was absolutely beautiful! The farm lands and back country roads here are spectacular all year round. Another friend here who doesn't ride made a turkey dinner with all the trimmings and shortly after we got back from the ride the four of us enjoyed a wonderful socially distanced meal together. I guess the most interesting and different part for me was that this is a group of men friends. My gratitude soared, yes it was a different Thanksgiving than in my past but despite that we all made the best of this years' Thanksgiving and had a really amazing day. It inspired me. I am very grateful for friends and some friends that are more like family. Now is the time that we all have to be creative, be willing to adapt and keep a positive outlook. Life is different but that doesn't mean that we can't love it, be happy and as the saying goes... live each day like it is your last, someday it will be. To everyone... Laugh often Love lots Stay Happy Healthy and Strong

It's all about the fun, oh and maybe the chocolate - half fast
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PostFri Nov 27, 2020 11:47 am 
Gratitude is bogus. Yep, I said it and I'm proud. But allow me to explain before you hold up your thanksgiving turkey to beat me down. Being grateful implies being "not grateful" for other issues in ones life. Otherwise one would be in a constant state of wonder and awe with no need to bloviate "I'm grateful" for whatever this or that. Now, the turkey was well cooked, the green beans had just right roasted almonds, the stuffed mushrooms were pretty pretty good, the political talk was light hearted. The wine was dark, the limmoncello was smooth. All in all, Thanksgiving was good. For me, anyway. Hope it was for you also.

don't believe everything you think
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PostFri Nov 27, 2020 9:03 pm 
RayD wrote:
Being grateful implies being "not grateful" for other issues in ones life. Otherwise one would be in a constant state of wonder and awe with no need to bloviate "I'm grateful" for whatever this or that.
I have to disagree with your words... being grateful really has nothing to do with being "not grateful" for other issues in ones life. Our thoughts do create our lives. A simple example would be if we wake in a bad mood and do nothing but think about that bad mood or allow that bad mood to continue what we see will be everything for us to justify that bad mood. Just as the same is true of the opposite. We can use this same principal in almost everything in our daily lives. Just because something happens in our lives that we don't like does not mean we can't be grateful. As I mentioned in my OP there are physical benefits from being grateful as well as emotional ones. A question to think about is if we practiced being grateful and experienced the benefits of being grateful wouldn't that help us deal with the "other issues in ones life"? "Bloviate" I had to look that up... one definition is... "to talk at length especially in an inflated or empty way" There is a lot of teachings of the benefits of showing gratitude besides what I mentioned. Another is... "characterized by a ready and continuous flow of words; fluent; glib; talkative: a voluble spokesman for the cause" When it all comes down to it we each are our own keepers and I love and am grateful for the freedom we have to make our own choices.

It's all about the fun, oh and maybe the chocolate - half fast
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PostFri Nov 27, 2020 9:31 pm 
Watching this series on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Most-Dangerous-Ways-School/dp/B07DXZDN9B Very thankful for the opportunities I have. Trailer

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PostMon Nov 30, 2020 6:40 pm 
If you ride a mountain bike or just like throwing dirt like I do, check out "Rebuild The Nade" on Facebook. Colonnade Bike Park downtown Seattle under I-5 in case you were wondering. Good things happening at the park like removal of structures and widening jump lines. The improvements have just begun and some lines are yet to be completed while original ones are still open. See Rebuild the Nade on FB and evergreenmtb.org for details. Looking forward to the next Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance work party at the park! biggrin.gif The best part: no rain gear required! up.gif Happy trails.

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PostTue Dec 15, 2020 8:26 am 
I think it is very good news that we have the vaccine in our state. It seems like we are now at a crossroads, one that will finally put an end to this pandemic and we can all get back to a "normal" life.

It's all about the fun, oh and maybe the chocolate - half fast
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