with gratitude

For the next 24 days I will be curating an advent calendar of those that have inspired me most on this years movement journey, It will include a lot of the names and ideas you may have heard me waxing lyrical about in class, so hopefully a usesful guide for you to start your own research. 

I am never 100% sure about any of this yoga/movement/body stuff, no-one is (don't trust those that are!!), I am only ever confident in my current interpretation of things and the following people have provided lots for me to think about, apply and retire from my current ways of working so with out further ado, I GIVE THANKS TO...

Attitude of Gratitude

Head over to The Sphinx and The Milky Way and read this beautiful piece on gratitude. It made me cry.

"I think a lot about gratitude. It’s easy for us to have it when we are doing something that brings us great joy, or comfort: when we are with a friend who make us laugh, when we receive good news that alleviates worry, when we are in the presence and beauty of nature. But, what about all the other times, times that are challenging, and full of more difficult feelings like pain and sadness. And even times when the unthinkable happens, like when the person we love most in our life dies.

It leaves me wondering - Do we abandon gratitude during the times when we might need it the most?" 

 

-- Lauren Spencer King

(image from junglewizz)

If this isn't nice, what is?

"One of the things (Uncle Alex) found objectionable about human beings was that they so rarely noticed it when they were happy. He himself did his best to acknowledge it when times were sweet. We could be drinking lemonade in the shade of the apple tree in the summertime, and Uncle Alex would interrupt the conversation to say, "If this isn't nice, what is?"  

So I hope that you will do the same for the rest of your lives. When things are going sweetly and peacefully, please pause a moment, and then say out loud, "If this isn't nice, what is?" 

From a commencement speech by Kurt Vonnegut

Gratitude turns what we have into enough.

say it LOUD and say it PROUD.

Gratitude

I remain in an attitude of gratitude.
-- Maya Angelou