Christmas Eve gratitude

On Christmas Eve, the car was running on fumes and we needed to find a gas station fast. The only one nearby was a full service station. It was different to have someone else fill up my car and it made me smile. We were grateful for the cheery young man who filled up the Cube with a smile and wished us a Merry Christmas.

While running errands that same afternoon, the fluffy snow had turned to rain. Despite the nasty weather, a scout troupe was singing Christmas carols with as much enthusiasm as if they'd been on a Caribbean beach. I was grateful for their willingness to brave the elements to entertain the passerbys.

 We did something a bit different this year since our original plans went off track. We ended up going out to dinner. It was quite busy and the wait staff had their hands full, on top of being excited about working Christmas Eve. (Not) My family and I were grateful for the very pleasant and friendly service from our waitress. She was sweet, funny and could carry a tune to boot.

If there is anything I've continued to learn this year it's that there are opportunities for gratitude around every corner.

Gratefulness Quotes

When in doubt, be grateful.


1. "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them." --John F. Kennedy

2. "When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears." --Anthony Robbins

3. "The way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement." --Charles Schwab

4. "To the generous mind the heaviest debt is that of gratitude, when it is not in our power to repay it." --Benjamin Franklin

5. "Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough." --Oprah Winfrey

6. "What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude." --Brené Brown

7. "We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count." --Neal A. Maxwell

8. "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity." --Melody Beattie

9. "You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

10. "He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." --Epictetus

11. "Gratitude and attitude are not challenges; they are choices." --Robert Braathe

12. "Silent gratitude isn't very much to anyone." --Gertrude Stein

13. "Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance." --Eckhart Tolle

14. "If a fellow isn't thankful for what he's got, he isn't likely to be thankful for what he's going to get." --Frank A. Clark

15. "In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer

16. "Take full account of what excellences you possess, and in gratitude remember how you would hanker after them, if you had them not." --Marcus Aurelius

17. "Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone." --G.B. Stern

18. "Praise the bridge that carried you over." --George Colman

19. "No one who achieves success does so without the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude." --Alfred North Whitehead

20. "No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of another." --Charles Dickens

21. "Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting." --author unknown

22. "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." --Robert Brault

23. "The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated." --William James


Source: http://www.inc.com/matt-ehrlichman/be-thankful-23-essential-quotes-on-gratefulness.html?cid=sf01001

Road trip - The bumps in the road

After the false start to my vacation, I made it to Québec City to spend some time with my parents. It’s a bit of a shortened visit since I have plans that involve others down the road in both Ottawa and Montreal. The false start was the first bump in the road of the trip but as I shared previously, I choose to see the positive backside of the bumps. That’s how I choose to experience life.

The second bump came when the friend I was going to see the Alouettes very special Thanksgiving game in Montreal cancelled on me. I was very disappointed on a number of fronts. I could go on about why the disappointment was significant to me, why this person was coming along to begin with, etc, etc. But really, there was no sense dwelling on the “why.” The question was: now what? After putting the information out there, I found myself a game partner, someone I didn’t even know would be interested! And with them, I know I will have a grand time. Score.

So what’s the next bump going to be? And no, I am not being a Negative Nellie when I say that. The reality is that we come up against bumps in the road on a daily basis, some bigger than others.

On a small scale, you wake up and realize you forgot to program the coffee maker. Result? No coffee and now you *might* be cranky and get cranky on everyone. Or, you can choose to laugh it off and pick up some java on the way to work instead that morning. The key is to laugh it off and carry on.

On a medium scale (because it involves money), you mistakenly put your favourite pair of jeans in the dryer and the result is that they shrink into oblivion. And they were the most PERFECT pair of jeans you had ever owned! You can sulk about it or see it as a chance to refresh your wardrobe and try a different style. Yes, it will cost money you perhaps hadn’t budgeted but wearing that new pair of jeans may attract someone’s attention. The key is to see the positive backside of the bump... Literally AND figuratively in this case. ;)

On a larger scale, someone you love hurts you – intentionally or not – and you feel like you’ve been abandoned, and that the one person you thought had your back in fact, doesn’t. Result? It can be devastating. And this one may take time to get over. You may have to mourn the loss of trust in that relationship. But, it’s also an opportunity to revisit this relationship, to see whether or not it still has a place in your life or not. You get to choose which path to pursue.

I am grateful for bumps in the road of life, from the very small ones to the big ones, because a negative does not travel without a positive. They provide us with an opportunity to recharge, reframe and refocus. The choice whether to do so is entirely up to us.

False Starts

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, there are two main definitions of a false start. One is the mistake of starting too soon in a race. The other is an unsuccessful attempt to begin something, such as a career or a project.

Having fallen ill with the “plague” that is going around these days (I know at least three people who’ve been sick in the last week), my road trip has been delayed by a couple of days. Despite the collective disappointment, these things happen. Better take care of oneself instead of running on empty and spreading the “plague” around ;) 

The downtime gave me a chance to reflect on the value of false starts.

We’ve all had false starts. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t, at some point in their life, had difficulty getting a project off the ground, regardless of the nature of that project.

Maybe you planned a surprise party for your boyfriend or girlfriend and it fizzled because they showed up early. Maybe you had a great idea for a business but couldn’t find partners or funding. Maybe you planned on early retirement but your partner lost their job and you had to work longer than expected. Maybe you tried your hand at a sport or a hobby and realized you had no aptitude for these particular activities.

Maybe you married the person you thought was the love of your life but years in (maybe days!) you realized you weren’t compatible. Maybe you took a chance at reaching out to help someone but they refused your offer for reasons having nothing to do with you. Maybe you thought you understood a task to be performed in your work, but didn’t really understand it. The list goes on.

Many many moons ago, a learned and wise person said to me: “Dominique, there are no mistakes in life, just learning opportunities.” With that in mind, a false start is just another learning opportunity there to be seized. Being creatures of intelligence and free will, we choose whether to learn, or not. I choose to roll with imponderables, make the best of a situation and learn what I need to learn.

With that in mind, I am grateful for the false start to my road trip. Staying on the Island two extra days gave me time to take care of chores around my home, time to share a meal with my besties, time to have an in-depth conversation with my sister, time to enjoy the fall sunshine on PEI, and... time for a blue-eyed stranger to wink and say hello to me on Queen St. :)