Lamisha Serf-Walls

Gratitude: Rest and Confidence

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With yesterday being Thanksgiving in the United States, there are many things to be grateful for, yet I find this week I am grateful for two things that may seem overly simple, yet make a huge difference in my day-to-day life.

 

This week I am grateful for rest.  Rest doesn’t always mean sleep, though for me it is certainly a large part of it, but this week I am grateful for other examples of rest.  After a busy and short week at work, a lot of cooking for the holiday, and a busy day shopping today, I am grateful for just sitting and resting my body and mind.  For me resting can entail sleep (which I love), sitting with my feet propped up, meditation, or simply reading.  I love all of these things and am reminded of how great it feels to rest after an especially busy time like this week.

 

I am also grateful for confidence, something that comes easily in some areas of my life, and may be more challenging in others.  Confidence in my writing is one area that I am working on each and every time I write.  Instead of thinking “can I do this”, I instantly change that thought to “of course I can”.  I have learned over the years confidence doesn’t appear overnight and like many things in life, it just takes time, but I am finding that little by little my writing is getting better and my confidence grows.  I am finding that progress is always a good thing, no matter how slow it may seem.

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and I promise to be back to a more regular posting schedule next week, somehow with the holiday and work, my days just got away from me.

More Inspiration: Oriah Mountain Dreamer

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As a writer, I tend to look for inspiration in all sorts of places and many times it comes from other writers.  Today I read a post on Facebook by Oriah Mountain Dreamer entitled The Blessings of Things Gone “Wrong” and if you haven’t read her work, you are in for a treat.  I was just recently introduced to her writing this year, and I am dying to read more.

 

Her post got me thinking of how the things in life that seem to go “wrong” are simply leading us in a different direction, or putting us in a better position for something else.  For instance, being let go from a job, may seem like a terrible thing at first, but when it gives you the opportunity to live your dream then wasn’t the “wrong” really right?  It sheds new light on the frustrations and annoyances in everyday life.  In the moment they may feel yucky and simply like we have a bit of bad luck, but what if we changed our perception of these moments and looked for the blessing in them?

Have you ever been late for a meeting, or delayed for your travels only to later hear of a tragic car accident that occurred around the time you would have been driving?  Or maybe you miss a deadline only to find out there were major errors in your report and you are provided an extension to fix them?  The list could go on and on, but the moral of the story is that no matter how bad something seems, your situation may very well be working in your favor, and you have yet to see the blessing in it.

 
So as we enter into the holiday season, a time that can get even the best of us frazzled and frustrated, look for the blessings in every moment, but especially when things feel like they are going “wrong”.  When you change you perspective, not only your mood, but your reality tends to change as well.

Safe travels to those that are traveling, and if you are like myself and enjoying a nice Thanksgiving at home, enjoy!

Gratitude: Life and Love

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This week has been a bit hairy.  Work routines were thrown out the window when we found out the owner and CEO of our company had passed away.  Unlike many companies in which you may not ever really know the CEO, let alone ever meet him or her, our CEO was very hands on.  He made frequent visits to the different locations and trainings and was very vocal about his dream for what we could become both at an individual level, and as a company.  So when I heard of his passing, though I had only met him in person a handful of times, I was saddened.  Out of respect for the passing of the CEO of our company, we shut down all locations at noon on Monday, and closed entirely today to allow reflection and remembrance for a well-respected visionary.

 

This week I was reminded of how quickly life can be taken from us and I am very grateful for the life I have been given.  Each day I wake up is another opportunity to experience all the beauty and adventure of life in any way I choose.  And while I firmly believe in the idea of living each day to the fullest, with a job, family, and all the other chaos of life, it can be difficult to truly embody that way of living each and everyday.  None the less, I am so grateful for my life and everything it entails, including the challenges.  I am given an opportunity each and every day to choose happiness in spite of whatever else is going on, and what a gift that is.  In fact we all have that opportunity, and happiness is ours if we so choose, no matter what other challenges we may face.  So today and everyday I am so very grateful for life.

I am also so very grateful for love.  The love I can give to others, and the love I receive from friends and family.  Love in my opinion is just as important as the life we live, and if we are able to open our hearts and give love to all despite our differences, then we have truly evolved into the spiritual beings we came here to be.  I never want a day to go by when I don’t tell those that are close to me I love them.  Love is what life is all about.  Loving our self, our friends, families, neighbors, pets, and everything else that makes up our wonderful world.  I am reminded of the importance of love this week with the passing of our CEO and vow to never take love for granted, no matter the circumstance.

I invite you reflect on your life and remember what a gift it is today and tell someone you love them.  Love is far more important than anything else in the world.  In my opinion anyways.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Gratitude: Democracy and Books

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As I continue to do my daily (and weekly) gratitude practices, I am finding not only am I beyond blessed in my life, but I may be taking far too much for granted.  I am much better at noticing the little things that make my life easier, more beautiful, and sometimes just plain interesting.  I guess you could say I am much more aware of the little joys in life and it allows for a happier disposition over all.  Additionally the frustrating things in life (you know like waiting in a long line for 3 hours to vote-type of things) don’t seem as frustrating when you look at all of the wonderful blessings around you.  So without further ado, here is my latest installment of gratitude.

 

This week I am grateful for democracy.  With the election this week, my dedication and appreciation of democracy was taken to a whole new level.  I have been much more aware and involved with politics this year than ever before and the main reason is because I am thinking beyond my own limited vision of life and future.  I am thinking of the life of my son and other children to come.  The decisions I make today have an impact on the future of this country and ultimately the life of my children and grandchildren.  I was reminded of that this week as I stood in a ridiculously long line to cast my vote.  Yes the line was long, and I spent one of the three hours it took me to vote outside in the cold, but all the while I was very aware and thankful to have the opportunity to cast my vote.  I was proud to see so many people turn out regardless of who they were voting for, because too often people believe their voice, their vote, and their opinion doesn’t matter.  But if you don’t cast your vote, use your voice, etc., then it will never matter.  I am both humbled and grateful for the democracy we have in this country and the continued progress we are making.  Don’t get me wrong we still have far to go and the system is far from perfect, but we are far better off in many ways than hundreds of countries around the world and for that I am grateful.  With a grateful heart for what is, I have high hopes that we will continue to move as a country towards a more united nation with equality for all and that I will live long enough to see it.

I am also grateful for books.  I love the adventures, knowledge, and occasional reprieve from everyday life you can get by simply opening the pages of a good book.  Not to downplay technology and the new readers that are out there, but I love reading books I can hold and carry with me.  In the last two years there hasn’t been a time when I wasn’t in the middle of 2 or 3 books at a time, enjoying every moment of it.  It is one of the things I do to escape the stresses of life, to learn and grow as a person, and to relax.  There is nothing better than a warm snuggly blanket, rainfall outside, and a good book.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and find some down time yourself, no matter how you choose to spend it.

Gratitude: Family Time and Sunrises

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With the holidays upon us and Thanksgiving just around the corner, I have decided to increase my gratitude practice to list one thing I am grateful for during the month of November (and hopefully December as well), on my Facebook page.  I am doing this because in the time I have begun regularly practicing gratitude, I have found such a tremendous change in my overall attitude about life, abundance, and what it means to be happy.  I am finding that I am blessed beyond measure in so many ways, even if my dreams were never to manifest (though I know they will).  I invite you to also join in the 30 days of gratitude for the month of November and see how it makes you feel, and what changes you notice in your own life.

 

This week the first thing I am grateful for is family time.  Being a mother is one of the greatest gifts I have ever been given and spending special time with my son and partner are absolutely priceless.  This week we did a little pumpkin carving, attended an Elmo and Friends event, and went trick or treating as a family.  I absolutely love the time we get to spend together, particularly the moments when I get to see my son smiling, or I can look at my partner and see the joy in her eyes.  It is during those times that I am fully awake and aware of the moment and nothing is more important than our little family.  I also find myself thanking the Divine for being blessed with so much love to give the two most important people in my life and as we venture towards adding to our family (hopefully in the near future), I look forward to more family time and more love to share.

This week I am also grateful for the beautiful sunrises I am blessed with each and every morning.  Living in South Carolina, I have been drawn to the vast beautiful skies both during the day and at night.  Each morning as I take my son to daycare it is quite dark and we have begun a practice of admiring the stars and the moon as we leave.  On my way home, this morning I was amazed at the gorgeous sunrise that greeted me just over the horizon.  I would have taken a picture to include here, but I was driving and was too mesmerized to even attempt to capture it on my cell phone.  The beauty took my breath away and reminded me yet again of the beauty that surrounds us everyday if we are open to it.

I hope you all have a marvelous weekend and remember the wonderful blessings you have, especially as so many are still struggling without power, heat, and basic necessities in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  My prayers are with the victims that are working to get their lives back to normal in the wake of this natural disaster.