Lessons Learned on a Slow Start Saturday Morning

On this Sweet Slow Start Saturday morning, before TV, Spotify or YouTube, I sit with open windows and a cup of dark roast coffee as I intentionally embrace the quietude.

I notice the stillness of this brand new baby day.

I notice the sound of the wind as it blows through the leaves on the trees.

I notice the distant rumble of traffic on the freeway that is two miles away.

I notice the honking of a Canada Goose as it and lands on the pond.

I notice the cooing of morning doves.

I notice the friendly barking of a dog in the nearby neighborhood.

I notice the shrill cries, warbling, chirping, tweeting, and wooing of birds announcing their presence in the trees and looking for mates.

I notice a profound sense of gratitude rising in me as I take time to notice.

I notice the sounds of life awakening and I am awakening to my part in this great chorus called Life.

Thank You Source!

I am ready for my divine appointments.

I love Life and Life loves me💕

Ric

(c) Copyright June 5, 2021 by Richard L. Beattie, all rights reserved.

Thanks In All Things - November 26 - Thanksgiving Day

This practice is about identifying 10 things each day for which I am grateful without repeating as I Give Thanks In All Things:

1. The hardy souls who showed up on our Thanksgiving Morning Zoom.
2. Watching Ashley navigate her way to cooking the first turkey on her own.
3. Paper towel cardboard tubes in the charcoal starter chimney hack I learned this summer.
4. My siblings on our first family Zoom call which was organized by Alicia for Thanksgiving.
5. Smoking the turkey on my Weber Kettle grill.
   
6. Resolving the issue Ashley and I had to text each other since I upgraded to a new phone this week.
7. Finally figuring out how to remove L2 - one of the living room lamps from the Home app.
8. An overall beautiful albeit different Thanksgiving Day.
9. Not needing to rush to get to someone else's house on time.
10. A wonderful Thanksgiving Meal!
11. Leftovers in the fridge!
    

Thanks In All Things - November 25

This practice is about identifying 10 things each day for which I am grateful without repeating as I Give Thanks In All Things:

1. The joy of delivering a gift card to one of our members. And the thank you note that they left for me.
2. Delivering 2 Thanksgiving boxes.
3. Receiving a loaf of homemade banana nut bread.
4. A great discussion after  ACIM was finished.
5. Conversation with Dave the piano tuner after getting both instruments tuned.
6. Connecting with Joe the electrical engineer and his commitment to meet with me next week.
7. Managing to purchase poultry seasoning at a small store that seemed to call me to stop there.
8. Android auto connected to Ford Mysync 3.
9. Having the sense to take it slow in heavy rain while driving through a construction zone.
10. Two pair of flannel sleep pants for 13.99 at BJ's.
11. Managing to get the last few things we needed for dinner tomorrow with a minimal amount of stress.

Thanks In All Things - November 24, 2020

This practice is about identifying 10 things each day for which I am grateful without repeating as I Give ThanksIn All Things:

1. A peaceful and restful night.
2. Following my intuition and discovering Gio Benitez is married to Tommy DiDario - the world continues to evolve.
3. The peace that rises up from deep in my spirit when I am open to see things differently.
4. Waking up in a warm house when the temperature outside is 22°
5. A sweet Happy Birthday audio message from Martha Creek and her grand-niece Hadlyn.
6. Roosevelt is doing a great job on the painting of the Sanctuary.
7. Marco's Pizza's meat lovers pizza in a bowl.
8. Nick and Kim hauling the Christmas decorations out of the basement.
9. Getting 3 more strings of light to lite up.
10. A late recording studio session with Kim & Michael Adams

Thanks In All Things - November 23, 2020

 

This practice is about identifying 10 things each day for which I am grateful without repeating as I Give Thanks In All Things:

1. The tree that fell during the storm on Nov 15 at URO didn't hit the neighbors garage.
2. The Monday morning edition of Wake Up with Ric & Joe Zoom.
3. Finding Nick at church cleaning up the leaves in the flowerbeds. Grateful me.
4. Ashley shared with me that Owen has croup, not something worse.
5. My dog, Porkchop, snoring in his bed under my desk.
6. Ashley hooking the surround sound back up over the weekend.
7. The news that the Michigan Board of Canvassers has certified our election results.
8. High-Speed Internet!
9. Lunchtime meeting with Daniel our treasurer.
10. A quiet evening watching the 3 DVD minmi series Dune, the director's cut.

Thanks In All Things - November 22, 2020

This practice is about identifying 10 things each day for which I am grateful without repeating as I Give Thanks In All Things:

1. My parents coming together to conceive me which led to my birth 65 years ago today.
2. A week off to think, pray and play.
3. An early text from my friend max wishing me a happy birthday.
4. The presence of mind to re-record the talk that was streamed today midweek because the original version was not very strong.
5. A family & community Zoom call after service today.
6. Owen running to me this morning to give me a hug and then running back and forth between his mother and me wanting hugs.
7. The first real snow of the season.
8. My dear friend Angela.
9. Understanding that I have many options.
10. The power to choose and to choose again as needed.

Day 34 - I Give Thanks For ...

My current gratitude practice is to share at least 10 things for which I am grateful for each day without repetition.

Today, I give thanks for:

1. This incredible poem, The Mood of Christmas by Howard Thurman
2. Ashley helping me get a load of old computer carcasses ready to take to SOCRA.
3. Finally being able to dispose of approximately 3 years of used insulin syringes (sealed in the proper waste containers.)
4. The fact that Rochester Hills now participates in SOCRA.
5. The two attendants at SOCRA totally emptied out the car full of stuff for recycling.
6. The sheer number of people at the Recycling Center.
7. A very helpful deli clerk at Kroger who helped me determine how many feet of submarine sandwich we need for Sunday.
8. My very portable Chromebook convertible tablet which makes note-taking easy.
9. Meeting with LD Phillip's family in Lake Orion to plan his funeral for Saturday morning.
10. A sense of accomplishment at getting a lot done today. Each load of stuff I haul out makes the entire house seem lighter.

Christmas continues ...

Ric