Gratitude-A-Day Nov 30, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for the nights I get enough sleep. Last night wasn't one of them and I'm dragging a bit and it's only 11 AM.

Million Dollar Baby

I just watched the movie Million Dollar Baby this last weekend. I remember when it won an Academy Award I was pretty surprised because it's a boxing movie. Isn't it? Well, I won't give it away but in my opinion this movie is about so much more than boxing. Boxing provides the foundation for a story that reaches deep inside some of the most difficult decisions that we have to make in life. If you haven't seen it I would recommend it but be ready to stretch your emotions.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 29, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for central heating. Winter is arriving today in Minneapolis. Up to this point it has seemed like a warm November to me but today is the first cold day.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 28, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for having the courage to ask for what I want.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 27, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for having just the right amount of pressure that gets me in action.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 26, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for dance. Another great night of Tango last night and tonight will be a mix of Tango, Salsa and Cha Cha.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 25, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for people that are willing to just go for it. I went to an improve show last night and the main thing I came away with is that what made the best actors the "best" was their willingness to just go for it and not be self-critics or get embarrassed.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 24, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for drums. Part of our family Thanksgiving yesterday turned out to be an impromptu drumming circle. It was the highlight of the day for me.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 23, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for an opportunity to listen to my friends and family share stories about the things for which they are thankful. This is Thanksgiving day and I plan to listen carefully.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 22, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for choice. I'm talking about the opportunity to choose what is right for me and other's opportunity to choose what is right for them. I'm not sure why this stands out for me today. Some days when I sit down to write this daily post I really struggle to identify something that I'm grateful for in that moment. Today, it was easy, but kind of mysterious why this idea is so top-of-mind.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 21, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. The Gratitude-A-Day practice I've been doing provides a different perspective for me on the meaning of the holiday.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 20, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for live music. I was fortunate to have two live music experiences yesterday. The first was a chamber orchestra at First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis and the second was a live Tango music at the Loring Pasta Bar in Minneapolis. Very different but both great in their own way.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 19, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for the opportunity to pursue a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. Sounds kind of lofty but it's a quote that I saw that stuck in my mind and I'm grateful to live in a country where I have the freedom to do this.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 18, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for having a full day ahead of me. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed this morning with too many things to do and having a full day to get things done is inspiring.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 17, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for teachers. I had a wonderful experience last night as a student at an Argentine Tango class and it reminded me of the value of passionate, thoughtful teachers.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 16, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for the morning sunshine. I know I've written this before but a sunny morning always seems to get my attention.

I want to be there!

Thirty minutes of lights out.

The times in my life when I've see a big sky are part of the few moments where the natural world helped me to understand who I am. I can imagine that a city wide star-gazing would only help to heighten the impact.

Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy!

I love this quote by William McDonough which I found on the Z+Blog.

"Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless!"

-Leading ecological thinker, architect and Cradle-to-Cradle author William McDonough

I wrote about William McDonough in this post on his book Cradle to Cradle,

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 15, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for the courage of people to speak the truth even when it is difficult or dangerous.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 14, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for creativity and ingenuity. I had a technical problem this morning and I thought I was going to have to buy my way out of it. But with a pair of tweezers and a safety pin I was able to fix the problem and save a few $.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 13, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for dancing. Last night was a great evening that started out with a bit of argentine tango and ended with salsa and cha-cha. Nice mix and balance.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 12, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for stories and people sharing stories about themselves.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 11, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for the sunshine. It's a nice pick-me-up this morning when I'm otherwise tempted to crawl back in bed and sleep a few more hours. Seeing the sun shining outside inspires me to get up and get my day started.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 10, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for fresh fruit in the winter. On this day when we're supposed to get our first little bit of snow here in Minneapolis I was having breakfast and had the option of fresh fruit or toast with my omelet. I was struck by the ability to choose fresh fruit this time of year that isn't in the form of an apple.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 9, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for the internet. The power of this tool for sharing information and ideas is pretty incredible and for some reason it's on my mind this morning.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 8, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for one more summer like day before winter sets in. Today (Wednesday) is supposed to be a high of 69 degrees with sunshine and by Friday the high is supposed to be 37 with a chance of snow!

WorldChanging Twin Cities

I've recently taken on a new project as a contributor to the web site WorldChanging Twin Cities. This is a local spin-off of WorldChanging and it's grand opening will be November 8.

There will be a party to celebrate the kick-off of this new site as well as the recently launched book Worldchaning: A User's Guide for the 21st Century. Here is more info about the event:

On Wednesday, November 8, the Worldchanging team will be in Minneapolis for the Twin Cities stop on the book tour, with an event at Brant Kingman's studio in Northeast Minneapolis. Doors open at 7 pm. Program starts at 8 and runs for about 45 minutes and then a DJ will carry us into the night.

November 8th: MINNEAPOLIS

Kingman Studios
1901 Grand St. NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418 USA

It'll be a great way to shake off any remaining election night hangover and meet inspiring people and explore visionary ideas for the future.

Come join the party! And feel free to bring friends and family or forward this invitation to anyone that might be interested.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 7, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for the right to vote. I know I mentioned this a couple of days ago but today is election day and it's at the top of mind again.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 6, 2006

Today, I'm grateful that my car wasn't towed. The city is cleaning the streets near my apartment and my car was parked in a location that was marked No Parking starting at 7 AM this morning. I realized at about 7:30 that I had forgotten to move my car and ran out to see that it was still there and I didn't even have a ticket. Usually, the tow trucks and police cars are there by 6:50 waiting to start ticketing and towing but not today!

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 5, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for hypertension medications. About 6 years ago my doctor first noted that I had elevated blood pressure. Over the last 6 years I've tried a wide variety of methods to lower my blood pressure without medication and none has been effective. I recently started taking an anti-hypertensive medication and I feel much better (calmer) about my health future as a result. I realize that this medication isn't the perfect answer but it's the right thing to do at this time and I'm grateful for it's existence.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 4, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for coffee shops and coffee shop culture. I love going to coffee shops and working, reading or just people watching.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 3, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for the work that Planned Parenthood has been doing for so many years providing sexual health education and services to so many women and men. I was fortunate to attend the Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota Annual Gala event last night. It was an incredible event with more than 1500 people in attendance and an line-up of great speakers including Al Gore. He spoke eloquently on the need for science and reason in our policy decisions and how that relates to the discussion about freedom of choice. It's a very complicated issue and requires open discussion and introspection. I'm grateful that there are so many people living in my community that feel the same way.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 2, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for having the right to vote.

Gratitude-A-Day Nov 1, 2006

Today, I'm grateful for the fabulous friends that have responded so enthusiastically to events in my life. Your support is priceless and fuels my fire. Thank You!