World Gratitude - Wave 8 Begins Today

Image by jmtimages via Flickr

A friend on Facebook (yes, I know, I called it an evil website just a few days ago) sent me an invite to a group there called World Gratitude. I quickly became a "fan", and then went exploring to see what exactly was going on. The main website, World Gratitude, asks, "What Will *Your* Life Be Like, 42 Days from now, after Enlightening the World with our Gifts of Gratitude and Connecting with our Growing Family of Gratitude?" If you sign up, as I did, for this 42 day program, you'll get an email message each day to guide you through this experiment. (It isn't necessary to start on March 15, you can join anytime.)

There was also a link, on the Facebook page, to a Blog titled Inner Space. I'm not entirely clear yet on how it ties in (I thought it was supposed to be where they're posting each day's entries, but there's nothing posted today, so I may be wrong about that) - regardless, there's some worthwhile articles there. On January 1, 2009, they posted Day 1 - Wake to Dream - enjoy!

It was a wonderful bit of synchronicity for me, hearing about this website and program today. Just last week I decided I needed to take up my gratitude journal again. Every night before I go to bed, I write out a list of 10 things I'm grateful for. As soon as I'd made the decision to start this, my heart felt lighter. Another time, I'll share a sample here. For now, I encourage you to check out World Gratitude.

Come Alive!

Image by tricky ™ via Flickr

A quote I'd like to share with you today:

Don't ask so much what the world needs. Go out and do what makes you come alive, because what the world needs most are people who have come alive

Howard Thurman, American philosopher, 1899-1981

Facebook is Evil!

That *may* be overstating it somewhat, but Facebook has become my favourite stress reliever. And this semester has been very, very stressful. I'm taking Poverty in Canada, which I was quite excited to be taking, at first. You thought you knew how bad poverty is in Canada? Me, too. But reading statistic after statistic, all saying, in their own way, "this is bad," gets very depressing after awhile. So, I'd study until I got overwhelmed, and then go beat up teddy bears on Facebook. (Yes, there's an app, called Teddy's Turf, where everyone is a bear, beating up other bears. It's fun, in a mindless sort of way. Not exactly peaceful, though.)

And then last night I realized, "Hey, when was the last time I posted to my blog?" Over two months ago, it turns out. Almost three. So, I'm going on a Facebook diet. No more beating up teddy bears for fun and relaxation. (There's Save The Planet for that. In moderation, of course.) I joined Facebook to connect with people. I started this blog for basically the same reason. I need to keep both connections going.

I'm back! Please, post a comment if you have a moment. I could use some encouragement. One of the reasons I haven't been writing here is that it's gotten quite lonely. I need to hear from you!