Subject: Gratitude Revisited

Welcome to Celebrating the Journey!
Monday, February 26, 2001
Issue #55

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Welcome Notes
2. Gratitude Revisited
3. Coaching: Gratitude Footwork
4. Quotes
5. Humor: Twisted Aphorisms
6. Celebrating Out Loud!
7. Reading for the Journey
8. FREE Teleclass on Tolerations

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1. Welcome Notes

Welcome to our 27 new subscribers. And thanks to all
who forward CTJ. I love knowing that we are spreading
throughout the world.

Our Celebrating Out Loud section is thriving. Thank you
to all who have shared your celebrations and an
invitation to you have not, as yet, done that. It’s so easy
for us to think that our celebrations aren’t as important or
as big or as impressive as someone else’s.

This section isn’t about big or important or impressive.
It’s about celebrating the things, events and people that
make our hearts sing. How is your heart singing today?
Let us know at mailto:celebration@tothesummit.com.

I wish you a singing-hearted week!

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2. Gratitude Revisited

For several days during the last week, it seemed as if, in
some ways, the Universe was conspiring to make my life
challenging and irritating. The oil light came on in my car
when I had just added a quart; my new printer didn’t
work; my email was down; my mail was disappearing into
some black bureaucratic hole rather than showing up in
my mailbox; people weren’t doing what they said they
would do. You know what it’s like.

Then a couple of people I love dearly were faced with
events that could have had serious, even fatal,
consequences. They are both fine, and I got grateful in a
hurry.

As I looked at the previous few days from a place of
thankfulness, I realized that very thankfulness was what
had been missing during all the irksomeness. I had
allowed the frustration and doingness of everyday events
to steal what is the very foundation of having success,
freedom and joy in my life — in all our lives: an attitude of
gratitude.

I pulled out an article I wrote for the second edition of CTJ
more than a year and a half ago. It served as a strong
reminder of the importance of gratitude in our lives. I
offer it to you here as the same kind of reminder.

Gratitude

It’s a very “in” thing these days. And with good reason.
Oprah has spoken at length about how keeping a gratitude
journal has changed her life and others. Sarah Ban
Breathnach tells us that being grateful is the first step to
feeling joy. Deepak Chopra writes that gratitude is, among
other things, an innate characteristic of a consciousness of
abundance. These statements are all true. Gratitude creates
a base of feeling from which peace, serenity and
abundance flow freely.

The base for the word gratitude is gratus , which means
pleasing. It’s easy to be grateful when we feel pleased,
when our lives are pleasing, when things are going our
way, when we are happy. “I’m so grateful my life is the
way I want it.” “I’m so grateful my family is healthy.” “I’m
so grateful for my big promotion.”

The deeper value in gratitude emerges when we choose to
access gratitude during the times we are not pleased, when
things are not going our way, when we feel lost, afraid,
full of doubt. When we choose to feel grateful during the
difficult times, then we can feel pleased, peaceful, serene
in the midst of the difficulties. Our lives haven’t changed;
a positive perspective emanates from the gratitude not
from the events of our lives.

Gratitude is a choice. We can’t change what life puts in
front of us; we can always change our ATTITUDE about
what life puts in front of us. An attitude of gratitude
doesn’t change the circumstances; it radically alters our
perception of the circumstances. The altered perception
eliminates fear and creates trust. The trust creates an
internal quiet. We feel pleased.

Gratitude does not come from being pleased; it creates
being pleased. The choice is yours.

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3. Coaching:

Start a gratitude journal. Buy or make a special book. In
that book, every night, write down 5 things for which you
are grateful. Oprah is right. Doing this will change your
life in unimaginable ways.

Make a conscious choice, each morning, to be grateful for
whatever shows up in your life today. Post signs that say,
“Choose Gratitude,” on your bathroom mirror, above
your desk, on the door of your closet, on the refrigerator
door — wherever you will see them often.

Choose to be grateful.

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4. Quotes

Success is ours when we are grateful.
Each Day A New Beginning

…in order to feel pleased, be grateful.
Peter McWilliams in “Life 101: Everything We
Wish We Had Learned About Life In School – But Didn’t”

Grateful people can see the stars, and give thanks for
every sunrise. Grateful people reach for the moon,
knowing that even if they fail, it will be one heck of a ride!
… True success is based on a launching pad of gratitude!
Phil Humbert

In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that
makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us
happy.
Albert Clarke

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5. Humor: Twisted Aphorisms

1. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

2. Deja Moo: The feeling that you’ve heard this bull
before.

3. The two most common elements in the universe are
hydrogen and stupidity.

4. Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no
influence on society.

5. If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.

6. Nothing in the known universe travels faster than a
bad check.

7. Vital papers will demonstrate their vitality by moving
from where you left them to where you can’t find them.

8. The trouble with doing something right the first time is
that nobody appreciates how difficult it was.

9. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to
serve as a warning to others.

10. A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell
and make you feel happy to be on your way.

11. Experience is something you don’t get until just after
you need it.

12. For every action, there is an equal and opposite
criticism.

13. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal
from many is research.

14. To succeed in politics, it is often necessary to rise
above your principles.

15. The sooner you fall behind, the more time you’ll have
to catch up.

16. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad
memory.

17. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one
you’ve never tried before.

18. Change is inevitable…except from vending machines.

19. Don’t sweat petty things…or pet sweaty things.

20. Borrow money from pessimists — they don’t expect it
back.

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6. Celebrating Out Loud

February 16: Nancy Gensch gave the oral presentation of
her thesis, completing her Masters in Psychology. A
marvelous accomplishment! mailto:ngensch@sopris.net.

February 26: Sarah Presley celebrates 4 years of sobriety.
She says, “WOOHOO! This was the year I made it to Nepal
on Margo’s inspiration.”
mailto:miss_alaneous@hotmail.com

February 27: I celebrate 15 years of continuous recovery
from eating addiction, drug addiction and alcoholism.
What an incredible miracle it is! Thank you all for being a
part of my recovery. mailto:margo@tothesummit.com

Joan shared a special weekend retreat with her nephew
and, on the way home, “I witnessed one of the
universe’s beautiful miracles: a double rainbow.” A sweet
celebration of Nature’s gifts. mailto:joanclimb@psnw.com

E-mail your birthday, anniversary, accomplishment, shift,
ah-ha or joyful moment to
mailto:celebration@tothesummit.com. Let us know what
great stuff is happening in your life!

Know someone who’s celebrating a great occasion? Or a
small one? What better gift than to forward them a copy
of Celebrating the Journey with a celebratory wish in it.
Let’s spread the joy!

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7. Reading for the Journey

Life 101: Everything We Wish We Had Learned About
Life In School — But Didn’t by Peter McWilliams.

This is a delightful book chock full of marvelous
information that makes you say, “I knew that. Why didn’t
I think of it before?” The easy-to-read format — text on the
right hand page, a quote on the left — is inviting, and the
short chapters contain a wealth of thought-provoking,
very useful concepts, tools and actions. I revisit this book
about once a year and recommend it as an easy way to go
to “school” in a whole new way. You can order it for the
great price of $6.25 by clicking here.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0931580781/tothesummit

Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra

In this little book, Chopra distills the essence of all he
teaches into seven simple and powerful principles that
can be applied to create success in all areas of your life.
Chopra says, “Success in life could be defined as the
continued expansion of happiness and the progressive
realization of worthy goals. Success is the ability to fulfill
your desires with effortless goals.” He also states clearly
that success is a process not a goal. This is certainly my
idea of success! I refer to this book regularly as a way to
remind myself of what success really is, at a heart level,
and to see what I put in the way of having the life I really
want. Click on the link to order it for only $12.00.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1878424114/tothesummit

The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living by The
Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler.

“Nearly every time you see him, he’s laughing, or at least
smiling. And he makes everyone else around him feel
like smiling. He’s the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and
temporal leader of Tibet, a Nobel Prize winner, and an
increasingly popular speaker and statesman. What’s
more, he’ll tell you that happiness is the purpose of life,
and that ‘the very motion of our life is towards
happiness.’ How to get there has always been the question.
He’s tried to answer it before, but he’s never had the help
of a psychiatrist to get the message across in a context we
can easily understand. Through conversations, stories,
and meditations, the Dalai Lama shows us how to defeat
day-to-day anxiety, insecurity, anger, and discouragement.
Together with Dr. Cutler, he explores many facets of
everyday life, including relationships, loss, and the
pursuit of wealth, to illustrate how to ride through life’s
obstacles on a deep and abiding source of inner peace.”

This reviewer’s synopsis of Cutler’s book is absolutely
accurate. Beyond the reviewer’s words, however, is the
way this book touched my soul in its simplicity, humor
and practicality. For all who want true happiness in your
lives, this is a must read. Click on the link to order this
book for $14.37.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1573221112/tothesummit

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8. FREE Teleclass on Tolerations

Free Your Life: Become A Toleration Free Zone

We humans put up with a lot of stuff in our life. Most of
it just isn’t necessary. Putting up with tolerations wastes
our time and energy, keeps us stuck, causes us grief and
generally gets in the way of having what we really want in
our lives.

This FREE Teleclass is about getting rid of what’s bugging
you!

Topics will include:

What is a toleration?
Why do tolerations drain my energy?
Benefits of being Toleration Free.
How do I identify my tolerations?
Now that I know what they are, what do I do about
them?
Eliminating tolerations
(You will eliminate at least 5 tolerations during
the teleclass.)
Maintaining a toleration free zone

HOW IT WORKS

We will meet via a bridge telephone line on Wednesday,
March 14, Monday, March 19, and Monday, March 26.

The time of the call is 10:00 am, Eastern time. (That’s 9 am
Central, 8 am Mountain, 7 am Pacific). The class lasts one
hour, and the only cost to you is the telephone call.

The number to call is 702-565-8327. If you’d like to reserve
a spot on the call or have any questions about it, send an
e-mail to teleclass@tothesummit.com stating that.
Otherwise, the class is on a first come, first serve basis.

If you’re unable to attend all 3 calls, feel free to join us for
as many as you can.

The first time you participate in a Teleclass, you will be
entitled to a free follow-up coaching session with Margo.
Work one-on-one with her to solidify and eliminate even
more tolerations!

Margo has a few slots open for motivated clients who
want to create a successful life and have the time to enjoy
it. Every dedicated athlete has a coach. Why not
have a coach for the most important game of all: the
game of life. Visit our website at
https://www.tothesummit.com for additional resources
and tools. To schedule a consultation, send an email to
mailto:margo@tothesummit.com

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Give yourself the gift of gratitude this week.

Namaste, Margo

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If you received this copy of Celebrating the Journey from
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My purpose in publishing Celebrating the Journey is to
provide you with resources, motivation, inspiration and
energy for YOUR journey of creating success and freedom
in all areas of your life. CTJ will use stories from my life
and others, coaching tips and resources, quotes and
humor to deliver a learning experience that can enhance
your life. I am always looking for comments, ideas and
ways to improve CTJ. I welcome your e-mails at
mailto:margo@tothesummit.com.

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Copyright © 2001, all rights reserved, by Margo
Chisholm

I invite you to share Celebrating the Journey with your
mailing list, friends, and associates. We ask only that the
entire e-mail with copyright and credits be included. The
author of this article is Margo Chisholm. You may contact
her at (970) 704-9336 or at mailto:margo@tothesummit.com.

—
“At every moment of our life we have an
opportunity to choose joy.”
Henri J. M. Nouwen

Margo Chisholm
Coach, Speaker, Author, Therapist
Partnering you in having success,
freedom and joy in all areas of your life
970-704-9336 fax 970-704-9346
margo@tothesummit.com

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