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The Three As: Acknowledging, Accepting, and Appreciating All of the good in your life for happier days, peace, and better sleep
Published April 6, 2011 | 
I’ve said it before but it is worth repeating: what you focus on grows. Be attentive to what you give your attention to. I find that I am so much happier and enjoy greater peace (and yes, a good night sleep!) if I do these five things:
1. Set a positive intention for my day first thing in the morning when I am waking up.
2. Find something to like and appreciate about my job.
3. If I don’t like something I try to remember that all things are temporary and impermanent.
4. I keep a gratitude journal.
5. I bless and appreciate my loved ones, my health, my paycheck, my car, my country, etc.
Acknowledge, Accept, and Appreciate All the good in your life.
Do this and bask in the light by day. Restore and rest at night.
Simple, yes!?
Debra ; )
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May You Sleep Like A Baby: A bedtime verse
Published February 26, 2011 | 
May you sleep like a baby,
without a care in the world.
You are warm. You are light. You are love.
Lay your head down to rest.
Let your body go, ahh….
Your mind is still and at peace.
The day is done
but a new one begins soon…
So, for now, enjoy the rest.
Recharge. Renew.
Float and dream.
Tomorrow will come soon enough.
And when it does you will awake refreshed.
Your feet will land on the floor next your bed
as you walk in step : “thank you, thank you” for
another day of life.
Good night.
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I AM Happy Now! An affirmative journal writing exercise
Published January 24, 2011 |
In your journals, write down everything that you are. What are some great things about you and your life? Declare it! Even if it is something you feel you don’t have right now (but want it), declare it anyway, Now! Feel it. Then give thanks for it. This is a very powerful exercise and a great way to start the day- especially a Monday morning.
For example, this would be my entry this morning:
- I Am happy now! Thank you.
- I Am healthy now . Thank you
- I Am loved now. Thank you
- I Am thriving now. Thank you.
- I Am enjoying creative fulfilling work now. Thank you.
- I Am a loving and supportive partner now. Thank you.
- I Am a patient teacher and mother now. Thank you.
- I Am thankful for all my loved ones, Warm Milk Journal readers, and new friends on Twitter now. Thank you everybody!!
Have a blessed day.
Debra : )
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Five benefits to keeping a gratitude journal
Published January 17, 2011 |
How many of you are keeping a gratitude journal? I find it to be very beneficial to jot down a few things I am thankful for either in the morning or right before I go to bed.
Developing an attitude of gratitude provides these five benefits:
- helping us to stay focused on all the good and abundance all around us
- redirects our minds if we are thinking about something negative or experiencing a negative emotional state such as sadness, fear, anxiety, etc.
- What we appreciate appreciates so we will manifest more of the good stuff if we are thankful for it now
- Keeps us centered, peaceful, more joyful, and more connected spiritually to others and God
- It improves the quality of our relationships for we appreciate the special people in our life more and we are pleasant to be around as well
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to begin a gratitude journal. The beauty of this practice is that it does not require much time. It’s amazing how rapidly thinking about what you are thankful for can turn your state of mind around to a more positive one.
My gratitude list for this morning might look something like this.
This morning, I am thankful for:
- My home
- My fiance
- My cat, mew
- My children
- My comfortable bed
- This rainy day so that I can happily nest and write all day
I’ll stop here. Your turn, dear reader….
Have a blessed day,
Debra : )
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Ten things I am thankful for today: a gratitude journal entry
Published November 24, 2010 | 
Thinking of the many blessings in our life is a guaranteed feel-good activity. Keeping a gratitude journal helps us to focus on what we are thankful for on a more regular and consistent basis.
Today, this is what my gratitude list would look like:
I am thankful for:
- My fiance and our loving, peaceful, and beautiful life we have together.
- Having a few days off from work for this Thanksgiving holiday.
- My health
- My job
- My new friends I am making on Twitter. Connecting with these wonderful people is incredible.
- My writing- creating and reaching out to others is the best.
- My parents
- Both of my football teams are doing well (Oklahoma State and University of Oklahoma). I attended both schools.
- Fun plans to go out with the family for pizza tonight.
- My cat Mew who is just pure unconditional love.
Your turn-what are you grateful for today?
Note: a nice book that I have owned for many years to keep a gratitude journal is The Simple Abundance of Gratitude by Sarah Ban Breathnach. At the start of the book she has a list of 150 often overlooked blessings. There is plenty of room for each day of the year to write down what you are thankful for. I started mine back in 1998 and keep adding entries each year in the side margins or wherever I can find the space. It is fun to reflect back on the richness of my blessed life during its many varied stages and experiences.
Have a blessed day. I am thankful for all of you, dear Warm Milk Journal readers!
Debra : )
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It’s the end of the day. Focus on the good things.
Published September 21, 2010 | 
End of the day. Time to take that walk, run that bath, pour that glass of wine or tea, and just chill. How did the day go?
It is up to you how you want to reflect upon and see this day. Even the “worst” of days probably had some smidgen of good in them.
This evening, I choose to focus on:
- The fact that I am home now and I have chicken wings that have been marinating all day and should be really great grilled later.
- I am alive. My body is a miracle.
- There are Netflix movies to watch and books to read.
- There are family members to reconnect with.
- There are kitty cats to love.
- My second graders did a great job during their reading time today.
- I did not bring school work home with me tonight. Yeah!
Your turn…..
Debra : )
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“Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving”~W.T. Purkiser Listing our blessings: a journal activity
Published September 5, 2010 | 
As you are are leisurely enjoying your Sunday morning cup of coffee and relaxing this Labor Day weekend, think about how truly blessed you are. Then get out your journal and write a list of as many blessings that come to mind.
What we appreciate appreciates. What we focus on grows. As you write your list you will see just how rich you really are.
Here are a few of my blessings that come to mind:
- Having a loving, wonderful man in my life.
- Having two healthy, beautiful children.
- I am healthy.
- I am alive.
- I have a meaningful job that pays me with benefits and summers off (I am a school teacher).
- I live near the beach.
- I have the two cutest cats in the world: Patches and Mew.
- I have lot’s of creative ideas and feel inspired as I develop The Warm Milk Journal.
- Nice night with friends last night.
- Some time to relax and unwind this weekend.
Now it is your turn…
Have a blessed Sunday.
Debra : )
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Thinking of what pleases us, what brings us joy.
Published August 1, 2010 | 
12 Things that currently please me that I would not want to live without:
- My boyfriend
- My children
- My cats
- My coffee and wine
- Movies we watch from Netflix
- My books
- My bike rides to the beach
- My comfortable bed
- My beautiful home
- My gym and the martial arts and yoga classes I attend there.
- My new garden
- Writing for the Warm Milk Journal
Your turn: What pleases you? What brings you joy? Think of them. Write them down in your journal. Doing this exercise guarantees your feeling thankful, happy, and at peace with yourself. How blessed you are. How rich life is!
Debra : )
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Closing our day with prayer: our prayer journals
Published July 19, 2010 | 
This morning I wrote a post about making time to develop our spiritual practice: to be silent and connect with our higher power. We can do this through reading inspirational material, taking walks in nature, meditation, yoga, and writing in our journals.
The end of the day before bedtime is a good time to get quiet and connect with the Divine. You may close your eyes and just meditate on peace and God’s love. You may think the word “peace” or “God loves me” repeatedly. You may also write in your journal a prayer before you go to sleep.
My prayer for tonight would read something like this:
Dear God,
Thank you for today. It was a beautiful day. I am thankful for my lunch I had with an old friend, my time to write and contemplate, the time I had to read, and the martial arts class I enjoyed tonight. Thank you for my healthy body, the good food I ate, and my loving partner, John.
This was a blessed day and now I look forward to a restful night of peaceful sleep. May this sleep renew my body and spirit so that I may awaken to do wonderful things with the new day in store for me tomorrow.
Thank you again, God. I am so thankful for all of my blessings. Life is so rich.
Amen.
Your turn…. good night.
Debra : )
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Oh happy day, what are you thankful for? The power of gratitude.
Published July 14, 2010 | 
When I get in one of my funky down moods (which does happen from time to time), one of the quickest ways I get myself out of it is to think about things in my life that I am thankful for. It gives me a different perspective. Self pitying is a weak and not very constructive way to spend one’s time. Focusing on gratitude and our blessings, however, is quite empowering.
Writing gratitude entries in our journal is a great way to start or end the day. For years I have owned a neat little book called The Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude by Sarah Ban Breathnach. It’s a simple book, really. There are a few inspirational quotes in it and basically some lines to write down a few things that we are thankful for every day of the year. I don’t do it everyday since I have other journals that I write in, but when I think to I will turn to whatever day it happens to be and write the year and a few of my current blessings. I have had this Abundance journal since 1997 so it is a fun record of my life for the past 13 years.
What are you thankful for? What we focus on grows and what we appreciate appreciates.
Have a splendid day!
Debra : )
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