Vol 1 Iss 14

By the time you read this, the holiday of July 4 will be over. As I write this, it's Friday, July 2, and we are loading the camper and plotting our way to the mountains. We hope to spend our Fourth by a campfire (with marshmallows!) and under a stunningly starry sky.

I am so grateful to live in a place that allows me access to what is important to me: mountain streams, my children and grandchildren, and incredible views of the mountains and skies. This morning I was driving through the farmland east of where I live and passed a field of lavendar in full bloom. MMMMMMMMM - one breath and you're fainting from happiness.

You are probably richly blessed in your own way, even if you are searching for the next step and are feeling restless and discontent. It is even more important to feel gratitude at this time. I'll explain why in the main article below and the Career Tip will offer ways to find that feeling of thankfulness even when things could be better.

May your trail be winding and challenging, leading to the most amazing view.

May you notice and be grateful.

P. S. If you missed the chance to vote for my son's band, Tenpenny, here is the link:

http://www.hardrock.com/promo/cabowabo2004/voteList.asp

If you download the MP3 to listen to them, that's my son playing the jammin' lead guitar.

He Rocks! Thanks for supporting Tenpenny!! (and pass it on...)

When things are going well, it's easy to be grateful. We don't always remember to, but when we think about the good things, the grateful feelings flow. And those feelings attract more of the same. Like attracts like. Conversely, when things are not going well and you don't feel grateful, when in fact you're pretty testy and grumpy, those feelings attract more of the same as well. Again, like attracts like.

So how can you be grateful when things are not going well?

Perhaps it would be helpful to distinguish between being grateful and feeling grateful. Being grateful is more about attitude than anything else. When you are in a grateful state, being grateful, then the most awful thing that happens can hold a blessing for you.

Take Mother Teresa for example. She appreciated people in horrible circumstances because her attitude was that she was ministering to Jesus. Every person was honored and cared for by her. She may not have felt anything but exhaustion and frustration at inhuman circumstances, but her attitude, her state of being, was a servant of God. That's what had the impact.

On the other hand, feeling grateful is what I was expressing when I remembered the field of lavendar and the fragrance that filled me. Just remembering it makes my heart beat a little faster and I get that yummy feeling in my solar plexus. It makes me breathe deeply.

When you are being grateful, no matter what your circumstances, things to feel grateful about will appear. And when you feel grateful, you invite more things in your life to be grateful about. It opens your soul. And when you're seeking your place in the world, the first place you look is to your soul, your heart. Being grateful is a gateway.

I invite you to integrate the ideas in Career Tips to help you shift into a state of gratitude. Who knows what blessings could flow?

As a Career Coach, I can be your partner through this process. Please contact me at debra@forwardmomentum.com for more information!

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,

Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.

And the eyes of those two Indian ponies

Darken with kindness.

They have come gladly out of the willows

To welcome my friend and me.

We step over the barbed wire into the pasture

Where they have been grazing all day, alone.

They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness

They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.

There is no loneliness like theirs.

They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the

I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,

For she has walked over to me

And nuzzled my left hand.

She is black and white,

Her mane falls wild on her forehead,

And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear

That is delicate as the skin over a girl's wrist.

That if I stepped out of my body I would break

Being grateful is not linear, it is holistic. So putting a list together of things to "do" may seem a little counter-intuitive, yet it is helpful to have a starting place. I've listed a few things you can do to invite gratitude (and blessing) into your life.

1. Be awake. Let yourself be surprised. Brother Daivd Steindl-Rast suggests that you ask yourself this question as a kind of alarm clock: "Isn't this surprising?" and of course the proper response is "Yes, indeed!" This is designed to help you stop taking everything for granted.

2. Notice. Once you begin to shake yourself from your seemingly complacent robot life, you will start noticing things you've never seen before. How many times have I driven that road and not noticed the lavendar? What are you not noticing? What's right in front of your nose that is a magnificent blessing in your life? You're surrounded - it's time to notice.

3. Acknowledge. One of the most powerful things I have ever done is to establish the habit of writing in my gratitude journal every night before I go to bed. When I first started it, I had to wrack my brains to think of anything that I was grateful about. It was an effort to write down 3 things. Now, as the day goes by, I mentally record events to put in the journal. When it comes time to actually write them down and I re-live my day, I can't stop. My gratefulness flows.

4. Stay Alert. As you go through your day, surprise happenings allow you to be awake and notice and acknowledge. As Rumi said, "Don't go back to sleep."

Being grateful is an attitude anyone can cultivate. Let me know how it goes for you!

In continuing with my new focus on the career transition that is obsoletely known as "retirement,"

I am expanding my offerings of workshops and teleclasses.

If you know someone that is within 5 years of retirement, please forward this information and let them know of these classes. It could change their life.

"Instead of absorbing an obsolete view of retirement, we should consider...a flexible life plan that provides for your financial, vocational, physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Unless you look at your future holistically,

You can have a retirement that is fulfilling and meaningful, but you need to plan ahead for it.

This is a 4-week exploration of Un-Retirement. Classes are held on Thursdays for one hour beginning July 8. You may opt to take the entire series or sign up for individual classes. Class Topics are:

Week 1 - Finding Meaning for your Life in Un-Retirement

Week 2 - Structuring Your Time in Un-Retirement

Week 3 - Loneliness Prevention in Un-Retirement

Week 4 - Self-Care in Un-Retirement

For the full listing of workshops, teleclasses, and coaching programs, visit http://www.forwardmomentum.com/html/schedule_more_info.shtml

You are free to use material from Moving Forward! in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including a live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read:

"By Debra DeVilbiss, CPCC, of Forward Momentum, LLC. Please visit Debra's website at http://www.ForwardMomentum.com for additional articles and resources on creating your right livelihood."

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