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21 Day Gratitude Challenge That Shakes Things Up A Bit…

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Here’s a gratitude challenge that I think a lot of us will enjoy. especially since everybody has a cellphone that takes pictures. Also, with the popularity of social networks like Instagram, Facebook, and God knows what else. It’s clear to see that we like pictures.

The question that we should be asking ourselves is this. Do we really see what we’re seeing?

Do we actually look at the pictures in our lives with aww and reverie? Or do we take a glance and move on to the next thing that grabs our attention?

You know that we are all guilty of being in a hurry to go nowhere. Ouch, that stung a bit, didn’t it. Well, it was supposed to. That’s what focused gratitude is all about. Getting us to slow down and see what we have been missing. This also causes us to feel a bit guilty too, because we realize how ungrateful we have been in various areas of our lives. I personally believe that this explains much of our quote un quote unhappiness. You see, “it is not happiness that makes us grateful. It’s gratefulness that makes us happy.”

Here’s a challenge from a Ted Talk given by, Hailey Bartholomew in 2008. She had a beautiful life. Two healthy kids, a loving devoted husband, a roof over her head, etc. Yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. She felt, blah… She said she didn’t feel anything for her life anymore.

She went to her counselor and was told to write down what she was grateful for at the end of the day. They wanted her to take just ten minutes and reflect on everything she could to be grateful for. The idea was that she would see what she was overlooking throughout her day, and that would create the internal shift that she needed. She did the exercises and loved them. She loved the feeling that she received from doing them so much, and she decided that she wanted more of that feeling. Hailey decided to remix the gratitude practice by taking a photo a day for a whole year. She’s a photographer and figured that doing something she loved like taking photos would enhance her feelings of gratefulness.

Side note: (She committed to doing this for a year. You already know that repetition is the king of all habits when it comes to forming lasting change. Hailey wanted to change her feelings about life, so she committed to going all in on her gratitude process.)

She took all sorts of photos and everything was fine. Here’s where things got interesting. She didn’t feel that her husband was particularly romantic. He wasn’t the buy you flowers all of the time type. They didn’t go out a lot and whatnot. One day, she was trying to figure out what would be the subject of her gratitude picture. She looked over and saw her “unromantic” husband serving dinner to her and their family. This is what happened next – “I was looking around the room, and then I saw my husband serving dinner,” she says. “In the corner of my eye, I watched as he put the biggest piece of pie on my plate, and I was like, ‘Whoa’ … And he was doing that every day — he was putting me fully first. But I was not seeing it because I was not looking.”

This reminds me of an exercise that Tony Robbins does. He asks people to think of a color like brown. Then he tells them to look for as much of the color brown that they can find. What tends to happen is that all day long, those people look for the color brown everywhere they are. The strange thing is that they find the color. They notice the color brown in things that they look at every day but never pay close attention to.

This begs the question. What blessings are we not fully experiencing because we’re not looking for them?

Here’s the Challenge:

Take pictures throughout the day and really look at them. Look for the beauty in them. The beauty that you see in them is literally the beauty that’s all around you.

The more that you take these free flowing type photos, the more you will become adept at finding gratitude in your world. You will also find it easier to make gratitude subjects for the day and find corresponding pictures that represent what your grateful for.

Give this a shot for 5 to 10 days. Set out each day to have a gratitude subject. Take a picture of something or someone that represents what your grateful for. At the end of the day write about it and really take the time to see what you saw.

21 Day Gratitude Challenge


In a study by Dr. Robert A. Emmons of the University of California, Davis, and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami, college students who wrote a few sentences about gratitude each week for 10 weeks were more positive and optimistic about their lives than those who wrote about irritations and frustrations. The study also found that these students exercised more and had fewer visits to the doctor. I don’t know about you, but that’s enough for me to give focused gratitude a try.

What is focused gratitude? It’s the practice of making it a point to set aside time to really focus on things in our life to be grateful for. This practice takes us a past the obligatory, ” I’m thankful for a roof over my head, my job, food on the table, etc.” This practice leads us into the nooks a crannies of life. For instance, I’m grateful for the neighborhood that I live in. My grocery stores have fresh food. I’m grateful for clean water to consume. Ask yourself this. When was the last time you really gave thanks for the ability to wash your hands with soap while you were out and about?

This gratitude challenge is a cool way to give us a little structure in our approach to practicing gratitude on a daily basis. It helps us tune in to the rhythm of the universe, which is love and forward growth.

Doing this for 21 days helps build and reinforce the habit of always looking for and seeing the best. ” Seek and ye shall find.”

Without further ado, let’s get this gratitude party started.


Day 1: Tell us why you chose to do this challenge and what do you expect to get from doing it.

Day 2: Write about something that you feel grateful for in your life today.

Day 3: Take a picture of a person, place, or even a pet that makes you feel grateful. Try to think of specific moments in time that you felt most grateful.

Day 4: Send a card to someone. It doesn’t have to be a birthday card either. Send a card to someone telling them how cool they are, or what it is about them that you are grateful for.

Day 5: When your in line today, whether it’s at the gas station or grocery store. Be sure to look the cashier in the eye and tell them thank you. If you want extra credit, give them a few bucks, and see how good it will make you feel.

Day 6: Take five minutes to wrote about how grateful you are for all of the wonderful things that you currently have in your life.

Day 7: Do a random act of kindness

This can be small or large! Not sure what to do? Try one of these:

• Pick up litter at your nearby park

• Bake cookies for a nursing home or neighbors

• Make dinner for a family that needs a night off

• Leave a kind note or money in a library book

• Pay for someone’s meal or coffee

• Leave an unusually large tip

• Thank a teacher with a small gift

• Get groceries for a senior

• Lend someone a book or movie you love
Day 8: Look in the mirror and love yourself. We are too hard on ourselves for all of the wrong reasons sometimes. Let’s turn that negativity ship around, and love on ourselves. ( Hey, if you find this difficult, you really need to do this more than just for today)

Day 9: Write about a meal you are grateful for. Write about your favorite meal and how it makes you feel. I love to eat, so this may take me , . Think about the fact that you and I can afford to eat the way that we do. Isn’t that a blessing.

Day 10: Buy someone something to eat. Don’t be too cheap about it either. It can be a gift card or someone that you are near in line while waiting for your food. You can buy their food too. Some people even choose to surprise the person that’s behind them in the drive thru and purchase their meal for them.

Day 11: Thank the Lord for your purpose. And if you don’t know what your purpose is. Give thanks for it anyway. The answer will come to you. Remember, your praise and gratitude open doors that money and education can’t.

Day 12: Pick one of your five senses and give thanks for them. I don’t care if one of them ain’t working as well as you would like. Give praise anyway and watch God move.

Day 13: Take a moment and give thanks for the folks around you. This could be your neighbors, coworkers, or family. Think about their unique talents and personalities that help make your life work.

Day 14: Give thanks for the negative stuff in your life. You read that correctly, the negative. Just write a small message of thanks about that breakup, losing that job, that sickness, etc. This is not easy to do, but I guarantee you that God has some oil in it for you.

Day 15: Today, we are going to live with the attitude that things are working out for us. Today, we will go all out at being positive. We won’t be keeping it real today. We will keep it blessed and highly favored.

Day 16: This is going to suck, but it will be a blessing. Pick a family member or friend that you have regular contact with. Try your best to view their actions through a positive lens. I want you to assume that they mean well, and if that’s too much. I want you to know that all things are working for you and not against you.

Day 17: Write a letter of gratitude to someone that you don’t get along with. It can be a text, dm of Facebook, or an email. If you’re bold, you can call them too. Find something good to say to them about themselves. This is not for you to air out your grievances. This is all about you making room for the miraculous in your life.

Day 18: Stand in front of the mirror today and pat yourself on the back. You are a tough, courageous somebody. You are changing your life doing this crazy spiritual challenge. I think you deserve a round of applause.

Day 19: Think about a goal that you achieved and show that moment some love.
Day 20: Write a thank you note to yourself. Thank yourself for being a bold action taker. Know that you are not like most people. You are courageous, consistent,, kind, and a little crazy?.

Day 21: Take yourself out today. You did this challenge and that deserves some celebration. If you’re like me, you would probably go out and get that favorite meal that you’re grateful for ?

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This Pissed Me Off!!

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“With the end of 2022 now in sight, have you made the progress you planned on this year, Donald?

If you’re crushing all your goals and setting new ones – congratulations! Now is not the time to slow down, but instead capitalize on your momentum and tap into the success cycle with a Tony Robbins Results Coach.

If you haven’t met your goals for the year, you’re not alone – and a Results Coach can help ensure that next year you don’t look back with the same sense of disappointment. After all, how this year ends is how 2023 begins.”..

This is an excerpt from an email that I received from Tony Robbins. I didn’t get it directly from Tony, but I’m on his list lol!

This email pissed me off with myself.

The email reminded me that I didn’t do what I said that I would do at the beginning of 2022. It reminded me that I wasted another year living in limbo, because I didn’t get into my life like I was supposed to.

But this email gave me a special gift. It gave me the right kind of motivation that gets stuff done. It gave me ‘Discomfort ‘. This type of discomfort creates real action because you realize that you have been living a lie and have become somewhat comfortable at living uncomfortable. I’m not talking about that uncomfortable that’s needed for growth. I’m speaking about the uncomfort of working a dead end job, or being overweight, or living in a house that doesn’t represent who you really are. I’m talking about being uncomfortable and almost accepting it as life. That limbo place where you know better. You also know the habits that you’re supposed to be implementing to get where you’re supposed to go. But you keep falling off and before you know it a year has passed by, and you realize that you let yourself down again.

This email helped me. Because I made a promise to myself that next year I would resonate with the part of the email that says, ” If your crushing your goals and setting new ones- congratulations!”

That will be my testimony next year. I believe that because I’m actually doing something about becoming that man right now!!!

“Never leave the site of a goal without first taking some form of positive action towards its attainment. Right now, take a moment to define the first steps you must take to achieve some goal. What can you do today to move forward?” – Tony Robbins

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How To Put A Demand On The Universe

Here’s something that I have discovered.

You have to impose your will on yourself and Universal Forces at times.

Not all of the time, because there is a such thing as God’s sovereign will. I know that we live in a culture that likes to believe that they can name it and claim it. While that is true in a lot of instances, it’s not true in all. Heck I prayed, believed, and declared that my mother would live through our last hospital scare. But she didn’t. She had pneumonia and it had gotten really bad. So bad until the doctors had to intubate her. That was beyond rough for me. The whole prayer thing didn’t seem to work then. I know that you can think of some situations in your life where it may have appeared that prayer didn’t work. I personally believe that situations like these are the reasons that church (religion) doesn’t appeal to so many. I believe the pain that comes with believing for the best, or should I say what we believe the best is, is the reason that we struggle with our prayer lives. We struggle with having the energy and courage to pray, because prayer feels like a game of craps.

I understand and I get it. I also understand and believe that we are not as smart as we think that we are. We really don’t know what’s best for ourselves. Because I believe that, I also believe that the main purpose of prayer is not get stuff, change an unwilling God’s mind, or to somehow manipulate the atmosphere to bend to our will. I believe that prayers main purpose is to change us. Think about it, God knows everything already. We’re dealing with divine consciousness here, not some family member. So if God already knows everything, telling Him about your situation is much like sending Him an email that He already knows is coming, He already knows the answer to. It’s pointless for God, but essential for us. We as humans (finite beings) are limited by time and other stuff. So we need to get our thoughts out into the atmosphere if you will. We also, need to position ourselves in postures to be able to hear and receive divine counsel (ideas, direction, etc). It’s hard for us to have anything get through to us while we’re up and going. It’s in those moments of silence, and contemplative stillness are we able to hear what the divine has to say. May I add that even in our silence we can still not hear properly. Our ego’s can sometimes get in the way.

                 How To Impose Your Will On                                 The Universe?

You can’t really lol!!

I wrote it because it sounded cool.

Also, I wrote it because there’s a universe inside of each of us. There’s a world of living breathing thoughts. These are responsible for your current reality. So if there is anyone or thing that we are going to be imposing our will on, it’s ourselves.

“We must be convinced that abundance is the natural state of the universe. To experience and accept abundance in our life, we must be convinced that as we conceive and believe, the universe handles the details.” – Ernest Holmes

Life is meant to be lived. I’m really beginning to believe and feel that statement in more profound ways.

I currently work in the grocery business. I’ve  become known as the ‘Cooler King’ in my company. The reason for that is because I have sold quiet a bit of coolers (the kind that you see while you’re waiting in line at the grocery store). Generally companies like Coke, Dr Pepper, and Pepsi get all of the action in the stores. I work for a smaller flavored water company, that’s not even distributed by any of the big distributors either. I’m telling you this because getting a store to allow you to place a cooler in their store is a big deal in this industry.

Well a few months back all was going well until I got a call from my merchandiser that one of my stores took our cooler out and placed it in the back of the store. This was horrible because it’s so hard to get these coolers into stores. My immediate thought was, what will I do with this cooler now!!

Something told me to keep the cooler on the truck until you’re able to place it in another store. That’s stupid!! These coolers are big and it would be in my way and there’s a strong chance that the cooler could be damaged.

I kept the cooler on the truck. I didn’t complain about having to pick it up either. I forced my mind to believe that we were going to get this sold to another store. Keeping the cooler on the truck was a way to force me to BELIEVE.

Guess what!! I picked that thing up Wednesday and got it placed in another store by Friday of the same week.

                     How Did I Manifest This?

I didn’t know what store would accept the cooler. Here’s the deal I had prospects that could possibly accept it, because I showed up everyday and did my job. I am always mentioning coolers to various accounts. Remember I’m the Cooler King.  I’m the Cooler King because I always think, boy wouldn’t it be nice for this store to have a cooler. It’s always in the forefront of my mind. Also, I’m always in the field serving my accounts.

I could make a demand because I lived from a place of demand. I was not afraid to ask for what I wanted (You have not because you ask not – James 4:2). I was always out prospecting. Faith like this comes from work. The work aka the repetition of doing things in a certain way changes you.

I’m writing this because today I was told that another store wants me to remove a cooler. There’s nothing wrong, they just want to put something else in the spot that we’re in.

I’m going to pray for clear direction. Offer the cooler over and over to other accounts that I have a relationship with. Pick up the cooler at the right time, and hold it on the truck until it’s sold. I’m not upset. In fact I’m happy because I believe that it’s all apart of God’s plan. If He brought it to me, He brought a way to make it work out for my good with it. Amen

Here are some practical steps:

1) Pray regularly for divine alignment.

This will give you the courage to do what you wouldn’t ordinarily do.

2) Live from a place of reverential alertness and gratitude.

Basically, this means that you know that everything happens for a reason, and you just so happen to believe that the reason is working for your greatest good.

3) When you feel that nudge that tells you to believe even when it doesn’t make sense. Go all out and make that thing come true. Notice I said make, that means be prepared to put in some work. Here’s the caveat. You work from a place of expectancy, not worry.

4) Live Prayerfully so that when you’re out there working and your mind is tempted to doubt. You replace your doubts immediately with expectation. This is called active faith.

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