A snack from the Goat’s Lunch Pail.

by

This week’s guest blogger is a woman whom I aspire to be like. There is simply something about the way she leads her life. How she writes & writes (seemingly without stopping) and all of it so thought provoking.

Each time I visit her blog I’m more drawn to my writer-roots and, sometimes, think that MizFit’s lifespan may be shortened as a result.

Then I remember Im not as talented as she and return to my fitness snarking. For today anyway.

I give you Leah.

Hey Miz,

Here’s a wee bit of stuff about me.

Find me at The Goat’s Lunch Pail.

I’m a freelance writer and former newspaper reporter. I’ve written and submitted a few book manuscripts, but nothing on the shelves yet.

I’m a certified Transpersonal Hypnotherapist with additional training in Past-Life Regression. I’ve studied trance channeling and I’ve got First Degree Reiki and Beginner’s Level Therapeutic Touch.

Both my husband and I like to travel and we’ve been managed to get to a few places over the years. My goal in life is to set foot on all seven continents. I’ve just got Africa and Antarctica to go. I’m only 50.
I’ve barely gotten warmed up.

Thanks again for letting me come over and mess on your floor.

Gratitude and Self-Acceptance.

Got trouble being grateful? Do you forget to do it? Or just not know how?

Or does it make you feel all stupid and funny?

Being grateful is easy. So’s getting past that feeling funny about it.

The simplest way is to forget all about saying thanks out loud or setting aside a specific time for it. It must come naturally or it’s not really gratitude.

Start small and just think the words. Don’t bother saying them out loud. No need to make a production out of it.

Just say a general thanks for the mere fact you got out of bed in the morning, or for the cup of coffee you had, or because the sun rose in the east this morning.

Think I’m kidding about that last one?
I’m not. Imagine how hosed we’d be if it didn’t.

As long as the sun’s coming up in the east the day’s a normal one. It might get weird later on, but you’ve got some stability at the start.

If your family is one that say Grace or the like at meals, then that’s a really good base for expressing gratitude.

Think about the words as you recite them. Make pictures in your mind about the food. It grew in the soil before it got to your plate. The sun warmed it, and the rains nourished it.

It was collected, sorted, and sent to store where it was purchased by someone who did something to it so you could enjoy it. Plenty of people expended effort so you could eat.

Thank them.

Or was it you who did the shopping and the prep?

Maybe you even grew it.

Have you ever thanked yourself for it?

For anything?
Let’s take care of that right now.

You look after yourself. Take a moment and say thanks. Think it privately if you like or look at your reflection and then say thank you to it. It’ll say thank you right back. Accept your thanks.

Be grateful to you for where you are right now. Whether it’s your physical location or something you’ve achieved in your life you did it.

You are responsible for the growth and change you’ve brought about in your life.

Perhaps you got help. Maybe you want to thank the person who put you on the right track, or gave you a hand up when you needed it.

Certainly, that’s great. You should say thanks for this. But no matter how many people reached out to you, you’ve still got to grasp that hand. If you did, then you made the choice to accept help and you worked with it.

You are responsible for where you are and where you’re going. The big part of self-acceptance is understanding this. If you don’t like it, then change. If you do like it, then thank the person who got you there –You.

Appreciate yourself and others will appreciate you, too. Be grateful for who you are because you are all you’ve got.

Thanks so much, Leah.

Ive absolutely, completely nothing to add—-your final sentence sums it all up perfectly.

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Comments

  2. That last sentence is so true. I’ve had many people in my life (who had never met each other) say that “You teach others how to treat you” If you appreciate yourself, others will too and will interact with you as such!

    Great post, thanks Leah!

    All the Best,

    Andrew R

  3. Wow.
    That’s just plain awesome! There is so much to be thankful for – things we take for granted. When I start thinking that way, I can’t help but feel great!
    Great choice MizFit – thank you for the introduction…

    And, Leah – I’m going to say it again – this is completely awesome! Thank you.

  4. What a glorious way to start the day! Thank you, Leah, and Miz,for hosting it.

    And, you know, as SAD as I would be to see a shortened MizFit (so sad that even thinking of it makes feel a little queasy), I’m all for following your dreams. Especially when you have the talent and determination to see them through.

  5. Leah is so amazing.

    and now that I read all your comments I wonder if SHE KNOWS how amazingly talented she is or if, like so many gifted peeps (read: all of us. we all have our thick streak of talent) she doesnt see it in herself. anyone else wanna OUT themselves as having a talent which they ‘cant see’ or cant accept a compliment for?

    be me. I know I am a great rhymer (yeahIsaidit) and will say THANK YOU and a soft HELL YEAH! when given a compliment 🙂

    I also know what I sucketh at…

    it’s all a balance.

  6. Leah is amazing! The Goats Lunch Pail always chills my crazyboots right out. I aspire to exist in that headspace. Somedays I even manage it.

    My Mizfit matchup and I (HI!!) do a gratitude list every day and it has made SUCH a difference to my outlook. If you go out looking for the happy stuff, it will come to you. I believe that. I am so thankful for everything, every day.

    TA x
    and Im outing those who dont know you as a GREAT FAB POWERFUL writer as well

  7. I’m having a lot of trouble being grateful, lately.

    However, last night, while we were getting ready to go to sleep, I spontaneously turned to my husband and told him that actually, we were really lucky, and rattled off a few different reasons why.

    I think it’s easier to be happy when you remember what you’ve got to be happy about. (And Captain Obvious scores again!)

  10. christine I have been thinking about out. it is such a stressful time in your life that finding your ‘lucky’ is truly impressive.

    I got the book DID I EVER TELL YOU HOW LUCKY YOU ARE from the library yesterday (seuss. ostensibly for the toddler)…methinks I have a new tattoo planned from that fine piece of literary genius 🙂

  11. thank you leah and thank you miz for inviting her here.
    I call mizfit my onestop (see? I smooshed the words together like you do LOL) since you don’t just talk about exercise but the whole person.

    thanks again you two.

  12. Thank you so much everyone. I’m very grateful to MizFit for having me over today.
    Christine, good for you. That’s exactly the way to do it.
    Lance, thanks for saying it was awesome. Twice.
    All these compliments are a great way to start the day. They’ll warm me for quite some time to come.

  15. Damn.

    Guess this means I don’t get to keep my cousin’s fabulousness all to myself anymore!! 🙂

    I’ve known for years how great she is…and thanks, Miz, for helping introduce her to the world!

  16. There is nothing like a good dose of “The Goats Lunch Pail” each day to put anyone’s crazy life in perspective. Leah has this way with words that are inspiring and I’m grateful for having read them.

    Now what this post doesn’t tell you is that Leah has other amazing skills like photography. She and her husband continue to make many of us jealous by the fantastic area they live. The photos of her area show the type of wide open sky and clean air that everyone yearns for. Give her site a peak and you’ll be better off too.

  17. so true, tom.

    I kid but it is so the more truth said in jest but my gifts? if I have em they are out on the table.

    I think that’s why Im drawn to people like leah who are onions…the more you peel the more you find.

    me? im a banana.

    together? we’re bunions.

  19. Yes!! I’m an onion! I’m tasty. Cut me and I make you cry. Heat me up and I sweeten. Love it!!
    And I gree we’re bunions.
    Very kind of you, Baggie.
    Tom, that’s very kind.

  23. Wow. I am so glad I stopped here before heading out. I thought I would read the blogs later today but I guess the world decided I needed to read Leah’s words. And I’m so glad I did.

    Thank you, thank you.

  25. That was fantastic, and just what I needed to hear today. Thanks!

    I went to a spiritual seminar once where the gentleman recommended that people learn to say “Thank you” in their heads all day long, no matter what was going on around them. His take on it was that you didn’t have to feel grateful at the moment; you could be mad or sad or apathetic, but that the ACT of saying “thank you” would retrain your brain over time.

    Even if you couldn’t think of anything to be grateful for in the moment, he stressed that you should maintain the inner monologue anyway, because eventually your subconscious would start LOOKING for things to be grateful for, in order to make the constant “thank you’s” make sense.

    Honestly I thought he was full of it at the time.

    Turns out, I was wrong. Who knew that was possible?! 😉

  26. Marste I love that!

    Gonna try it all day today.

    Love,

    Miz, who so recalls who yer pastor is and wants to see that man in action sometime. It’s how this Jew rolls 😉

  27. I love The Goat’s Lunchpail and am grateful I came across it not too long ago. Leah is awesome and talented in many ways. Thanks for this great guest post and I love the onion, banana, bunion thought Miz, you are awesome too!

  28. This is so sweet! I tend to do this kind of thing especially when I’m out for walks or lying in bed… start thinking about totally random things and just really taking the time to appreciate them. We have SO MUCH to be grateful for!

    Also Leah I aspire to your kind of traveling. There’s so many places left that I want to go to! You have a really cool job, by the way.

  29. I love this part:

    “Appreciate yourself and others will appreciate you, too. ”

    I forget it so easily, despite numerous reminders, but it all starts with our own mindset. Everything else follows afterwards. My Mum is buddhist and told me that everyone creates their own suffering. Similarly, we can all create our own joy.

    Thanks for the beautiful post Leah. I only recently discovered your blog, but I’ll be sure to call in for more. 🙂

  30. Thanks everybody. I’m so very grateful for your comments. They make me happy. It would appear I’ve made an impression. That’s good.

    Sagan, find a way to travel. Even going to the next town over is a good change.

  31. You know, I have found that I am so grateful for my life these days, that I am always (well, quite often) pondering how lucky I am to have what I have. For me, going through that darkest times I have ever had and then coming out of them and starting to take care of myself is what made me appreciate everything so so much. The little things don’t seem so bad now, you know?

  33. and leah? That is such amazing advice. For all things in life.

    Travel can be the next town over.
    Changing the world can start with touching one life.
    Leaving a mark can start with smiling at one person. today.

    I’m off with the Tornado.
    She’s crying.
    Here’s hoping mamamiz doesn’t follow suit.

    Imthankful. Imthankful. Imthankful.

  35. The movie is Bring It On. I shamelessly enjoyed the beat of the movie, I felt really pumped up. Yikes

    I think way too often about the sun not coming up, scary thought, but someday it will happen…yet I still want kids? Does that make me selfish, to have my heirs suffer at some point? I don’t know, I guess its a heavy subject.

  37. That is a wonderful post Leah. I was feeling rushed and overworked with things, and this made me stop, breathe and take a minute to thank myself and think of the people who have helped me, and appreciate all the things I”m rushing to do as of late…I was so busy *doing* them, I hadn’t stopped to enjoy them.
    Thanks 🙂

  38. Thanks for a wonderful way to start my morning. I also love Leah’s photos on her blog. (is that okay?)

    Anyway, lovely sentiment.

  42. POD, of course it’s okay. I’m glad you like my pics. I rally enjoy taking them and I’m grateful for a way to share them with others.

    MzFit, thanks for asking. There’s a long complicated answer involving hiking and earning one’s goat legs on the steep slopes. In short, dog’s breakfast is a cliche so I had to think of what other meal I could use. And really, what wouldn’t one find in a goat’s lunch?

  44. Wow: reading that, I realized everything you said in the last two paragraphs makes me feel so powerful.

    I’ve been wondering how to take this sense of gratitude and make it productive, since someone close to me has told me she feels a frequent and profound sense of gratitude but at the same time is often frustrated and discouraged in her life. I think that application of gratitude to and for ONESELF is what she’s missing. I can’t wait to share this with her. Thank you, Leah. I needed it, too.

  45. I’m looking for a reiki therapist. I wonder if you could possibly be near me??? colorado?
    nice, grounding read to start my day. thanks.

  48. I’m so grateful that Leah did a guest post…because I never really ‘got’ gratitude. I mean, I know I have plenty to be thankful for, but Leah’s right, it felt weird at first to sit in gratitude of all things big and small. This makes it all make sense for me! I shall set gratitude as my intent for today. A good day to do it.

  49. “Miz, who so recalls who yer pastor is and wants to see that man in action sometime. It’s how this Jew rolls”

    Miz, come out to CA and we’ll go to the Sunday party! (Because yes, it really IS like going to a party! LOL)

    (If the whole family comes, I can get you all into Disneyland for free, too! Might as well make a family trip out of it!)

  51. Well thank goodness for this post, because my Yogi teabag let me down on deep thoughts today: “Your infinity in you is the reality in you.” Huh?

  52. Great- wonderful – post! I’ve already copied it for future referenced. It’s a great reminder that we can express gratitude at any time and not on a schedule – like before bed, or first thing in the morning, or after coffee, etc. Why not do it when you feel it? Thanks Leah & Miz!

  53. I just saw myself in an entirely new light.

    I take DAMN GOOD care of myself.

    I deserve my own thanks.

    Thanks, me!

    Thank you, Leah!

    Thank you, Miz!

    🙂

  56. I’m grateful for whoever invented pluming and the water heater.

    Yes, I’m grateful for hot showers. I don’t know how to take a short shower with out turning the water to cold to make me quickly shut it off =) What if I wasn’t able to have a nice hot shower…I consider myself spoiled, and I’m grateful for hot water =)

  57. peeking back in to say it works.

    I’ve been chanting I’M THANKFUL all day in my head & despite the efforts of the Tornado I’ve remained fairly appreciative.
    😉

  59. Always grateful for Leah and her upbeat posts. She’s always an inspiring part of my day. Thanks for the double dose at her blog and at yours.

  60. Ooh, can I be a bunion? LOL

    Seriously, fantastic post, Leah. Thanks to Miz for introducing you to us…

  64. “appreciate yourself and others will appreciate you” wow i have REALLY been trying to learn this these days. WONDERFUL post! love her writing.

  65. Wow! I’m late to the party – but what a great way to hit the sack. I’m so thankful for the post and this day – and can’t wait until tomorrow to be thankful for more!

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