Showing posts with label CA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CA. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Cultivating Gratitude!

Hello!

It's a beautiful day in Sacramento California and I hope it is a beautiful day where you are. And it is - you know why? Because you're here, you're alive, you're breathing, that means God is still at work! And for that, we should be thankful.


My favorite and most useful tool in my toolbox has to GRATITUDE! Of all the virtues, gratitude seems to be the least expressed. How often do people go out of their way to thank you? How often do you receive a thank you note when you give a gift? More important, how often do you extend your thanks to others? In our culture of plenty, where everyone feels entitled, we tend to take things for granted.


Being grateful is both a state of mind and perspective. One person’s idea of expressing gratitude may completely contradict another.

Make Gratitude a habit by retraining your brain to think about all there is to be grateful for, in good times or bad, can be life-changing. One of the ways to do this is by viewing each day as a gift. Before the day begins is an excellent time to reflect on all there is to be grateful for. This starts the day with feelings of hope, peace and happiness. You can simply say thank you for the day as soon as you wake up. This puts us right first thing in the morning and starts our day on a good note instead of starting the day out with negative thoughts.

You can also write a gratitude journal, when you jot things down, as opposed to just thinking about them, you are truly taking in each and every one. You aren’t just aware of them, you are acknowledging them. You are pausing and remembering the positives of your day and in your life. You are focusing on a moment in time that you truly appreciated and you are allowing it to sink into your heart and soul. Posting pictures and writing about the things you feel grateful for each day. Gratitude can lead to feelings of love, appreciation, generosity, and compassion, which further open our hearts and help rewire our brains to fire in more positive ways.

Instagram is a perfect tool to remind you of how blessed you are by simply reflecting on your post and friends post.


When we learn to give thanks, we are learning to concentrate not on the bad things, but on the good things in our lives." Says Amy Vanderbilt. Thinking about the good things helps us to be grateful. Remaining grateful helps us to have a positive attitude prompts us to thank about the good rather than the bad. It's a positive cycle that helps fuel itself. If you operate out gratitude you will have no time to be angry. Gratitude is the cure.

Experiencing and expressing gratitude is an important part of any spiritual practice. It opens the heart and activates a new way of thinking.Don’t just think your thanks, show it! Don’t let the kindness of others go unnoticed. Sometimes it’s easy to take for granted the people who are closest to us, but those are the people we should thank the most. Your family, your friends, the ones who love and support you are the ones who should feel your thankfulness the most.

"Thank you, always say thank you; it's the greatest gift you can give someone; because thank you is what you give to God." - Maya Angealou


List five things you are grateful for today.Show your gratitude. Who can you thank today, and how will you show your appreciation? Take a step of faith today and begin to show your thankfulness to those around you. When you feel least thankful, you are most in need of what gratitude can give you: perspective. If you're having a bad day, what is the smallest thing you can be grateful for? If you can think of nothing else, think of your breath. Let it overflow! Sow seeds of gratitude and blessing so you can reap an abundant harvest of blessing in return!

Sunday, April 26, 2015

"Personal Privacy Protection Act" Say What Now?

am writing you today regarding the introduction of the Personal Privacy Protection Act ballot initiative.  Earlier this month the  Pacific Justice Institute, filed paperwork for a statewide ballot initiative that would require Californians to "prove" their gender before using the restroom. 

This act would make it illegal for people to use gendered facilities in government buildings that are not consistent with their “biological sex”—including those in public schools and universities—and would allow people to file lawsuits against trans individuals who they “catch” using the wrong facility for at least $4,000 in damages.

Requiring individuals to prove their gender in order to use restrooms in government buildings is not only outrageous and offensive, but would seem to require restroom  inspectors to enforce it. Can you imagine restroom  inspectors evaluating you and your appearance before using the restroom? How else would one be able to catch people in the “wrong” restroom except by forcing them to show their government identification, their birth certificate, or their genitals before entering, or while they are already in, the restroom ? It should not have to be pointed out to you that such practices would be profoundly humiliating and legitimately dehumanizing.

It's clear that the proposed measure would require unlawful discrimination in violation of federal laws like Title VII and Title IX, and the constitutional guarantee of equal protection. California is relatively unique as a state because it already has progressive laws on the books ensuring transgender students’ rights to use all facilities and participate in all activities that are in accordance with their gender identity. Not everyone agrees with these protections, however I believe everyone should be treated equal under the law.

One of my favorite quotes by Bayard  Rustin is this: “When an individual is protesting society’s refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him.”