Attitude of Gratitude

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Grayton Beach on a gloomy, foggy late Fall day.

Once again, the winds of Fate have carried me from one town to another.  This time, the vertiginous journey took me from Kansas City, Missouri to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.  A new town, a new home, a new start...again.  I don't know how long Fate will allow us to settle in this sunny pocket of the world before snatching us back up and carrying us somewhere new, so I am determined to make the most of my time here on the Emerald Coast.  To that end, I decided to approach these changes with an Attitude of Gratitude.

 Part of my Attitude of Gratitude Plan includes taking daily beach walks to marvel at the ocean, to breathe, to just be.  Since photography is one of my passions, I also decided to take one beach shot per day and post them on Instagram and Facebook.  

 Someone recently said to me, "I am so envious. You have the perfect life.  I wish I could travel, live near the beach, and get a book deal."

 My response?

 Envy is a corrosive emotion that eats away at your ability to be happy - happy with your blessings & happy for the blessings of others. 

 I know this, because a few years ago, I envied a dear friend's publishing career. Although I worked hard to conceal my envy from her, it was there, below the surface, corroding my contentment, my ability to focus on my own career, and my genuine happiness for her success. Now, I see how incredibly difficult it is to manage a writing career and life demands. Her life wasn't perfect, she worked hard to maintain her blessings and CHOSE to focus on the positives more than the negatives.
My life isn't perfect, but I am blessed. I CHOOSE to focus on and project my deep gratitude over my blessings. I post daily beach walk photos as a way to express my JOY and GRATITUDE, not to make others envious.

On the outside, I am a woman with many blessings, but the internal mechanisms to maintain these blessings are crazy complex. I have my trials - Lord knows, I have serious, sometimes crippling, trials - but I prefer to focus on and SHARE my joy.  Just because I don't share my trials or negative thoughts, doesn't mean I don't have them.  I keep them to myself because I believe inflicting others with your negativity is as offensive as inflicting them with body odor or bad breath.  It's just rude.  

I hope you all have a blessed day. Now, what are you going to do today to bring yourselves some joy and/or spread joy to others?  Post it on Facebook or in the comments below. Let's focus on our blessings and spread the HAPPY. 



I love to watch waves roll onto the shore.  I could sit all day,
photographing the subtle play of light and the
magnificence of motion.


Wave watching with my furry soul mate, Molly the Schnoodle.

Beached kayaks waiting for summer.

Empty beach chairs on Redfish Beach on a late fall day.

Rolling waves at the beach at Watercolor.


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