Are You Feeling It?
Lorraine Lane No Comments

Are You Feeling It?

Are You Feeling It? The “it” being the expression of GRATITUDE.  🙏

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” 🎁 according to William Arthur Ward

Do you ever feel that you’re sailing through the busyness of daily life like a boat ⛵without a captain? You’re setting goals and making every attempt to achieve them. You’re paying attention to your health because you know you need to, and with all the commercials and focus on being healthy, you don’t want to appear to be a slacker! You know you need to spend quality time with your family and friends. And your calendar is already overflowing. 📆 You’re jumping from one thing to another non stop.

And then … you realize that your alignment with your Higher Purpose might be suffering neglect. Wowzers! How do you fit it all in?

And then…. you are encouraged to be grateful. Because November is National Gratitude Month. Be grateful for all your blessings.

Yes, we’re in the depths of challenging times, and it’s easy to feel like life is an endurance test. Are the people in your life who matter most, as well as your body and business, conspiring against you? When thoughts about throwing in the towel haunt you, it’s a powerless place to be. And certainly not a happy place. 😔🥺

There is one powerful thing that can break the chains of feeling like a victim, and that is gratitude. It’s a life-changing shift of your focus from heartache, frustration, isolation, sadness, distress, and just plain blahness… to recognizing all you have to be grateful for.  Take a 5 – 10 minute break and just breathe. Think of one – just one 1️⃣- thing that you are grateful for today. It could be that check that came in the mail (happy dance!) 💃 or that your kid actually said, “thank you” for making dinner! Or your orchid is going to blossom! It’s the little things. And, it takes noticing and taking the moment to feel into the gratitude.

The journey from victim to empowered is through gratitude – gratitude expressed. Take the first step. Then the second and third steps will follow. Give the gift. It’s so worth it.

 

 

Lorraine Lane No Comments

Learning to be Grateful Without Having to be Scolded!

Learning to be grateful without having to be scolded into it was a powerful moment in my life!

Have you ever found yourself scolded into feeling grateful? Urgings from mothers, dads, teachers and other wise ones who preach that gratitude is the key 🗝️to happiness ☺️, and we must express it. But the real magic 🪄of gratitude comes not from coercion, but from its honest and natural expression. A cartoon bear with hearts and text Description automatically generated

At its core, gratitude is alive when it flows freely and naturally not when it’s forced. It’s about finding appreciation in the simplest of things, not because we’re guilt-tripped into it.

Forced gratitude is inauthentic. Others have it worse so stop being an ingrate! Coercing ourselves or being coerced into the state of gratitude doesn’t reflect our genuine feelings and awareness.

I recall my early resistance to my mother insisting that I say “thank you” and express gratitude to my grandparents or other relatives for their gifts. The “thank you” was rote, and didn’t come from my heart ❤️. Not that I wasn’t grateful, but the “thank you” was not really mine.

It wasn’t until I consciously began to notice small joys like the sensation of raindrops ☔ on my face, the rustle of autumn leaves 🍂as I walked to school, the smell of bread baking 🍞in the local bakery, or the taste of my mom’s apple pie 🥧 – precious moments that sparked real gratitude in me. I didn’t have to be scolded into those enriching experiences.

Embracing Gratitude

I appreciate Arianna Huffington’s words, Living in a state of gratitude is the gateway to grace.

Moving beyond the scold to embrace gratitude as personal awareness and discovery of the beauty of everyday moments, and to express gratitude with heartfelt sincerity, makes life truly blessed.

Thank you for reading.

Our theme for November is Gratitude and our monthly workshop takes place on November 28th at 4:00 pm  (ET).  Click here for the ZOOM link.

Make today a great day…because you can!

Lorraine

Lorraine Lane No Comments

Drama is Addictive

Stop the dramaHave you noticed all the drama that surrounds us on a daily – no hourly– basis? It’s tiring and sometimes irritating, though sometimes fun! Watch for it. It’s on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere, and it appears in many conversations.

Something happens. An expected shipment doesn’t arrive on time. A call is made to the business by the customer. A rant ensues. Perhaps a refund is made, or the entire order is reshipped. The customer still isn’t happy and begins to vilify the business on social media and to anyone who will listen. Charges are made about the business owner. “He doesn’t care about his customers!” “He isn’t professional!” The business owner reacts to having lost money and blames the customer for being unreasonable. Each tries to outdo the other with escalating finger pointing and tirades. The drama intensifies.

How can we STOP the damn drama? Read more

Lorraine Lane No Comments

Non-Stop Business: How to Generate Sales

Too many small business owners are stuck in the “once and done” style of doing business. You know, make a sale and then find someone else to sell to.

One way to get customers to become steady clients is to create and offer them a buying schedule. Marketing professionals call this “till forbid”. This is an on-going buying arrangement in which the seller keeps sending product or providing service till told to stop. Read more