Day 27 Gratitude Challenge

With four days left in the 2023 Gratitude Challenge, I will focus on more personal things.

For most of my life, I have lived with animals. During my early years, we had a Dalmatian (honestly don’t remember what happened with that dog). When I was about four, we got a beagle puppy that would live for 15 years. We also had a receiving door of cats. During high school we got a cat named Rowdy who seemed to only like me. About the time I purchased my first home, two cats decided to join me. One of the cats would live for 19 years.

When the cat passed away in 2015, I was fairly certain there would be no more pets in my life. However, my youngest had other plans. He began planting seeds in late 2018. “We need a dog,” he said.

Pretty soon, his mother was on board. It was 2 against 1. They began showing me pictures of dogs they would like. Puppy pictures are hard to resist. My resolution remained strong. Further neither my wife and nor son had prior dog experience. This is a ridiculous idea I said. We aren’t getting a dog.

When my youngest son advocates for an idea, he can be unrelenting and persistent. His constant requests and suggestions began to weaken my resolve. I began looking at the puppy pictures. I began researching where to get a dog. I explored and considered a rescue dog. Ultimately I decided this was not the best route for our family at the time. NOTE: I think rescue dogs are amazing. I know many people who have successfully obtained a dog this way. If you are looking for a dog or cat, consider a rescue.

Long story short, by late March 2019, I put down a deposit for a dog from a litter of puppies due in May. If all went well we would have a dog by July.

Luck and fortune were on our side, on June 29 we brought her new puppy home. we considered several names but settled on Ginger. It’s hard to explain to those who don’t have a dog the bond that is formed. I won’t attempt to explain it here.

Today, and indeed every day, I am grateful for the joy, energy, and unconditional love our dog provides us. She is part of our family and our lives are immeasurably better. If you have a pet or had a pet, take a few moments and be grateful for them. Have a great day.

Day 26 – Gratitude Challenge

As this Thanksgiving weekend draws to a close, I can’t help but be grateful for the quality time spent with family.

Thanksgiving was spent with my family. For the first time in years both our children were home for Thanksgiving. Yesterday I attended “The Gathering” of relatives on my spouse’s side. “The Gathering” is an annual event that started with my wife’s grandparents hosting a meal and gift exchange for their children (including my mother-in-law). It has expanded to include the grandchildren and now great grandchildren. It is a wonderful event with great people.

Today’s challenge is to be grateful and express gratitude to and for extended family. Especially Grandparents, parents, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins whether by birth, adoption, or marriage. Remember my spouse’s wise words – “Love multiplied it never divides.”

Day 25 Gratitude Challenge

Pretty soon, gratitude will become a habit, if you continue to practice it. There are several ways you could do this. You could repeat this gratitude challenge every month. You could pick three things every morning and every night that you are grateful for. You could pay it forward every day. But if you want to make it a habit and keep it simple, today’s challenge is for you. Today’s challenge is simple. Say thank you and mean it for everything and everyone. If you go to a store and a clerk helps you, say thank you. If someone compliments you, say thank you. If your car starts, say thank you. If you have hot water, say thank you. If your dog greets you, say thank you.

Pay attention to how people respond. Pay attention to how you respond. Journal about it. One last thing, if you are reading this, thank you.

Day 24 Gratitude Challenge

“If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” – William Morris

Yesterday was a very good day. Both of my sons came home for Thanksgiving. My wife prepared amazing food for all. I took a nice walk with our dog. We watched football and basketball.

Except for the walk, all events took place in our home of 19 years. Our home is so beautiful (almost entirely because of my wife’s decorative skills). Over the last couple of years, we have transformed and modernized our space. Much of this has involved decluttering which is challenging for me. However, the joy I felt yesterday, made it all worth it.

The challenge today is to look around your living space. Notice the things that are beautiful and useful. Additionally, notice the things that are neither – and get rid of those things. Commit to getting rid of two things today. Dispose of two things tomorrow. Repeat until the above quote is a reality.

Be grateful for the beauty around you. I have included a picture of our dining-room table set for Thanksgiving meals. At least four generations have enjoyed meals at this table. I was young when my mother received this table from her mother. Years later, my mother would pass it on to me. I hope you can see the beauty and usefulness of this table – and the joy it has brought to my family for approximately a century.

Day 23 Gratitude Challenge

Today is the annual day of gratitude in the United States. The first national day of Thanksgiving was first declared by George Washington in 1789. Yet, it was during the civil war that it seemed to take hold in the United States. My hope is you all will take time to reflect on all that is wonderful in your life.

Today, many of us will gather with family and friends to watch football, tell stories, eat turkey, and enjoy our blessings. The challenge for today is to read the below statements, watch the WKRP Thanksgiving Episode (which is loosely based on events in South Dakota), love your friends and family, and be grateful for all you have.

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and even soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the
ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and provoke their aggressions, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefullyacknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows,
orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.


Abraham Lincoln
By the President: William H. Seward. Secretary of State.

Day 22 Gratitude Challenge

I wasn’t alive when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I have talked with many that were. It is a day they will never forget.

Today marks the 60th anniversary of his assassination. One could write extensively about the events of this day. It was a tragic day in American history.

There are two parts of today’s challenge. First be grateful for democracy and elected officials. Our democracy only works if we have good people willing to serve. Write a note or make a call to at least one elected official thanking them for their service. Second, today is a pay it forward day. Buy coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack for at least one person today. This can be somebody special or a stranger.

Day 21 Gratitude Challenge

It’s a busy week but I always have time for gratitude. In today’s environment, it often to find fault with where you live. Perhaps the weather is less than ideal, or the politics, or the economy, or some of the people. Yet we choose to live here. Why? If you look around, there many great things about where you live. My city has nice parks, bike trails, and Sioux Falls. There is wonderful art downtown. We have many very good restaurants with a wide variety of choices for differing tastes. Our airport has nice connections to major airports for the times I want to travel. Sunsets are often stunning. What are you grateful for in your hometown? Make a top 10 list and share it with others.

Day 20 Gratitude Challenge

It is easy to think of the wonderful things that happened in life. Sometimes we may need a gentle reminder of all that we have. For most of this challenge, the focus is on good things and good actions in life. This is intended to serve as a the gentle reminder of the good already present in life.

However, we all know that life is all rainbows, puppy dogs, disco dancing, and Viking wins. Life is full of challenges and sometimes the Vikings lose. This gratitude challenge was born from one of those times in 2020. The Fall 0f 2020 was one of the darkest times in my life.

But as the saying goes, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Today, take time to think about the challenges you have overcome in life. Be grateful for the challenges, the lessons they have taught you, the skills you have gained, and t he resilience you have built.

Day 19 Gratitude Challenge

It’s hard to believe that four years ago, I took and posted a picture that changed everything. It was during my first gratitude challenge.

I remember being in my backyard and taking the picture. It was an unseasonably warm November day similar to yesterday. I decided to post the picture with some clever words related to my teaching in a hoodie. Early in my teaching career, I was strictly a suit and tie person. So to teach class in a hoodie was out of character. But this was also at the height of the pandemic, and I was teaching online, so everything seemed out of character. Attached to the post where the following words:

I’m teaching class today in my @augievolleyball hoodie Why?

  1. Because I love the coaches and players
  2. Because I can!
  3. It’s a great day!
  4. My @augieutennis hoodie is worn out
  5. It’s the only Augie hoodie I have
  6. My mom will probably appreciate a picture of me.

What followed was unexpected. As I looked at the picture, I barely recognized the person in it. I knew something needed to change. It is amazing how motivating a picture can be.

I decided to lose weight and take control of my health. I began the process alone, I told no one what I was doing. I set a goal weight which I thought was ridiculous. Over the next five months, I lost approximately 60 pounds. Though I have gained a few pounds back, I am still 50 pounds lighter than this picture (interestingly I am at the original goal weight). I am healthier. I feel better. I have less pain. I sleep better. For all these things I am grateful.

The challenge today is to give thanks for unknown blessings already in their way. Bonus challenge is to pay it forward. By a stranger coffee or a meal. Have a great day!

Day 18 Gratitude Challenge

Yesterday was a great day, I had chances to help people at work. I had great conversations with friends. I had a date with my wife at a restaurant we had not been to before.

But as wonderful as yesterday was, many of my conversations involved things that were not pleasant. One conversation talked about the dynamics of a dysfunctional relationship . Another conversation was about how to deal with aging and ailing parents. And yet another conversation dealt with the struggles of ailing spouses.

As I reflected on the day, I focused on all that have. Yet, I also thought about the situation of my friends. Like my friends, my life is not perfect. It would be easy to focus on the imperfections and flaws. Yesterday, I chose gratitude rather than negativity and it made all the difference.

Todays challenge is to do focus on health. Starting small by being grateful for air in my lungs, a beating heart, the gift of senses, and the ability to move with little pain. My health is infinitely better than it was four years ago when I started this challenge and for this I am grateful. I take time today to focus on your health and be grateful for what you have. If you can improve your health, do something today.