Hello and welcome to the Gratitude Breakfast Club.
A quick morning meetup to help you jumpstart or maintain your gratitude practice.
We'll make it quick because we know you have things to do on this beautiful day.
Hello beautiful ones.
Today I'm thinking about failure or the perception of failure.
Because I was recently fired from a new day job.
One that had the potential for me to do good in the world and that would have provided well for my family.
And of course it happened at the most inopportune time.
Right before a very hefty deposit was due on a home that we're leasing.
But I'm happy to say the habits that we're working on together here almost immediately kicked in.
While it is very important to mourn significant losses,
I was relieved that I almost immediately had a positive thought.
And that thought was,
Oh well that gives me more time to work on the Gratitude Breakfast Club.
I appreciated that I immediately remembered that even Oprah had once been fired.
And I appreciated hearing from my colleagues who perceived the value I brought to the role and to their experience at the company.
That they were shocked and saddened.
I also appreciated hearing from these same colleagues,
And from my own brain,
That bigger and better must be on the way.
Because that's what I deserve.
It cracked me up that I almost immediately thought about Chumbawumba,
The British rock band that in 1997 released my grad school anthem,
Tub Thumping,
The I get knocked down but I get up again song.
And I appreciated that I immediately remembered Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem,
For the Man Who Fails,
Which was published in 1913.
In that poem,
Dunbar reminds us that even when we fail,
We set the stage for our later success,
Or the success of those who come after us,
Perhaps even a long time after us.
He reminds us that we stand on the shoulders of those who have succeeded,
As well as those who have failed.
Two more opposite artists couldn't exist,
But here they were housed in my thoughts,
Getting me through this moment.
So today,
Take a moment to reflect in your gratitude journal on the following appreciation accelerators.
Number one.
When was the last time you felt appreciation for an attempt you made,
Regardless of the outcome?
Take some time to journal and revel in the foundation you laid.
If an occasion doesn't immediately come to mind,
Think back through relationships,
School,
Entrepreneurial endeavors,
Parenting,
Or career steps to see what you can find.
And number two.
Who are the ancestors on whose shoulders you stand,
Personal or communal,
For whom you feel gratitude or appreciation?
With love,
Appreciation,
And gratitude,
This is Karen.
