Tag Archives: Gratitude

My Gratitude Box

Posted in Inspiration, Manifesting, Mindfulness, Motivation, Success, Theme For 2016, Uncategorized by

My Gratitude Box

Gratitude Box

          My Theme/Word for 2016 is GRATITUDE! I’m Grateful for Life, Love, following Christ and for living a life with more experiences, opportunities, and wonderful people than I deserve. Life is so very precious and I don’t, for a second, take that for granted. Every day that I wake up and step foot out of my bed with a sound mind, is another opportunity to be thankful and express my Gratitude for it all!

          A practice that I’ve been doing for a couple of years now involves using a Gratitude Box to hold my notes of Gratitude to God/Universe. Point blank……..you find less to complain about when you focus on all you have to be Grateful for!! That’s not to say that I don’t have my human moments throughout the day when things tick me off OR have a mini “spazz-out” session or two, because I do lol! However, when the dust settles, as the old gospel song we sing in church says, “And I think things over…..all of my good days, outweigh my bad days, and I won’t complain!” #Hallelujah!

          One of the reasons I use a Gratitude Box such as the one above more often than a Gratitude Journal is because I physically add small trinkets that represent things I’m grateful for to the box in addition to the notes and Gratitude cards I place there. Once that box that sits on my night stand is “full of Gratitude” (I Love how that sounds!!!), I empty it into a bigger box that sits in my closet and start filling up the smaller box on my nightstand again.

Thank You cardsGratitude Cards I fill out and add to my Gratitude Box on a regular basis

Interesting Note: These photos of me were taken last year before I was married…..or engaged for that matter….and it’s a bit “strange” to see my left hand without my engagement ring and wedding band on it lol! The interesting thing about my Gratitude practice is that one of the things I repeatedly wrote a Gratitude/Thank You note to God for was this ———> My Husband….BEFORE I ever had one OR even knew who he would be!!! I have plenty of Gratitude notes in my Gratitude Box thanking God IN ADVANCE for my husband! #TrueStory

Thank you cards

           I physically write out the things I’m grateful for in greeting/thank you cards then place them in my Gratitude Box because the Bible says “Write the Vision and Make it plain” (Habakukk 2:2) There is power in writing down your desires, requests, praise and words of GRATITUDE! P.S. = I kind of have a small obsession with all things paper and beautiful greeting cards so this method of using pretty cards and fancy letterhead to fill the box also feeds that obsession of mine 🙂

Gratitude Journal

          Gratitude Journal – Another way to perform this practice is to write your words of Gratitude directly into a Gratitude Journal. This works well because it keeps everything in one compact journal, keeps the entries in chronological order and can be taken with you when you travel, etc. Once again, you are activating that special power that comes from physically writing down the words!

Gratitude Journal

          My Gratitude Expressions include everything under the sun and the Heavens above  – Literally! I include expressions of Gratitude for the love I have for my family to an appreciation of my favorite color, green, simply because it makes me happy! I express Gratitude for the food that I am blessed to eat everyday and for the farmers who grew that food in their fields, to the truck drivers who delivered it to the grocery store and the cashier who rung it up for me when I bought it! There is an unlimited abundance of life experiences to be grateful if we just take the time to sit down and really concentrate on them 🙂

          Choose the method that works for you, but my all means…..DO IT! Express your Gratitude!! The more you express Gratitude to God/ The Universe for the things you are ALREADY blessed with, the more the Universe will open up it’s channels to pour out MORE blessings and MORE things and MORE opportunities and MORE experiences and the right people in your life to be Grateful for!

Dr Carmen April Speaker          Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a 2014 Nashville Emerging Leader (NELA) Award Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter. She is a Law of Attraction Practitioner and an advocate for the power of positive thinking! Dr. April is available for speaking engagements on Leadership and Life Leadership for College Students and Young Professionals.

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Grateful to Be of Service

Posted in Gratitude, Inspiration, Mindfulness, Motivation, Self Care, Theme For 2016 by

Grateful to Be of Service

          As I discussed in my first blog post for 2016, My Theme for the year is GRATITUDE! I am so grateful for all that I am and blessed to experience. I am grateful for beautiful things seen and things not seen in my life.

Gratitude is an emotion that expresses appreciation for what one has as opposed to focusing on what one wants.

            Expressing gratitude is a great multiplier because the more we are GRATEFUL for what we already have, the more the Universe gives us to be GRATEFUL for! Expressing gratitude has been shown to increase happiness, optimism, and empathy. Gratitude can allow you to see the sunshine through the rain and can offer peace in the midst of a storm.

          This morning I visited Renewal House , a safe haven in Nashville for women working to overcome drug and alcohol addiction. I’ve visited Renewal House many times taking donations of clothes, housewares, food and snacks, etc. Two weeks ago I also visited Renewal House with my Sorority chapter for Martin Luther King Day of Service and spent the morning with the women who are going through the program. I gave a short presentation, “Secrets of Success” that apply to everyone, no matter where they are in life. I always feel a strong sense of gratitude every time I visit that I’m able to donate things that have brought me joy and share them with others. Last week I also enjoyed sharing that bit of motivation with the women

Renewal House volunteering

❒ This morning, however, in addition to feeling gratitude for all that I have, I also felt gratitude for the women and their children who have come to Renewal House to recover and keep their families together.

❒ I’m grateful that Renewal House exists to provide a safe haven and recovery program for women who really need it

❒ I’m grateful for everyone who works with these women and their families on a daily basis

❒ I’m grateful for the two caring souls who started Renewal House 20 yrs ago

❒ I’m grateful to those who give of their time and talents on the Board of Directors

❒ I’m grateful for the strong spirits of the women in the treatment program who desire a better life for themselves and their children

❒ I’m grateful that lives are being changed and restored through this program because of the love, generosity and dedication of individuals with big hearts!

❒ I’m grateful that the clothes, kitchen appliances, wall hangings and housewares that have brought me happiness in my home can now be used to bring happiness to other women

❒ I’m grateful that I’m able to offer what I have to give to help make another woman’s journey a bit sweeter 🙂

          So you see, this practice of GRATITUDE opened my eyes today to not only appreciate what I have to give, but also to be GRATEFUL for everyone else that my gifts will touch and for the program that is allowing them the opportunity to do that.

What are you GRATEFUL for today?

Dr Carmen April Speaker          Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a 2014 Nashville Emerging Leader (NELA) Award Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter.  Dr. April is available for speaking engagements on Entrepreneurship and Life Leadership for College Students and Young Professionals.

Gratitude Unlocks Blessings

Posted in Inspiration, Leadership, Motivation, Success, Uncategorized by

Gratitude Unlocks Blessings

Gratitude, Life coach, Nashville life coachWhen you fall in love with Life, limitations Disappear!

Gratitude is a special key for unlocking a floodgate of blessings!

          Gratitude is an extremely strong energy!

          Breath in your body and the fact that you woke up this morning is enough to be grateful for! There’s a reason you are still alive here on earth. You may not have everything you want at this present moment and may not be exactly where you want to be at this point in your life, but I can almost guarantee that if you are reading this right now…….you have more than enough!

          If you are constantly complaining about what you don’t have and not having enough, the Universe will send you more things to complain about not having.

          But, the more we are thankful for the things we DO have, the more the Universe will send us great things to be thankful for! Isn’t that awesome!

          You give and your receive…..it’s the Law of Attraction! Put out negative energy = get negative energy back. Put out good energy = receive good energy back!

          Being Grateful for what you have is an awesome spiritual key to opening up a flood gate of additional blessings!

          Take a minute to just sit down with a piece of paper and start writing down things you are grateful for. I do this quite often and find that I really could write for hours and hours on end about the things I am thankful for. I encourage you to try it for yourself and see how amazing you feel during and afterward 🙂

Dr. Carmen April          Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a 2014 Nashville Emerging Young Leader Award Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter.  Dr. April is available for speaking engagements on Entrepreneurship and Life Leadership for College Students and Young Professionals.