“Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden. Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing.” -Jim Rohn

Family

Love

Carrie Flintom, author of Heroes in Heels, recently featured the book, Attitudes of Gratitude How to Give and Receive Joy Every Day of Your Life on her blog.  Carrie writes:

Gratitude is a powerful and life-changing phenomenon.  In her extraordinary book, Attitudes of Gratitude, MJ Ryan teaches us how to unlock the fullness of our hearts through the expression of gratitude.

“Gratitude helps us to return to our natural state of joyfulness,” Ryan writes, “where we notice what’s right instead of what’s wrong. It makes us feel complete, that we have everything we need, at least in this moment.”

Included in the book are many stories of noted, as well as ordinary people, many who had gone through sometimes unimaginably difficult hardships. A Buddhist monk who lived through several wars in Vietnam expressed that, “Suffering is not enough. Life is both dreadful and wonderful [...] How can I smile when I am filled with so much sorrow? It is natural — you need to smile to your sorrow because you are more than your sorrow.”

In this important, now classic bestseller, Ryan shows us that it is a measure of our humanity to have the freedom to choose one’s own attitude, in any circumstance that life may throw at us.

And that makes all the difference.

I couldn’t have said it any better!

This is my wish for you

Comfort on difficult days,

Smiles when sadness intrudes,

Rainbows to follow the clouds,

Laughter to kiss your lips,

Sunsets to warm your heart,

Hugs when spirits sag,

Beauty for your eyes to see,

Friendships to brighten your being,

Faith so that you can believe,

Confidence for when you doubt,

Courage to know yourself,

Patience to accept the truth,

Love to complete your life.

- Author unknown