Harvesting the Gifts of your Life: Make a Gratitude Visit

First, I am glad to reconnect with you after honoring my need to be present for my family over the last few months. I hope your summer was filled with juicy delights.

As autumn approaches, with its theme of harvest, I invite you to consider the bountiful harvest of your life at 50, 60 and beyond. What are the fruits of life for which you’re grateful?

 I like to set aside time to be still and to reflect on the magnificence of my life—all of it—the victories, the losses, the challenges, the growth, the journeys, the discoveries, the inspiring mentors and wise guides, doing the work I adore. Above all, the fruits that have nourished me the most are my loving relationships. I am blessed to have a bounty of love in my harvest basket.

As I reflect on my deep gratitude for the exquisite gift of love of friends and family, my joy expands. Inspired by the research of Martin Seligman, PhD, on the practice of a “gratitude visit” as a means of elevating a state of happiness, I described and demonstrated in a talk to The Happiness Club of Fairfield, Connecticut a gratitude visit to my sister, Dale. Here’s how it works:

  • You identify someone who has made a positive impact on your life.
  • You write that person a letter, on beautiful paper, in which you specify the myriad ways they have made a difference in your life, for example: how they supported you, believed in you, loved you and the like.
  • To make it extra special.  You may laminate it, frame it or enhance the letter with photos that you present in a lovely album.
  • You then set a time to meet in person and read the letter, making eye contact and reading from your heart.

As someone predicted, there was not a dry eye in the auditorium when I faced my sister and began to tell her how I have loved her from the day I held her in my arms in the back seat of the car as we drove her home from the hospital for the first time. My sister began to weep, the president of club shot out of his seat in a standing ovation, men and women were wiping away the tears of joy.

What I know for sure is that as we express our gratitude to another in this manner, it creates a deeper bond of intimacy, trust and joy. Who will you honor in this manner?

Please write in and comment on your experiences of a gratitude visit. I promise that it will be one of the highest, unforgettable experiences of your life.

With joyful blessings,

Connie

**My next post will be: Love After Fifty: Why Women Give up the Dream!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First, I am glad to reconnect with you after honoring my need to be present for my family over the last few months. I hope your summer was filled with juicy delights.

 

As autumn approaches, with its theme of harvest, I invite you to consider the bountiful harvest of your life at 50, 60 and beyond. What are the fruits of life for which you’re grateful?

 

I like to set aside time to be still and to reflect on the magnificence of my life—all of it—the victories, the losses, the challenges, the growth, the journeys, the discoveries, the inspiring mentors and wise guides, doing the work I adore. Above all, the fruits that have nourished me the most are my loving relationships. I am blessed to have a bounty of love in my harvest basket.

 

As I reflect on my deep gratitude for the exquisite gift of love of friends and family, my joy expands. Inspired by the research of Martin Seligman, PhD, on the practice of a “gratitude visit” as a means of elevating a state of happiness, I described and demonstrated in a talk to The Happiness Club of Fairfield, Connecticut a gratitude visit to my sister, Dale. Here’s how it works:

 

  • You identify someone who has made a positive impact on your life.
  • You write that person a letter, on beautiful paper, in which you specify the myriad ways they have made a difference in your life, for example: how they supported you, believed in you, loved you and the like.
  • To make it extra special.  You may laminate it, frame it or enhance the letter with photos that you present in a lovely album.
  • You then set a time to meet in person and read the letter, making eye contact and reading from your heart.

 

As someone predicted, there was not a dry eye in the auditorium when I faced my sister and began to tell her how I have loved her from the day I held her in my arms in the back

seat of the car as we drove her home from the hospital for the first time. My sister began to weep, the president of club shot out of his seat in a standing ovation, men and women were wiping away the tears of joy.

 

What I know for sure is that as we express our gratitude to another in this manner, it creates a deeper bond of intimacy, trust and joy. Who will you honor in this manner?

 

Please write in and comment on your experiences of a gratitude visit. I promise that it will be one of the highest, unforgettable experiences of your life.

 

With joyful blessings,

Connie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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