Gratitude Journal

Use kindheartedness within your own emotions, whether they're good or bad ones.  Being aware of my presence from mindfulness practice extends the journey from my own breath to my emotions.  Noticing my current emotion and accepting it.  If it's negative, "Breathe", so that I can make better choices to deal with my current emotion.  I am very grateful for making sense of my body, mind, and brain connections.  Keeping a "Gratitude Journal" is recommended for this practice.  True, when I purposefully look for gratitude in my regular life, surprisingly, it comes to me!  When I am appreciative, I feel content.

My eyebrows were as thick as the Olympic National Forest. It's time to take care of them, I thought.  When I walked into the comfortably air conditioned Nail Salon, it was full.  A customer service lady kindly told me, "There is about a 30 minute waiting time."  I said,  "I will be back."  I did some errands, then went back about an hour later.  It was full again.  The same lady noticed me, "Oh, you came back again.  I am sorry, but you have to wait for 20 minutes.  Sit there," she said, pointing towards a waiting seat.  I said, "It's OK.  I can come back.  What time are you closing?"  She frantically waved her hand right in front of her face and said, "No, no, you don't have to come back.  I will do it right now."  She cleverly managed her other customer by letting her dry her wet toenails before the paint process.  She started working on my eyebrows, and in less than 15 minutes, she flipped her plan and had taken care of my bushy eye brows!  She even charged me a discounted price because she said she was happy that I came back.  "Thank you and come back again," she smiled.  Needless to say, I was grateful.

The rest of my day was purely pleasant even though I kept failing the download of the new system, Windows 10, onto my computer.  I accepted my frustration, took some breaths, and brainstormed options that would help me solve the problem.  I am thankful that I didn't throw my computer towards the other side of the room.  It is still hard to accept my emotions but I keep practicing.