Often, as I am lying in bed drifting off to sleep, writing ideas pop into my head. Usually these ideas relate to my upcoming memoir self-help book, but sometimes they are other random bits of information that come out of the woodwork.
The words flow through my head and soothe me to bed like a lullaby, and I get the sensation that I am reading and writing at the same time.
It's pretty cool.
Sadly, I don't always wake up (I rarely do!) to jot down these ideas, so the next day they aren't quite as fresh. But last night, something came into my head that was a pretty cool idea.
What if you were asked to name 100 of your absolute favorite things in the world? This could be anything from an activity, a natural phenomena, an animal, a food...the list should be as unique and personal as possible.
The only thing you should avoid is listing people, cause then the list risks becoming just a long collection of names ("I love my momma, my grandmomma, my daddy etc;" We all do, try to focus on specifics events or activities with people if you want to add them!)
This concept was not invented by me, actually. I must've been distantly thinking of The Book of Awesome, written by Neil Pasricha. Remember that one?! Neil made a comprehensive list of often overlooked, but amazing things.
So, essentially, the idea is to focus on what we love, what we appreciate and what we value. In this crazy and unpredictable world, sometimes it's easy to lose touch with that magical high-on-life feeling that is our birthright, and we have to make some pretty serious efforts to take care of our happiness.
Tomorrow is a very special Full Moon. The Harvest Full Moon is a great time to let go of any negativity, sadness or bad feelings with a little moon ceremony!
Leading up to it, I'm working on busting out the major gratitude, to tune into the positive flow of energy and get my vibration back to where is should be (took a little dip this week with some dramatics that I'd like to move far away from!)
So this is an exercise that can be done anywhere (and you don't need to list 100 things, start with 10 if you don't have the time for so many!). Many of these have already appeared in my gratitude journal, and are in no way in order from best to worse...just things I love :)
Here we go:
1.Bubble baths
2.Reading
3.The feeling when you've ordered a bunch of new books and they are delivered to your mailbox
4.When you've been out for a long evening/event/vacation and you first step back into your home. Ahhh!
5.When you make lasagna and the proportion of cheese, sauce and spinach is just perfect
6.When my baby is sleeping and cooing and I give him his pacifier and he looks like a little lamb taking it from me
7.The feeling after a fresh hair job (dye,cut)
8.When you open your eyes in the morning and you see that the sun is coming up and the sky is this amazing pinkish colour
9.Pasta.
10.The feeling of bliss I get after a long Skype chat with my souls sister Sally.
11.When you're deep in conversation with a friend (or group of) and you realize that you really are invested in every word they are saying
12.Orange Crush or San Pellegrino Orange when you're not feeling well
13.The way the sound of the waves can zen you out instantly
14.Having breakfast with my mom and chatting with her about everything and nothing
15.The feeling of rejuvenation I get in the fall
16.Going to dinner at my in-laws place and realizing that my mother-in-law made my favorite meal (poulet au vinaigre)
17.Pugs (particularly Milo)
18.Organizing things
19.Cleaning
20.Making various lists
21.The fact that I have several 30+ year friendships that are still going strong (shoutout to Michelle and Nicolas!)
22.LUSH shopping sprees
23.When my hubs is telling a story and he's super into it and animated
24.Binge watching a really good TV show
25.Going for long walks
26.When it's my birthday
27.Fluffy and ridiculous housecoats
28.Chatting with Ashley about silly and ridiculous things
29.Swimming in the lake
30.When I predicted Theo's birthdate (that was cool and I felt so in tune with the numerological Gods hehehe)
31. Crystals and pretty rocks
32.Good coffee
33.Planning vacations! (and also going on them haha)
34.Quitting the corporate world and following a more creative work path
35. Counting change (have always loved doing this! Especially Canadian dimes)
36.When you actually let money sit in the bank and don't spend it frivolously
37.Sushi
38.Going on a date to the movies with hubs
39.Trashy reality TV shows
40.Croissants
41.When you have a week where the calendar isn't too busy and you can totally enjoy your home and little family
42.Astrology
43.How good it feels to not drink
44.Journalling/blogging
45.Scrapbooking
46.Painting
47.Listening to reggae on the beach
48.Going to garage sales/yard sales or farmer's markets
49.Spending time with family (especially the Canadian gang because I don't see them as much!)
50.Chatting with my sis and realizing more and more how similar we are!
51.Getting into a super powerful or inspirational book
52.Baby snuggles
53.Thinking about how life fell so perfectly into place when I met Thomas (despite almost two years of long distance)
54.Getting pedicures/massages
55.Playing "20 Questions" with Thomas every time we go swimming (silly pool tradition)
56.When you mutually decide that it's a good night for pizza
57.Wine Gums
58.When you hang out with old friends that you have so many memories with (Stef/Ash/Erica/Natasha <3 )
59. Finding a perfume that is just perfect (so far the best for me is Carven, Le Parfum)
60.Chatting in bed with hubby before falling asleep
61.Sitting on a terrasse on a sunny day
62.Exploring a new city for the first time (in the last year we saw Milan, Troyes, Reims and a few new places in Swizzy)
63.How cute it is that my mom is the only person who ever calls our house phone, or leaves us voicemails
64.When one of my articles goes viral and I make way more money than expected for the week
65.Cooking while listening to music
66.Going on train trips
67.Walking around Montreal
68.When hubs has a day off and we do everything together (today! Yippee!)
69.Learning new things
70.When you meet someone and you just click perfectly (Salllllllllllllly!!! <33333)
71.New lip gloss
72.Getting obsessed with a topic and doing a ton of research on it
73.Apple pie
74.Hanging out with my nephew
75.Chips
76.When you get into an exercise routine and enjoy going to the gym (this is not the current state of affairs, but hopefully I get my drive back soon!)
77.Discovering new music that you really like
78.Giving baby a bath
79. When husband says adorable things to me during his sleep, kisses my cheeks and hugs me close <3
80.When you chat with super happy old people
81.When you tune into synchronistic events and realize that everything is completely connected
82. Reading anything by Abraham Hicks and totally "getting it"
83. Looking at photos of stars, planets and far away galaxies and just realizing how small we are
84.Also, realizing that the odds of us being alive, in this moment are so slight that we must have a bigger purpose
85.Finding that purpose
86.Following your intuition (your emotional guidance system is rarely wrong!)
87.Some cats
88.Good movies
89.Going to a new restaurant
90.Wearing super comfy clothes that are also cute
91.When you go to Montreal and feel so rich cause everything is cheap so you can shop and buy everything you want
92.Giving people gifts
93.When you give someone a genuine compliment and their eyes light up
94.Listening to a friend/family member who needs an ear and doing your best to help them feel better
95.Giving up our egotistical ways (even if this is sometimes a struggle, every bit counts)
96.When you forgive yourself, and others for wrongdoings
97.When you release things to the Universe
98.Salt and vinegar chips
99.Songs that make you cry cause they are so beautiful
100.Realizing that you are always living in the "now" and making every second count
The words flow through my head and soothe me to bed like a lullaby, and I get the sensation that I am reading and writing at the same time.
It's pretty cool.
Sadly, I don't always wake up (I rarely do!) to jot down these ideas, so the next day they aren't quite as fresh. But last night, something came into my head that was a pretty cool idea.
What if you were asked to name 100 of your absolute favorite things in the world? This could be anything from an activity, a natural phenomena, an animal, a food...the list should be as unique and personal as possible.
The only thing you should avoid is listing people, cause then the list risks becoming just a long collection of names ("I love my momma, my grandmomma, my daddy etc;" We all do, try to focus on specifics events or activities with people if you want to add them!)
This concept was not invented by me, actually. I must've been distantly thinking of The Book of Awesome, written by Neil Pasricha. Remember that one?! Neil made a comprehensive list of often overlooked, but amazing things.
 |
| If you don't want to make your own list, get this book and enjoy Neil's! |
So, essentially, the idea is to focus on what we love, what we appreciate and what we value. In this crazy and unpredictable world, sometimes it's easy to lose touch with that magical high-on-life feeling that is our birthright, and we have to make some pretty serious efforts to take care of our happiness.
Tomorrow is a very special Full Moon. The Harvest Full Moon is a great time to let go of any negativity, sadness or bad feelings with a little moon ceremony!
Leading up to it, I'm working on busting out the major gratitude, to tune into the positive flow of energy and get my vibration back to where is should be (took a little dip this week with some dramatics that I'd like to move far away from!)
So this is an exercise that can be done anywhere (and you don't need to list 100 things, start with 10 if you don't have the time for so many!). Many of these have already appeared in my gratitude journal, and are in no way in order from best to worse...just things I love :)
Here we go:
1.Bubble baths
2.Reading
3.The feeling when you've ordered a bunch of new books and they are delivered to your mailbox
4.When you've been out for a long evening/event/vacation and you first step back into your home. Ahhh!
5.When you make lasagna and the proportion of cheese, sauce and spinach is just perfect
6.When my baby is sleeping and cooing and I give him his pacifier and he looks like a little lamb taking it from me
7.The feeling after a fresh hair job (dye,cut)
8.When you open your eyes in the morning and you see that the sun is coming up and the sky is this amazing pinkish colour
9.Pasta.
10.The feeling of bliss I get after a long Skype chat with my souls sister Sally.
11.When you're deep in conversation with a friend (or group of) and you realize that you really are invested in every word they are saying
12.Orange Crush or San Pellegrino Orange when you're not feeling well
13.The way the sound of the waves can zen you out instantly
14.Having breakfast with my mom and chatting with her about everything and nothing
15.The feeling of rejuvenation I get in the fall
16.Going to dinner at my in-laws place and realizing that my mother-in-law made my favorite meal (poulet au vinaigre)
17.Pugs (particularly Milo)
18.Organizing things
19.Cleaning
20.Making various lists
21.The fact that I have several 30+ year friendships that are still going strong (shoutout to Michelle and Nicolas!)
22.LUSH shopping sprees
23.When my hubs is telling a story and he's super into it and animated
24.Binge watching a really good TV show
25.Going for long walks
26.When it's my birthday
27.Fluffy and ridiculous housecoats
28.Chatting with Ashley about silly and ridiculous things
29.Swimming in the lake
30.When I predicted Theo's birthdate (that was cool and I felt so in tune with the numerological Gods hehehe)
31. Crystals and pretty rocks
32.Good coffee
33.Planning vacations! (and also going on them haha)
34.Quitting the corporate world and following a more creative work path
35. Counting change (have always loved doing this! Especially Canadian dimes)
36.When you actually let money sit in the bank and don't spend it frivolously
37.Sushi
38.Going on a date to the movies with hubs
39.Trashy reality TV shows
40.Croissants
41.When you have a week where the calendar isn't too busy and you can totally enjoy your home and little family
42.Astrology
43.How good it feels to not drink
44.Journalling/blogging
45.Scrapbooking
46.Painting
47.Listening to reggae on the beach
48.Going to garage sales/yard sales or farmer's markets
49.Spending time with family (especially the Canadian gang because I don't see them as much!)
50.Chatting with my sis and realizing more and more how similar we are!
51.Getting into a super powerful or inspirational book
52.Baby snuggles
53.Thinking about how life fell so perfectly into place when I met Thomas (despite almost two years of long distance)
54.Getting pedicures/massages
55.Playing "20 Questions" with Thomas every time we go swimming (silly pool tradition)
56.When you mutually decide that it's a good night for pizza
57.Wine Gums
58.When you hang out with old friends that you have so many memories with (Stef/Ash/Erica/Natasha <3 )
59. Finding a perfume that is just perfect (so far the best for me is Carven, Le Parfum)
60.Chatting in bed with hubby before falling asleep
61.Sitting on a terrasse on a sunny day
62.Exploring a new city for the first time (in the last year we saw Milan, Troyes, Reims and a few new places in Swizzy)
63.How cute it is that my mom is the only person who ever calls our house phone, or leaves us voicemails
64.When one of my articles goes viral and I make way more money than expected for the week
65.Cooking while listening to music
66.Going on train trips
67.Walking around Montreal
68.When hubs has a day off and we do everything together (today! Yippee!)
69.Learning new things
70.When you meet someone and you just click perfectly (Salllllllllllllly!!! <33333)
71.New lip gloss
72.Getting obsessed with a topic and doing a ton of research on it
73.Apple pie
74.Hanging out with my nephew
75.Chips
76.When you get into an exercise routine and enjoy going to the gym (this is not the current state of affairs, but hopefully I get my drive back soon!)
77.Discovering new music that you really like
78.Giving baby a bath
79. When husband says adorable things to me during his sleep, kisses my cheeks and hugs me close <3
80.When you chat with super happy old people
81.When you tune into synchronistic events and realize that everything is completely connected
82. Reading anything by Abraham Hicks and totally "getting it"
83. Looking at photos of stars, planets and far away galaxies and just realizing how small we are
84.Also, realizing that the odds of us being alive, in this moment are so slight that we must have a bigger purpose
85.Finding that purpose
86.Following your intuition (your emotional guidance system is rarely wrong!)
87.Some cats
88.Good movies
89.Going to a new restaurant
90.Wearing super comfy clothes that are also cute
91.When you go to Montreal and feel so rich cause everything is cheap so you can shop and buy everything you want
92.Giving people gifts
93.When you give someone a genuine compliment and their eyes light up
94.Listening to a friend/family member who needs an ear and doing your best to help them feel better
95.Giving up our egotistical ways (even if this is sometimes a struggle, every bit counts)
96.When you forgive yourself, and others for wrongdoings
97.When you release things to the Universe
98.Salt and vinegar chips
99.Songs that make you cry cause they are so beautiful
100.Realizing that you are always living in the "now" and making every second count
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