Tag: gratitude

Podcast Episode Recommendation: The Importance of Giving Thanks


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I know this theme gets played out many times, yet it is so important to remind ourselves again and again about the importance of gratitude. Gratitude is not just merely about saying “Thank You,” but it is a mindset we would do well to cultivate. To live a life of gratitude is a daily spiritual practice, from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep.

Unfortunately, there are many moments in life when it is quite challenging to maintain this gratitude mindset. We face moments and times of tragedy and trauma and we get subsumed by the all too real powerful emotions crisis presents to us. Yet, we wish to persevere, to live and to grow. And we can, with much work and support. Gratitude can be one of the various tools we can work to harness in those difficult moments.

As we think about gratitude today, I invite you to listen to one perspective on the importance of giving thanks I had the opportunity to listen to this morning. My colleague and friend Rabbi Benyamin Vineburg, BCC, recorded a conversation on Thanksgiving with his father Rabbi Dr. Sid Vineburg, Ed. D for the Be Wholly Podcast. I highly recommend listening to this episode, as it is a personal look at finding gratitude living with chronic illness. See below for the links:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2277823/14028305

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/be-wholly-with-rabbi-ben-vineburg/id1716208253?i=1000636720404

If you or someone you know is struggling, spiritually and/or emotionally, trying to find a sense of meaning in these times of struggle, know that you are not alone. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com

The world is renewed for us

I previously described the Jewish practice that upon awakening, we start our day with words of gratitude for being alive another day, Modeh Ani.

With these words we offer words of recognition for the renewed opportunities we have as we start the day. Each day allows us to press refresh, and as I highlighted in my previous post, if we can overcome the fear of pressing refresh, we can truly take a first step. Today, I want to suggest that are acknowledgment of gratitude each day is part of taking this first step.

I came across a deeper, more mystical approach to this declaration of gratitude. Maharal, Rabbi Judah Loew of Prague, who lived in the 16th and early 17th centuries, suggested that the gratitude we are expressing is more than just about the return of our soul, our life, for another day. It also represents our expressing gratitude for the world being renewed again for another day. In other words, when we go to sleep, from a natural perspective the world continues to exist. Yet, if we take the perspective of ourselves asleep, the world ceases to be. When we wake up, the world comes back into focus, coming back into existence like we do.

I found this deeper level of renewal inspirational. If it is not just us, but the world starting over in our eyes when we start the day, when we wake up from sleep, it means we do not need to live our lives enslaved to what was. Of course, we don’t find ourselves waking up in a different bed, in a different place, but we do have the chance to make the world what we want to each day. By deliberately acknowledging and expressing this gratitude for the opportunity for the new, we always have the chance to take that first step to something new.

May we find each day as an opportunity to reinvest in the opportunities for renewal we have in front of us.

You have the opportunity to start again. If you are struggling to begin the process of starting your next journey in life. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com

Focus on the Process

As we continue to travel along this seven week path towards Rosh Hashanah, I found the following quote to be a good point of reflection for daily growth:

No matter what the tangible outcome is, you cannot help but become a better person when you follow a creative call. If you focus on the product, you get fleeting satisfaction from an end result. If you focus on the process you get a life because life is a process.

The Muse Is In: An Owner’s Manual to Your Creativity p. 20

We establish a goal or multiple goals. We desire reach our intended goal/s. Yet, to get their requires not the the goal but the steps along the way towards the goal. By being able to focus on the steps along the path, we gain the ability to see progress, celebrate progress and pivot from the main path much easier if the approach to the goal is not leading us there. By recognizing this last point, we don’t get stuck in frustration presuming that there is only a single path that can lead us to where we want to be.

As we continue on towards Rosh Hashanah, may we find inspiration from the day to day process towards the goal of establishing new opportunities all along the path.

Looking for help along your journey as you go onward and upward? Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com.

Cultivating Gratitude when times are tough

The world is a crazy place. I find myself often feeling this forlorn sense that everytime we think we have passed one hurdle there is another one coming our way. It can feel like a neverending barrage of bad news after bad news. And even if there is a feel good moment, such as when a Blue Jays Fan Gives Home Run Ball to Young Yankees Fan, it quickly gets lost in the bad.

How do we combat this sense of feeling forlorn, lost, depressed? How can we find ways to increase our positive thinking? First and foremost we need to accept that the negative feelings that do come and that we do feel. It is part of the human experience. Once we are able to name and acknowledge the negative, we remove the resistances we build to avoid challenging and difficult feelings, thus opening ourselves to the ability to experience the positive moments as well. One of the methods for embracing this more positive method is through gratitude practices. Months ago I discussed the value of beginning our day with thanks as exemplified by the Jewish practice of reciting the prayer Modeh Ani (I give thanks), Prayer: beginning with gratitude.

While we can get into the habit of starting our day with gratitude, it is easy to lose sight of the initial positive feelings of the day when we are going through the motions of the day. It is easy to feel lost in the depths of too much constant information and media. To cultivate gratitude through the day requires us to be as deliberate as we are in the first moments of our day. Do we take the time, even a focused moment, to thank someone when that person does good for us? By this I don’t mean throwing out a muffled thank you as we zip past someone. I am referring to intentionality, being mindful and focused on feeling grateful for receiving something from another. I have found that these small moments of focused appreciation can help us journey further away from the named frustrations of the day.

If we begin building a foundation of reframing our time and days with positive moments, perhaps when we look back, our mind will be filled with positivity instead of the negative we so easily find.

If you or someone you know is looking to cultivate a new path in life, Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com.

Gratitude for the normal

During the week, as part of the section of prayer called Pesukei D’Zimrah (verses of praise), we recite Psalm 100.

מִזְמ֥וֹר לְתוֹדָ֑ה הָרִ֥יעוּ לַ֝יהֹוָ֗ה כל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

A psalm “for the thanksgiving offering.” Raise a shout for the LORD, all the earth;

עִבְד֣וּ אֶת־יְהֹוָ֣ה בְּשִׂמְחָ֑ה בֹּ֥אוּ לְ֝פָנָ֗יו בִּרְנָנָֽה׃

worship the LORD in gladness; come into His presence with shouts of joy.

דְּע֗וּ כִּֽי־יְהֹוָה֮ ה֤וּא אֱלֹ֫הִ֥ים הֽוּא־עָ֭שָׂנוּ (ולא) [וְל֣וֹ] אֲנַ֑חְנוּ עַ֝מּ֗וֹ וְצֹ֣אן מַרְעִיתֽוֹ׃

Acknowledge that the LORD is God; He made us and we are His, His people, the flock He tends.

בֹּ֤אוּ שְׁעָרָ֨יו ׀ בְּתוֹדָ֗ה חֲצֵרֹתָ֥יו בִּתְהִלָּ֑ה הוֹדוּ־ל֝֗וֹ בָּרְכ֥וּ שְׁמֽוֹ׃

Enter His gates with praise, His courts with acclamation. Praise Him! Bless His name!

כִּי־ט֣וֹב יְ֭הֹוָה לְעוֹלָ֣ם חַסְדּ֑וֹ וְעַד־דֹּ֥ר וָ֝דֹ֗ר אֱמוּנָתֽוֹ׃ {פ}
For the LORD is good; His steadfast love is eternal; His faithfulness is for all generations.

In Rabbi Nissan Mindel’s work My Prayer, he comments, “However, the Hymn of Thanksgiving (Psalm 100) is recited daily because actually we enjoy G-d’s miracles every day, without being aware of them (vol.1 P. 121).” Further, in defining the term miracle, he suggests:

Whats is a “miracle”? We usually think of a “miracle” as something “supernatural,” like the miracles and wonders which G-d performed for our people in ancient Egypt through Mosheh Rabbenu and Aharon. These and similar miracles of which the Torah tells us were certainly “supernatural,” because G-d clearly changed the laws of Nature for our sake. But miracles do not necessarily have to be so extraordinary as to break the laws of Nature. Miracles occur every day in the “normal” course of the every-day life without out being aware of them.

vol. 1 p. 122

Over and over in our prayers, we are reminded that life itself is a miracle. This idea is something we tend not to lose sight of in more static moments of life. Each day, each opportunity is a miracle unto itself. In a way, it is the greater miracle than the single moment, explosive, out of this world, miracles we read about in our past.

As we recall and express gratefulness for life itself, we can build off of the positive vibes that gratitude can provide. With these more positive emotions, we will be better served in attaining our goals and dreams.

May we find the ability to be thankful for every moment, every opportunity, every situation.

If you or someone you know is striving for success in spiritual growth on one’s personal journey, contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or email newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com.

Blessings are reminders – “Who provided me all I need”

During these past few months, I have been working on a personal goal of slowing down and paying attention, specifically during the three times a day in which I pray. This process has afforded me the opportunity to more deeply connect to the words I recite on a daily basis. At times, I come across something that I have been saying over and over and find myself stuck on the word or phrase, trying to incorporate its message into my remaining prayers and beyond.

The other day, in the midst of reciting the daily blessings in the Siddur (prayerbook), I found myself “stuck” on one blessing

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁעָשָׂה לִי כָּל־צָרְכִּי:

Blessed are You, Adonoy our God, King of the Universe, Who provided me with all my needs.

While I have said this blessing thousands of times, on this day the words resonated more acutely. What does it mean to bless Gd “Who provided me with all my needs?” Am I being true to this blessing when I, like most, spend an inordinate amount of time trying to accumulate, to gain, to “guarantee” I have? Am I truly grateful for what I do have? Perhaps I need to allow this blessing to be a guide to help me cultivate gratitude for all I have.

I decided to further investigate this concept and came across a comment in the Koren Ani Tefilla Weekday Siddur.

Almost of the blessings are in the present tense yet this one is expressed in the past tense. Why not say “who gives me all I need?” Oftentimes sadness, hardship, and misfortune may appear to be filling up our lives but it truly is only later, further on down the road, that we can see that it all happened for a reason. Only then can we thank Hashem for what previously seemed to have been bad. A man could have found what seemed to be the perfect job: great pay, great location, and great facilities. He goes in for an interview, thinks he got the job, gets excited, and then finds out that he did not get this position. He is distraught, upset and quite puzzled. Why would he want to thank God for all He does? Only after he gets his new job with better pay, a better location, and better facilities can he thank God for not granting him his originally desired position. Only then can he distinguish the forest for the trees. The Siddur helps give perspective to our lives. (Based on R. A. Twersky).

Koren Ani Tefilla Siddur – Weekday Edition – P. 31

When reciting this blessing, I find it important to take a moment and reflect on how we have arrived at this moment, on this day, to this place in life. By finding that ability to bless, to praise, to be grateful for where we have arrived from, we can find ways to enhance the day ahead, imbuing the day with a renewed sense of purpose. By taking the moment to the see the forest and not just the trees, we can gain an increased sense of gratitude at the more complete, yet always evolving, picture.

May today and everyday be one in which we recognize what was and find ways to enhance the was to further along our new beginnings.

Prayer: beginning with gratitude

Upon awakening, Jewish custom is to recite the following;

מוֹדֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ מלך חַי וְקַיָּם שֶהֶחֱזַרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְחֶמְלָה, רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ

Modeh ani l’fanecha, melech chai v’kayam, shehechezarta bee nishmati b’chemla, rabbah emunatecha:

I thank You, living and enduring King, for You have graciously returned my soul within me. Great is Your faithfulness.

With these words, one begins the day with the language of gratitude. This awakening meditation is a powerful framework to start the day. As we know, there is a tremendous push within modern psychology to find focus through gratitude. What better way to do that then to start one’s day with this reflection!

For many, getting up in the morning is not a simple act of waking up. Sleep is not merely a time of rest and relaxation. Sleep can be anxiety driven, with stress related dreams. Sleep time can be one of insomnia and tossing and turning. Sleep can be a most frightening of times. And waking up is not always better. Many of us will hear the alarm (or not if we are trained to wake up on our own) and will feel more tired and frustrated than when we were upon going to bed. It can be quite challenging at this moment of negative energy to find gratitude. And yet, this is the custom of many, to express gratitude, even in a perfunctory, check box way, for perhaps if we do pause, even for a second, the words of Modeh Ani might shift one’s entire daily focus.

May we work to find gratitude for all things in life.