Love and compassion matter to me. Forgiveness for myself and what I may believe that others have done is important.
Motivation and intention matter to me. When I set a motivation each day to not hurt any being and to help as many beings as I can is important to me. I know that many people suffer including myself and having loving kindness and compassion for both myself and all beings is crucial.
On this thanksgiving I’m grateful for loving kindness and compassion to forgive all. Trusting in the path and following my practice means everything. Letting go of attachments and letting go of things of ideas the mind grasps at is a key to letting go of suffering.
What really matters most is to be free from suffering and having the genuine motivation for renunciation of suffering for benefit of all beings. Let go of samsara for the love of all sentient beings.

There are many people who inspire me. Some people I know and others I don’t know. They teach an inspiration message which invoke curiosity and love in my heart.
This reminds me of a quote:
“Everyone is my teacher. Some I seek. Some I subconsciously attract. Often I learn simply by observing others. Some may be completely unaware that I’m learning from them, yet I bow deeply in gratitude.”
I am grateful to Brother David and his leadership. He inspires me in many ways to be able to: Stop, look, and go in everyday life.
Thich Nhat Hanh is also another person who comes to mind when I think of someone who inspires me to lead a life which offers love and connection.
To me, Rumi may have said it best:
“There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground; there are a thousand ways to come home again.”
Being authentic means coming home again over and over again. Letting go of fear and living love with an attitude of gratitude.
Eckhart Tolle reminds me over and over how to come back home.
These are only a few of the authors and teachers who inspire me every day.

Grateful living can become more of a daily practice in my life when I make an intention each day, over and over again each moment to be aware of what is good in life.
To find goodness in each and, every moment takes a huge rewiring of the mind.
It takes mindfulness to see opportunities and possibilities for growth and love. Mindfulness, meaning that I need to be awake enough in my own mind to stop/pause in any situation and question myself.
Why question the self and what kind of questions could I ask?
1. Do I need to be right? Is this idea or thought I am having really true?
2. How can I open up to love now?
3. How can I be compassionate and show loving-kindness either to myself or to those I am engaging?

Committing to grateful living each moment requires me to have a loving open mind with myself and not to close up and be harsh.

The times I am not living a grateful life is when I am tight in my body and mind. I observe myself becoming judgemental and harsh with myself and or others.
For example, when I feel I am not the “perfect parent” or perfect whatever my mind gets filled with harshness and this is where the daily practice of grateful living becomes an awareness of the present moment.