Thank you Sandee - My Root Guru Master Yoga Teacher

Today I'd like to thank my yoga teacher, Sandee Versace (here on Facebook).

I take her yoga classes four times a week. She is an inspiration. I know she is not perfect, but she keeps herself in fantastic shape. She always changes up her classes so they never get boring. After class, we talk about our children, our partners (a little), and our lives. She pushes me to stay physically fit. She loves my ujjai breath. She tells me that she misses me when I miss her class. I am one of her only male regulars, there are one or two others, though. I tease her by saying she is my Root Guru Master Yoga Teacher ... each time the title gets longer.

thanks Sandee! (especially for the nice hugs, when we know we won't see each other for awhile!)

Pithy comment: Watch a sunrise at least once a year. (From Life's Little Instructions)

Thanks to all workers

This thought of gratitude came into my mind as I was reflecting on my dive yesterday with a dive master that I paid to be my guide. The guide was a young lady who had got her degree in Ocean Science. She wants to get a Master's Degree in Environmental Policy, which re-affirmed my faith in our youth doing the right thing despite our current presidential dementia. While I did pay her for her guiding job, she performed the job with professionalism, joy, and vigor. So I'd like to thank all the guides and dive masters who have helped me on dives where they have been around.

Even though people are paid to do their jobs, most people do the jobs with a positive attitude, with an idea of "no harm to others" shall come from my work. A meditation I've been pondering is to reflect on all those people who held me for the first 48 hours of my life here on Earth. From my mother's womb, nurses, midwives, doctors, and my mother held me gently, swaddled me, fed me, cleaned me and soothed and cuddled me. From then until now countless people have assisted me in my daily living without me even being conscious of it.

Thanks to all the workers and others who make my life possible.

Pithy statement: By expressing my feeling and experiences in writing I can cope more effectively with the challenges in my life. Begin writing in a journal. (Well I am trying to do this gratitude blog daily <grin>)

Thanks to all teachers

Thanks to all of my teachers.

I've learned to like teaching others. I enjoy studying, preparing and delivering knowledge to people. I really do believe in the saying that says ... "The best way to learn is to teach".

I've had many teachers that have taught me throughout my life, some of whom I don't remember their names

Thanks to the teacher who taught me

• how to swim in Taiwan
• speed reading in elementary school
• home economics in elementary school
• ballet dancing - Maria Fusco?
• piano playing - Mara Fusco
• Italian when we lived in Italy
• World history in high school Mr. Moore
• US History in high school Dean Nagy - he recognized me my freshman year and asked if I was George Pohle's son!
• Russian in high school - Dr. Hughes (he was almost blind)
• my piano teacher in high school (he had a lot of patience)
• Chemistry 101 at Texas A&M
• a teacher who taught Differential equations at Texas A&M

Pithy saying: Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated. - from Life's Little Instructions

Thanks to Sam Harris

I'd like to express my thanks and gratitude to Sam Harris. You can find him at samharris.org.  He has written a few books, one of which I've read, Waking Up. I plan on reading a few others. I listen to his podcast, Making Sense, as well. He also has a new meditation application called Waking Up which I also use. On this app, he has a number of "lessons" that are short thoughts on topics like gratitude and free will. Behind his paywall, on samharris.org he has, as of June 2019, sixteen episodes of his AMA's (Ask me anything), which are always very entertaining, thoughtful and helpful.

Wikipedia has this description of him as "an American neuroscientist, philosopher,^[3] author, critic of religion,^[4] blogger, public intellectual, and podcast host."

I find his thoughts to be very insightful and he sounds very genuine, authentic and empathetic. On occasion, he can be quite blunt, especially around his thoughts around radical Islam.

On the who I find listening to him and reading his work to be helpful, reassuring and foundational for my well being.

Thanks, Sam Harris!

Pithy comment (taken from a poster in a doctors office on "Life's Little Instructions")

"Sing in the shower"

Thanks to my heart

Today I want to thank my own heart. It has been beating my whole life. Sometimes it beats fast when I'm exercising, feeling anxious and anticipatory. Sometimes it beats slowly when I'm sleeping, meditating or feeling calm. I want to take care of my heart, so I think I've made a commitment to myself to lose some dramatic weight. I won't set a weight goal, but I will try to eat much much less, drink way less alcohol and skip deserts more often than not. There are many organs we have only one of so I don't want to leave them out of this thank you note. So thanks to my brain, my liver, my stomach, my tongue, my esophagus, and intestine. Thank you heart!

Pithy saying: I am able to transform my ideas into reality. Today develop a plan to turn your ideas into a reality.

Not sure what idea I want to turn into reality?

Thanks body!

Pithy saying - I will learn to listen to my body. When you are experiencing pain or dis-ease seek to understand what messages your body is trying to convey to you.

Wow! Today's saying was right along the path of my gratitude today. I wanted to pay gratitude to my body.

I am amazed at the resiliency of my body. I am sixty years old and have thrown all sorts of indignities at my body; bad food, alcohol, drugs, overtraining, not enough sleep, too much ice cream, being sick, being overweight, being overstressed, knocking into things, bruising it, cutting it ... generally taking it for granted.

Thanks to my body. I love my body. I love my heart. I love my brain. I love my kidneys. I love my liver. I love my stomach.

Its the body that I have and I love it.

Thanks Steve Scott for your gratitude blog

Today I'd like to express my gratitude to Steve Scott for the blog entry on gratitude that I stumbled across the other day as I prepared for a meditation workshop that I'm creating and will do this coming Sunday.

The blog entry is at https://www.happierhuman.com/benefits-of-gratitude/.

It is titled "31 Benefits of gratitude you didn't know about: How gratitude can change your life."

I'm going to use some of the entries in my workshop and will refer to this over the coming days as I try to continue this gratitude blog.

BTW, Steve is the author of "The 90-Day Gratitude Journal" which you can find on Amazon here.

The first entry is "Gratitude makes us happier".
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Pithy saying

Forgive and let go of the anger you hold towards one person today.