Revisiting Gratitude: Putting It into Action

This week on the Smalll Scale Life Podcast, I am revisiting gratitude and putting it into action. Last week on the Small Scale Life Podcast, I discussed my Daily Gratitude Practice and gave four tips to establishing your own daily gratitude practice. As a recap, the four tips were the following:

Take some time and think about what you are truly grateful about.
Make a list of people and things and challenges you are grateful for.
Keep those lists in a journal (brief bullet points only; don’t write a book – it isn’t sustainable).
Let someone on that list know you are grateful.

I completed Number 4 on that list. I let two people on my list know that I was very grateful for them: Theresa and Dale. I will tell you about revisting gratitude and putting it into action!

Table of Contents

Revisting Gratitude: Theresa

The first person I told this to was our friend and realtor that helped us sell the house in North Minneapolis. Theresa was a rockstar, and when I talked to her on the phone this week, I thanked her for everything she had done to help us escape Minneapolis. She helped us get our house staged and looking like a million bucks, and we had 34 showings and 17 offers when it went onto the market.

Even though it was over a year later, I felt it was important to let her know that we appreciated her efforts and that she was a big part of the Driftless Oaks Farm story: we wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t helped us last year.

Revisting Gratitude: Dale

The second person I thanked was my former boss. Dale was one of the best leaders I have worked for in my almost 25 year career. The entire team thrived under his management, and we got a lot of work done. He recognized our hard work and put in for spot bonuses and pay increases. I wanted to let him know that I really appreciated his leadership and his management style. I also wanted to thank him for putting in for the bonuses. I never thought those would be possible in the government!

his is where things got interesting. Dale said thank you, and he told me that I should really thank the civil unrest in Minneapolis in 2020. He said that the unrest seemed to be the motivation for leaving the Twin Cities. With 1700 buildings burned to the ground south of our home, I could not disagree. That was a byproduct of the chaos and unrest that marked 2020: we fixed up the house, packed up, and left.

Now?

We are here in the Dirftless Region at Driftless Oaks Farm and loving it! So yes, in a weird way, I have to thank the people who burned down the Twin Cities in 2020. They helped push us along and get us here.

Conversation Starters

Over the past week on the Small Scale Life Instagram page, I have posted several different images and messages about my Gratitude Practice and the most recent episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast. I had an interesting exchange with one of the Small Scale Life Instagram followers today. It went like this:

“It’s hard to be grateful when I have to worry about getting carjacked going to the grocery store. I guess I should be grateful I have a car to jack!”

I told the commenter the story about my former boss. I talked about how the civil unrest in 2020 was a key tipping point we needed to get us moving quickly on this journey. We needed that swift kick in the pants, and we certainly got it in 2020.

I told the commenter this, “Maybe the situation is making you uncomfortable because it is time to go, to leave that environment. I know it is a hard decision and a costly one at that….but it might be the right one. Think about it. The Universe/God/Higher Power/Great Spirit might be telling you something, and once you get to where you are supposed to be, you’ll look back at things differently.”

The commenter thanked me for the words and said that “[they] will try to adjust my attitude. I appreciate your post and response and will live vicariously until my new property appears!”

Inspiring Others to Dream and Act

That is what it is all about: inspiring others to dream and act. At some point over the past year, I realized that I might never make a dime off of Small Scale Life; however, I can help some people get a new start. I can interview interesting people and show them our journey here at Driftless Oaks Farm.

I can help people dream and help them to act by inspiring them.

I am grateful that Julie and I are here at Driftless Oaks Farm, away from the big urban area. We take the existing homestead and improve it. We can put in our own infrastructure and create new gardens, improve the orchard, establish trails in the woods, create beautiful spaces here and connect with Nature.

We will be sharing this journey with you, and I am grateful for that opportunity and that you will be along with us. It will be a fun adventure to be sure, and I hope you join us!

Your Turn

aving a daily gratitude practice does help. It is amazing how great you will feel when you tell someone how grateful you are for them. The little secret is: you feel great, and the person receiving that gratitude feels EVEN BETTER.

Why not give this daily gratitude practice a try? Remember the Four Tips to four tips to starting your own gratitude practice:

Take some time and think about what you are truly grateful about.
Make a list of people and things and challenges you are grateful for.
Keep those lists in a journal (brief bullet points only; don’t write a book – it isn’t sustainable).
Let someone on that list know you are grateful.

Give it a try. Let me know what you think and how it works out for you. I’d love to know. You can let me know in the comments on smallscalelife.com or email me at realsmallscalelife@gmail.com.

Thank you so much for listening Small Scale Life or reading the article at smallscalelife.com. You are the hero in today’s Hall of Heroes. Thank you for your time and energy!