Grateful Horizons: Leon's Expedition of Appreciation

On the morning of June 30th, 2023, I had a bad dream. In the dream, I met a couple who were initially nice to me, but they suddenly turned against me and my wife without any warning. They even attempted to harm us and take our lives. In self-defense, my wife and I managed to kill the woman, and we also tried to kill the man, but we were unsuccessful. However, he was badly injured and left the scene. Strangely, even though his wife was the one who attacked us, he blamed me for her death. Even though I had lost contact with him, he was a hacker who somehow gained access to my phone. However, I changed my phone information to prevent him from tracing it. One day, while I was at church making an offering, the lady swiped my card using "debit" instead of "credit." Unfortunately, the hacker was able to regain access to my phone and I started receiving disturbing screenshots of naked pictures, people being murdered, and graphic images of worms and gore. So, the...

I'm grateful for the friends I have at work and for having a job. I'm also grateful for the opportunity to learn and expand, especially when it comes to my faith.  Expanding my faith can be a little scary, but that's okay. If I'm not at least a little bit fearful, then I'm probably not pushing myself enough. I'm grateful for the chance to learn how to develop my faith in a more balanced way, one that doesn't rely too heavily on a masculine approach. Practicing faith in a practical way doesn't mean taking a masculine approach. Rather, it involves having faith in the plan or strategy created, not excessively worrying about the specifics of how it will unfold, and actively putting into practice the tenets of it. I'm learning to focus on taking the necessary steps and nurturing the manifestation of my goals or desires into reality. It's about having faith in the process and trusting that things will work out according to a higher plan.

Today, I am grateful to have a day off. It gives me the opportunity to focus on getting more in touch with my intuition, which I see as an inner voice or feeling that helps me navigate through life. I believe that intuition is a type of telepathy that allows us to receive messages from the quantum field or the collective consciousness. Right now, I can feel my intuition speaking to me. The message I'm receiving is about being alert.... at least that is what resonates. It reminds me that there is more to life than just our five physical senses. I'm trying to exercise my intuition and stay alert, because my opinions may not always be accurate. I am thankful that my intuition helps me to remain humble by reminding me that I do not know everything. I make a conscious effort to remain vigilant and stay alert, recognizing that there is always more to learn and discover.

There are mornings when I wake up feeling defeated, but I recognize that these emotions are just fleeting thoughts that are influenced by my physical state of lying in bed. I have noticed that when I feel defeated, there is a sense of heaviness that makes it difficult for me to get up. I refer to this heaviness as depression, which can vary in intensity from day to day. Additionally, I experience mental chatter that includes thoughts of giving up on life. I recognize that the heaviness I feel upon waking up may be influenced by the comfort of my bed, depression, or a combination of both. Regardless of the cause, I understand that these feelings of defeat and heaviness are not fully integrated within me because they tend to disappear once I get up and start my day.  I often feel pressure to accomplish my many priorities and unfinished tasks, which can contribute to my sense of defeat. However, I try to remind myself that these thoughts and emotions are temporary and do n...

I recently lost my headphones and felt disappointed, especially since I had been practicing gratitude and positive thinking. This took me back to another piece I wrote about dealing with loss practically. One way to do so is through acceptance - being grateful for what has happened and recognizing that not everything can be changed. Acceptance brings humility and an opportunity to navigate life without the lost item. Living without the lost item reminds me to be grateful for what I still have and am able to do. Although material things do provide value, I know I can continue to enjoy life without headphones for now and purchase new ones whenever the opportunity arises.

This morning, I bought some beef jerky. The brand is called Epic. I thought I brought it with me to the car, but when I tried to find it, I couldn't, and I got upset. Whenever I get upset, I try to shift my attention towards gratitude by asking myself, "What am I grateful for?", in that moment. One thing I was grateful for in that situation was acceptance. Acceptance means acknowledging that we're not always in control of everything in life, therefore, there are circumstances that we mat not have full control of. Practicing acceptance and letting go of attachment to material possessions can bring a sense of peace and freedom.  However, when I realized this gratitude, it brought a sense of cognitive dissonance because I was shifting from a reactive state of anger to gratitude, and this created dissonant thoughts and feelings in that moment between the experience / feeling of loss and a sense of release / gratitude. This cognitive dissonance reminded me that...

Yesterday when I came home, I noticed that the kitchen was not clean and it was because my brother had not cleaned it. I felt that he should have taken responsibility for it, especially since he had been at home all day while my mom and I were at work. It's frustrating to have to deal with such situations, but I try to be grateful for my awareness of responsibility and my ability to support the household. Taking responsibility for the things around me is something that I'm still trying to integrate into my habits. Today at work, a co-worker organized a bin full of small items, and it made me realize the importance of being more aware of my surroundings. I took everything out of the bin and put them back, but I didn't organize the small items because there were too many. Despite my brother's lack of responsibility, I'm grateful that I have this awareness to be supportive of my environment and to take care of it. It's important to me to organize my sur...