Attitude of Gratitude

So…have you given enough thanks this week? Were you able to toss around a few expressions of appreciation in between the parades and the football games and the sweet potatoes? We sure hope so!! Because at fit4service, we know that a grateful heart is a powerful heart! And saying “thank you” for all of your blessings needs to be a daily exercise! Living a complete life includes seeing the good in everything. Having an “attitude of gratitude” can turn a menial job into a meaningful joy, an act of drudgery into a labor of love or a tedious task into a tireless act of service.

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” ~ William Arthur Ward

"Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation." ~ Brian Tracy

“When we become more fully aware that our success is due in large measure to the loyalty, helpfulness, and encouragement we have received from others, our desire grows to pass on similar gifts. Gratitude spurs us on to prove ourselves worthy of what others have done for us. The spirit of gratitude is a powerful energizer.” ~ Wilferd A. Peterson

“Gratitude should not be just a reaction to getting what you want, but an all-the-time gratitude. The kind where you notice the little things and where you constantly look for the good, even in unpleasant situations. Start bringing gratitude to your experiences, instead of waiting for a positive experience in order to feel grateful.” ~ Marelisa Fábrega

“Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting.” ~ Author Unknown

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~ John F. Kennedy

“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.” ~ Eric Hoffer

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” ~ Philippians 4:6

"Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road." ~ John Henry Jowett

“Real life isn’t always going to be perfect or go our way, but the recurring acknowledgement of what is working in our lives can help us not only to survive but surmount our difficulties.” ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

"Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel. ~Author Unknown

“For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice." ~ Meister Eckhart

Progressive Success

Ask anyone at fit4service what "progressive success" means to them and you're likely to get 1,000 different answers. For some it means they can now do 7 pullups, when last month they couldn't even do 1. For some it means they have that new found energy to get the important presentation finished at the office when at the last big project, they petered out early. For others it means horsie-back rides for their grandkids, when last year they had trouble getting out of the recliner. However others define it, at f4s, we know that "every journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step". Let today be the day when you find what progressive success means to you.

“Success is not a destination, it's a journey.” ~ Anonymous

“To me success would be to be able to do your very best in everything you do." ~ Paul Cummings

“I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature." ~ John D. Rockefeller

“In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins - not through strength but by perseverance." ~ H. Jackson Brown

“Consider the postage stamp; its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing until it gets there." ~ Josh Billings

"There is no failure except in no longer trying." ~ Elbert Hubbard

“Defeat is simply a signal to press onward." ~ Helen Keller

“Sometimes a noble failure serves the world as faithfully as a distinguished success." ~ Dowden

“Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit." ~ Conrad Hilton

“Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.” ~ Winston Churchill

“Life asks us to make measurable progress in a reasonable time. That's why they make those fourth grade chairs so small.” ~ Anonymous

“To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To give of one's self;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived ?
This is to have succeeded."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Easy Does It...

The pace of our lives can get really hectic sometimes. With work and family and community obligations always looming, things can pile up pretty quickly. It's easy to "fly off the handle" or "lose perspective" when things start to feel so out of whack. At f4s, we take a good hard look at takin' it easy! We know that rest and relaxation is an integral part of living a content and balanced life!

"Genius is the ability to renew one's emotions in daily experience". ~ Paul Cezanne

"When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion". ~Dale Carnegie

"To give vent now and then to his feelings, whether of pleasure or discontent, is a great ease to a man's heart". ~Francesco Guicciardini

"All humanity is passion; without passion, religion, history, novels, art would be ineffectual." ~ Balzac

"If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins". ~ Benjamin Franklin

"For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness". ~Author Unknown

"All emotions are pure which gather you and lift you up; that emotion is impure which seizes only one side of your being and so distorts you". ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living". ~ Nelson Mandela

"The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up". ~ Mark Twain

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be". ~Abraham Lincoln

"Every now and then,
when the world sits just right,
a gentle breath of heaven
fills my soul with delight..."
~Hazelmarie ‘Mattie’ Elliott

"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements in life, when all we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about:". ~ Charles Kingsley

"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for". ~Joseph Addison

"Jumping for joy is good exercise". ~Author Unknown

The "I"s Have It...

Notwithstanding what it did to that poor cat...curiosity is a very important factor to living an intellectually healthy and balanced life. Looking at something...a gadget, a smiling baby, a math problem or a sunrise and saying, "Hmmm, that's awesome, I wonder how that works" is a great start to flexing your brain and helping it grow. Asking, wondering, questioning and learning are great exercises for your mind...

“All the world is a laboratory to the inquiring mind.” - Martin H. Fischer

“Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain

“Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked why.” – Bernard Mannes Baruch

“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” - Abigail Adams

“Learning never exhausts the mind.” - Leonardo daVinci

“All of the top achievers I know are life-long learners looking for new skills, insights, and ideas. If they're not learning, they're not growing... not moving toward excellence.” - Denis Waitley

“A generous and elevated mind is distinguished by nothing more certainly than an eminent degree of curiosity.” – Samuel Johnson

“It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it.” - Jacob Bronowski

“The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn.” - John Lubbock

“Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.” - C. S. Lewis

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.” - Albert Einstein

“All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.” - Calvin Coolidge

“Seek and ye shall find…” - Matthew 7:7

“Life is a learning experience, only if you learn.” - Yogi Berra