Tag Archives: Gratitude journal

DAILY THANKS {Sunday Affirmations}

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Hi Style + Spirit Sistas!

Are you gearing up for some downtime with family + friends over the Thanksgiving Holiday?  (I know there are several of you who are from different parts of the world and not celebrating Thanksgiving so please bear with me here)  Anyone cooking the bird?  I’ve only done it once before and a bit nervous about attempting it again, but will give it my best shot.  I’m a pro at all the sides, as I should be, being a Southern gal and all.   I make a mean greenbean casserole:-) 

I love this time of year because everyone is getting in the holiday spirit and our attention is turned toward family and the important things in life.  Thanksgiving reminds us how fortunate we are and to give thanks for our blessings although my philosophy is we should live in a constant state of giving thanks, not just in November.  What is your level of gratitude + thanksgiving on a daily basis?   Do you find yourself complaining about what you don’t have more often than you give thanks for what you do have?  Living with an ‘attitude of gratitude’ truly leads to a peaceful, joyful and abundant life!   This is an attitude adjustment I have been working on for the past 10 years or so and still struggle with it from time-to-time! (Especially when I’m PMS’ing.  Ladies, who’s with me?  I can work myself into a hissy fit of complaining when it’s that time of the month! God help Aaron!) 

My intention is always great first thing in the morning and I whisper “thank you” right when my feet hit the ground.  I also have a serious morning prayer practice and make it a habit of thanking God for all the things I’m grateful for before I give Him a to-do list for the day! LOL.  Then, as the day goes on, with it’s trials and circumstances, we can fall down that slippery slope of griping, moaning and complaining if we’re not careful.  The important thing to remember is you get MORE of what you focus on.  If we focus and complain about the things we don’t have, it keeps us in a prison of lack which is of our own creation.   We all have the key!  A simple flip of your ‘mental switch’ can change everything.  The minute you catch yourself about to gripe about what you don’t have…[STOP] and immediately think of a moment that brought you tremendous happiness.  You will literally feel your energy shift in that moment.  Then start meditating on all the blessings in your life!  This unlocks the door for more blessings to shower down on you!  Ready to get drenched? 

THIS WEEK I WILL….

  1. Gage my level of gratitude + thanksgiving daily.
  2. Shut myself up before allowing a complaint to slip out of my mouth.
  3. Allow myself to indulge w/o guilt on Thursday. (extra piece of pumpkin pie anyone?)
  4. Tell myself “thanks girl, you’re awesome!”
  5. Let go of any scarcity mindsets because there is always more than enough.
  6. Stop taking things for granted like my hot bath + all those shoes I never wear.
  7. Realize how fortunate I really am. (key part of the word= FORTUNE)
  8. Start a gratitude journal + watch the abundance begin to flow.
  9. Send a random “thank you for being my friend” text to a friend across the miles.
  10. Never  underestimate the power of those 2 little words, “thank you” even for the smallest of acts or favors.
  11. Do something for someone less fortunate. (It doesn’t have to be feeding the homeless. Perhaps a girlfriend is short on gas money this month. Have her meet you at the gas station on the corner and fill her car up!)

I want to thank YOU for allowing me to share my heart, thoughts + experiences on this blog.  It can be a bit scary and intimidating to put yourself out there on this type of platform, but I do so willingly (I am just a vessel) with the hope that one little thing I may say will help you, encourage you or inspire you.  We’re on this ‘growth journey’ together and I’m truly grateful for your love + support.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Love,

Tiff

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GRATITUDE. A love note to you.

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Hi Gorgeous Girls!

Over the past week or so, every fiber of my being has been flooded with HUMONGOUS GRATITUDE.  The kind that gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling complete with goose-bumps, hair raising on the back of my neck, girlie giddy excitement in my belly and a tear in my eye. Have you ever felt such bigtime gratefulness before?  Want to know the reason for mine? It’s because of YOU.  Yep, you girlfriend!

When I began a deep spiritual journey to figure out what the heck I was meant to do- it was exactly 10 yrs ago this month.  In the summer of 2002, I walked away from my TV career in LA, gave away most of my clothes and all my furniture and went back to Texas to get my head on straight. {GRATEFUL} That is when I birthed my idea (well, God really planted the seed) to help women through a community, website and TV show. Can you believe that was 10 years ago? I can’t! I had no idea how to get started or what the heck I was doing, but I just started putting it out there with child-like naivety. I laugh now because I thought I was ready to do a show back then and got totally pissed off that it wasn’t happening faster.  I had to go through MAJOR healing, changes and growth first.  I was a mess, but I had this BIG vision. After a 6 month sabbatical in Texas, I headed back to LA with this new dream!{GRATEFUL}

Within these 10 years, I have hosted several TV pilots geared for young women (one production company spent over $1 Million on our pilot) and they never went to air on TV.  Grrrr!  (This is where I give gratitude for the doors God closes!)  This was long before Facebook, YouTube, Blogs and the Flip camera. Now it’s easy for anyone to start taping their message and blast it to the world. Whew, I wanted to give up so many times, but a God-given dream just doesn’t leave you alone. It really is like you are pregnant with this idea/purpose/vision. I just couldn’t abort this dream!  I had this mad, crazy drive to help women…somehow, someway. I collaborated with several different producers with the hopes something would work. It never did.  When I finally realized it just wasn’t the right time, I decided I had to do something…..ANYTHING! I started teaching a self-development class and created a curriculum for 13-17 year olds as well as working in a fun, girlie boutique on the weekend. Gals would come sit in the boutique and chat about all the different life issues we girls love to talk about. Wish I had a camera in that boutique back then. It was like a talk show in there! Little did I know, these opportunities turned out to be an amazing training ground and preparation. {GRATEFUL} I still hoped and prayed to work on camera again, but shelved my show idea for a while (true surrender) and just lived life…WITH EXPECTANCY!

The reason I’m telling you all of this is the seed has grown slowly over the years (a little too darn slow at times) into a bud and then 2 years ago-this month- I pitched my show idea in front of one of the biggest television producers, Mark Burnett of The Apprentice, The Amazing Race and Survivor, for a show he was producing for Oprah.  Holla!  Yes, I almost crapped my pants that day, but…. I DID IT!  It’s as if it made it all REAL. It was no longer this concept that swirled around in my head driving me coocoo for coco puffs.  I put it out there! There was no taking it back. The universe had a hold of it. I went all the way to the last 20 finalists, but wasn’t chosen for the show. Again, thank God for the closed doors. After I caught my breath from that 3 month audition process, I finally had the guts to start taping my ideas. The only video camera I had at the time was the one on my blackberry. I had no idea what I was doing (I still don’t really), but I had to start somewhere. Then my brave hubby offered his help as camera man and we got a decent little video camera. Our first attempt at a light set up was a nightstand lamp with a white sheet as a reflector. Ha! We have come a loooooong way! {GRATEFUL}

Here we are today. I’m grateful for the ease of Facebook, WordPress, YouTube and the ability to create the community that we have.  I had to stop and send YOU a heartfelt thank you for sharing, joining, watching, subscribing, and reading. Thank you for allowing me to try different things and discuss different topics, all with the pure intention of helping you build confidence, believe in yourself and truly love yourself and your own unique beauty + style. My dream of creating a SISTERHOOD is becoming a reality. Thank You God. Thank You Aaron (my hubby). Thank You Girls.

WHAT ARE YOU TRULY GRATEFUL FOR TODAY?

I highly recommend making gratitude lists on a regular basis. It will change your life. It’s simple:

I AM GRATEFUL FOR___________________.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR___________________.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR___________________.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR___________________.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR___________________.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR___________________.

I hope you can also be grateful for your journey and remember, never give up.

Love, Tiff