Wonderful
Author: Gail Pursell Elliott "The Dignity and Respect Lady"

"Sing to me of the wonder
in small achievements
when happiness is a torn kite
dangling in the branches of life."
From the poem "Sing To Me"
1997 Gail Pursell Elliott


One of my dearest friends uses the term 'wonderful' to describe everything from food to actions to people and always with heartfelt emotion. She uses the term so often that I have come to associate it with her, think of her when I use it or hear it. She is a wonderful friend.

When do we experience a state of wonder? The definitions of this word range from curiosity and speculation to something miraculous and the feelings attached to those states of being. Albert Einstein, who experienced both ends of this spectrum made the statement, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is."

When we experience a sense of loss or feeling of failure we also tend to lose our sense of wonder. Either nothing looks good to us or we devalue what may be positive. We choose our perspective and it has been said that perspective is more important than reality, which is true.

When we lose that sense of wonder, our grudges take over. The biggest grudges we carry along with us are the ones that we hold against ourselves without realizing it. "If I hadn't gone along with this or trusted that I wouldn't be in this mess now." It may appear that we are blaming people or circumstances, but we actually are blaming ourselves.

This is when we have to do the dirty job of cleaning out our mental closet. If you've ever cleaned out a closet you know what a big job it can be. Taking everything out, evaluating whether to save or toss each item in it, organizing what is left and then putting what we want back in there. It always feels great when the job is done but at my house it can involve a lot of sneezing and a few juice breaks in between.

Our mental closet contains all sorts of wonderful thoughts, hopes, dreams, experiences, and memories. It also contains a lot of things that are no longer of use to us that crowd or hide the positives. Some of us avoid this mental closet cleaning because there may be "monsters" in there we don't want to see.

In his poem "I Am Waiting" the poet Ferlinghetti wrote about waiting for a rebirth of wonder, along with all sorts of things that he was waiting to see in the world around him, among people, for awareness and insight to take hold. If we wait for the actions of others or situations to either trigger or renew our sense of wonder, we may be in for a long wait. We have to take action ourselves.

Wonder emanates from our own perspective.
Wonder can be expressed when we stop taking things for granted.
Wonder is contemplating the facts of life from a higher point of view.
Wonder is moving our foot on the grass and seeing the bright yellow of a dandelion bloom that was hiding under our shoe.
Wonder is remembering and acknowledging the uniqueness of our inner self.

Of all the people in the world there is only one of each of us. That is a wonder in itself. And it follows then that not only is each of us wonderful, each of us is a wonder. Situations and events are temporary. Wonder is perpetual.

Have a Great Day and be good to yourself. You deserve it!

Gail

C2004 Gail Pursell Elliott All Rights Reserved. "Food For Thought" is part of the Dignity and Respect message that is Innovations. For permission to reprint in a newsletter or publication, or to reproduce on your website, contact Gail at gail@innovations-training.com or 515.388.9600

"Innovations bridges the gap between the spiritual and the bottom line by promoting Dignity and Respect, No Exceptions, through Speaking, Training, Consulting and Writing."







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Gail is author of the book School Mobbing and Emotional Abuse: See It – Stop It – Prevent It with Dignity and Respect, “Food For Thought”, a column that is distributed internationally by email and is often reprinted in various publications, and co-author of the book Mobbing: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace.

Speaker, Author, Trainer and Consultant,a member of American Mensa and the American Society for Training and Development, she is founder of Innovations “Training With A Can-Do Attitude” , located in central Iowa.

Website:
www.innovations-training.com Gail has been a guest on such programs as MSNBC’s Deborah Norville Tonight, ABC World News Now television programs and the Workplace Violence Today program on talk radio.

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