Yoga

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed yoga. I think the last time I did a real yoga session was in high school. I did yoga with some friends for about half an hour today and I'm glad I did it. The most fulfilling moments for me were at the end. After all the stretching and balancing and such, we ended by sitting cross-legged and taking deep breaths. All this while a lovely piece of music ("The Light," by Album Leaf) played from someone's phone. The meditation did me good. I felt relaxed and free. I felt quite happy and accomplished. I felt mentally refreshed after a full day of work.

I am grateful for a successful and refreshing yoga session.

When Your Favorite Carol Comes On...Twice

I watched the Christmas Devotional tonight at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, UT. Wonderful Christmas messages given by good Christian people. My favorite aspect of the devotional was the music. Not once, but twice the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (informally, MoTab) sang my favorite Christmas carols (I have about half a dozen favorite Christmas carols). They sang "In the Bleak Midwinter" and "Carol of the Bells."

I am grateful for those awesome moments when MoTab sang my favorite Christmas carols...twice!

The Man and the Birds: Beauty and Storytelling...and Christian Parables

At a Christmas party tonight, part of the festivities included someone sharing a Christmas story. I had never heard of it before. It was this story: The Man and the Birds. I knew there was a point to the story somewhere, so I listened patiently until the end. I soon realized that the story acted as a parable. I expected the narrator to explain what the man and the birds each represented. But no; the story ends wit the man kneeling in the snow. It seemed to be an abrupt ending at first, but then I realized how it left the audience to realize the conclusion for themselves. Jesus Christ often taught this way, not always giving obvious explanations to His parables.

I am grateful for a beautiful Christmas story and the silent lesson it tries to teach.

Magical Christmas Lights

I attended a Christmas-themed concert today. I enjoyed it, and there was a wonderful and impressive display of Christmas lights outside. Christmas lights often feel magical to me. I remember visiting the Salt Lake Temple Square in Utah a few years ago, admiring the light display there. I am grateful for Christmas lights. Though schoolwork is not over for me yet, I really appreciated this display of holiday cheer so early in the month. :)

When Your Laptop Just Isn't Enough...

I was excited for an NBC special tonight: "The Wiz Live!" I was once in a production of "The Wiz," so I was hoping to watch this NBC version tonight. However, I didn't have access to a TV (they were all being used by others), so I tried to access it through live streaming. Not on Netflix; not on Amazon; can't get it on my phone; don't have Hulu; don't have Dish Network or access to any other cable network on my own. I finally resigned to my fate and started on that homework I never really got to this week...

But I'm glad my laptop couldn't get me "The Wiz Live," because I got all my homework done tonight! Yes, I'm up really late, but it's done! I feel that sense of accomplishment. I also feel a sense of hope that perhaps I'll get to watch that show on the NBC website or on Youtube or something. I can dream, right? :)

Good Podcasts

I listened to a few NPR podcasts while doing some repetitive work at the office today. Fascinating stuff! I really enjoyed the content, and felt that I learned some great things. I am grateful for good podcasts, especially from NPR.

An Encouraging Inquiry

If you aren't aware, Blogger provides lots of really great statistics for their bloggers. Of course there is never any personal information shown to me or anyone else. What I can see is number of page views, where those views come from (what country, browser, referring URL, etc.), and which posts have been more popular than others. I don't look at those stats very often, because that has never been the purpose of this daily blog. But, every so often I look at it, just 'cause I'm curious to see where people are coming from.

One interesting stat is "Search Keywords." I don't know exactly what this is, but it seems to be a list of the internet searches that lead to my blog posts. I've looked at this before, but there was one particular search that came up this week that caught my eye:

"what can the united states be grateful for"

According to the stats, this search generated two page views. I don't know who made that search or why, but that's not my business. In the end this gives me the idea that what I'm writing here every day is making a small difference. I imagined someone asking that question and literally searching for an answer to see what comes up, and they read something that I wrote here. This encourages me. This is my hope and dream: to be assured that the world is a little better because of what I could do and be.

By the way, if I were asked that question in person, I would say something like this: "I think the United States has more to be grateful for than anyone realizes, or believes. [name a few general things like social progress, certain freedoms, prosperity, life, liberty, etc.] It surprises even me whenever I stop to seriously think about it." :)