photo by Holly Dodd
Sunday, August 19, 2018
Breathe, open, flush
photo by Holly Dodd
Saturday, August 14, 2021
Gratitude and joy
If you don't feel you will be happy, then you won't be. The largest part of happiness has to do with gratitude and joy. Either of those can be snuffed out by the recitation of ills. |
photo by Gail Higgins
Sunday, October 31, 2021
Subscriptions, and gratitude
Thank you for your patience while Vlad is building a mailing program around us. The new format is beautiful and full of links to good things. I'm very grateful to Mr. Gurdiga for his clever and very generous help.
Some days, some of us got doubles, or posts repeated. I'm sorry for the confusion, but glad for the abundance!
I had wanted to quote part of something I wrote about abundance, but found that
1) the whole thing was required for it to make sense,
2) I had posted it before, in 2013, and
3) the original post had comments and links to two things new that day, about abundance and gratitude.
Please enjoy: Gratitude and Abundance
Monday, October 19, 2015
Healthy gratitude
photo by Holly Dodd
Thursday, November 24, 2022
Unlimited gratitude
Gratitude doesn't need to be saved up for big things.
photo by Vlad Gurdiga
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Snowy rocks
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Rocks last longer than snow, but neither lasts forever. Rocks might be moved, or broken. Snow will come back again.
Frustration hurts, but gratitude feels good. Frustration is inevitable, but gratitude takes conscious thought.
photo by Lisa Jonick
Saturday, October 10, 2020
Proud
Sometimes I "feel proud" of something my child has done, but it's too much ownership and I back down. If I think of it as happy relief that I didn't prevent that success or achievement, then I can be a little proud of myself, and impressed with my offspring. Maybe the best way I've found is to feel it as gratitude that I lived long enough to be able to see successes in my now-grown children. Gratitude is good. Joy is good. |
photo by Sandra Dodd
Friday, November 23, 2012
Seeing through eyes of gratitude
![]() | "Seeing our life work, our choices through the eyes of gratitude changes everything. When financial difficulties set in, I can be grateful for our health, for our togetherness and the true wealth we DO enjoy in this country. When I'm sick, I can be grateful I have family to care for me and that I can recover from whatever is ailing me, unlike many folks suffering much worse fates." —Ren Allen |
photo by Sandra Dodd
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Choose gratitude
Gratitude is about abundance. Resentment is about paucity. Choose gratitude. It is a choice. | ![]() |
bread pudding and photo by Sandra Dodd
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Kirby is married
photo of Kirby and Destiny singing "A Whole New World,"
with her sister listening
by Sandra Dodd
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Gratitude
It's good to be grateful for all the things we have. Sometimes it can help to be grateful to have less, fewer, not as much, as might cause us difficulty. Be grateful for having just enough. | ![]() |
photo by Chrissy Florence
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Gratitude
On September 2, this blog was two years old. I offered gifts in exchange for donations to cover some expenses (not for this blog, but for SandraDodd.com and the series of Always Learning Live events). I had 37 people/families contribute. All the cards, certificates and packages have been mailed. Thank you all!

I also requested title art for webpages, and nine people (from five families) sent various types of things made of Lego; hiking finds and forest bits; photo; paint; pen; and pen-and-computer art. The collection is *here*, and you can follow links to that art in use on the pages for which it was created.
That was all pretty fun and I'll probably do it again next September.
The other matter for which I am grateful is that my youngest of three, Holly Dodd, will turn 21 on November 2, 2011. My three children have grown to adulthood. I know that not all parents are as fortunate, and I know many things could have gone differently. We can't control or contain the world, but we can appreciate the joys that come.
Cat art by Noor JontryMasterson
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Joy, gratitude, abundance and peace
Fighting a lack of peace isn't creating more peace.
photo by Chrissy Florence
Monday, June 20, 2022
The sun will be there
Sometimes a sunrise or a sunset is beautiful, but why? The symbolism varies. The colors might be different, and the effect won't be the same on different individuals, but it is the same old sun.
Let it soothe you and give you hope, when you happen to see those changes of colors and light as the sun appears, or as your part of the world starts to pass into darkness, just until morning. Take a breath and be grateful. Be grateful for the breath, for the gratitude, for being.
photo by Theresa Larson
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Positive, abundant gratitude
Finding the positive, finding abundance, finding gratitude, will take a person in an entirely new direction, and many of the other problems fall away effortlessly. | ![]() |
photo by Chrissy Florence
Monday, December 27, 2021
Gratitude and Abundance
When the market is out of something I wanted, I think of horse-drawn wagons, and sailing ships, and remind myself that there were times when such things were the best people had, for transporting food.
Even in seasons when it's popular to be cynical and critical and to complain about things, it's healthier and happier to see the marvel and opportunity in life around us.
photo by Sandra Dodd
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Many gifts
photo by Amy Milstein
Tuesday, October 4, 2022
Gratitude, hope, love
Breathe in a happy memory.
Breathe out gratitude.
Breathe in hope.
Breathe out love.
photo by Brie Jontry
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Step up and see
The same life can be seen from many different angles.
The same situation can be seen while holding one's breath
and being furious,
or while seeing the alternatives
and finding ways to be grateful,
no matter how small,
because on one small bit of gratitude,
one can step up and see another one,
and another.
photo by Sukayna
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Knowledge / Acknowledge
photo by Holly Dodd (in the reflection) of Sandra (behind the spoon)
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P.S. If anything above brought up sad or stressful memories, consider rearranging the cabinet that contains the voices in your head. Here's help: SandraDodd.com/voices