7 thoughts on “Sign The Thank You Card Today!”

1. AWWW YEAH!! I LOVE gratitude!! I love it that you’ve created this post, that you’ve made it fun and cool (a rocketship thank you card! Yes!)

   Thank you for Eric and all he’s doing in this wonderful, beautiful world which is getting brighter by the moment.
   Thank you for the opportunity to share gratitude with so many other amazing souls.
   Thank you for exciting collaborations.
   Thank you for souls that shine so brightly, you can’t help but smile!

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2. Dear World,

   Thank You for elementary school rollerskating parties…they help me to find my childhood wings. What a joy it was to skate with nearly 200 elementary school kids! I felt so incredibly happy. There were moments when I was skating around the rink and felt like I was flying and floating in the clouds! And while I cringed whenever a child fell on the hard wooden floor (there were many beginners skaters there…so witnessing a wipe-out occurred at just about any given moment!), it also reminded me of the resiliency of the human spirit. Everywhere I looked I could see someone fall…and then get right back up and try it again!…often with a huge smile on their face! It reminded me so much of life, where wipe-outs occur all the time. Getting back up and trying again is so worth the risk. Skate on!
   ~ ~ ~
   Thank You for this wonderfully mushy Katrina Kenison “growing-up” video I recently watched (grab a tissue first if you’re a parent and are brave enough to watch it!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olSyCLJU3O0&feature=player_embedded It reminds me to savor the ordinary…and remember just how extraordinary the ordinary is.
   ~ ~ ~
   Thank You for supportive and larger than life friends…who inspire me…and teach me by example to “honor the drive inside me”…and to “not be afraid of being larger than life”. I’m free to be me…and I’m so grateful for the keys that my Soul Friends offer me…keys that help me unlock my self-imposed restraints…keys that allow me to sparkle and shine like the stars! I’m finding that these keys are constantly being offered…they’re everywhere!…all I have to do is accept them…and let them work their magic!
   ~ ~ ~
   Thank You for showing me the importance of the stories I tell myself. I’m learning and understanding how I’m a storyteller. Which I think is completely natural and normal…and is a wonderful sign of creativity…and is good in so many ways. I see life as being made up of stories. I see life as a circle…a cycle with a beginning, middle, and end. Books and movies have a beginning, middle, and end. Everything has a natural rhythm…flow…cycle. I’m learning that it’s natural for me to want to know what’s next…to think about what’s next in my story…because I’m constantly being made aware of all the cycles in life. I’m also learning that maybe, since it’s not possible for me to know what’s next, maybe I’d find more peace investing in the moment I have now. Seems like a solid choice…after all, the future events that make up my story are going to be none other than a collection of my individual “now” moments. So maybe, now, is enough.
   ~ ~ ~
   Thank you for the opportunity over the weekend to learn more about Reiki (a natural healing technique that restores the natural flow of energy in the body). My focus on energy over the weekend opened my eyes to some really enlightening moments. The first occurred during a recent hospice visit. The hospice resident/friend who I volunteer to visit with, had her hand gently grasping her neck&throat throughout my visit. This made me think of the Reiki that was already on my mind, and I asked her if touching sore spots on her body helps to heal them. She is very frail, but she still has this wonderful feistiness to her…”Of Course!”…she quickly responded. In that moment, she provided me with a beautiful example of the healing power that comes with meaningful, soulful, touch. &I was thinking about this incident during my run this morning….thinking about the power we each have to heal ourselves and others…using this pure source of energy that fuels us all. I don’t understand the specifics of how our energy works…but I know it exists. Science shows us that our body communicates with electrical energy (the neurons that fire in our brains that make up our thoughts…the 2-way electrical communication that occurs between our minds and the muscles throughout our body…etc) plus, this process is just something that I can feel…so I’m certain that it’s present, and real, and capable. And while thinking about energy during my run, I found myself instinctively putting one hand on my forehead, and one hand on the center of my chest. My hands softly stayed there for a brief period…and in that moment, I felt the most beautiful connecting sensation inside me…I could feel pathways in me opening. Fascinating!
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   Thank you for music! It continues to bless my life in such soulfully rich ways. I’m convinced that we’re each contributing in some way to one big and grand holy-song-of-life. I think this contribution occurs even when I’m still…because the silences/pauses/lack of sound in a song are just as important as the notes themselves. And I feel so privileged to have been given life….given a voice…and given all the opportunities that come with it. Opportunities to be still…and opportunities to sing and dance :)
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   Thank You for the visit my son and I had to an amazing toy store yesterday! The store was packed with many older toys that were around from the 1970’s and 80’s…toys that I had forgotten about that instantly took me back to my childhood!…old Star Wars action figures…Garbage Pail Kids trading cards…old Lego building block sets…big rubbery WWF Wresting guys — Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, etc! Oh!, and these little colorful cylinder shaped whistles that would make these fantastic zipping sounds!…I hadn’t seen those in years! And David was in awe too! He enjoyed my stories and Loved seeing some early versions of many of his current favorite toys. I never want to outgrow toy stores, they’re such dreamy places!…this one felt like a time-machine!

   Forever Grateful, Eric

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3. Dear World, Thank you for the thought provoking message that was on a chocolate raspberry energy bar that I recently ate. The message read “Infinitely Good!!”. I found those words to be captivating. “Infinitely Good”. Isn’t that such a perfect set of words? It makes Me want to be infinitely good. Could you imagine someone asking you, “How are you today?”…and then responding, “I’m infinitely good!”. I have to remember that the next time someone asks me how I am, cuz just saying those words makes me feel incredibly blessed.
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   Thank you for trash-collectors and others that have “dirty jobs”. I ran past a garbage truck the other day and its thick and foul smell lingered in the air and took over my senses. In that moment I felt such appreciation for the garbage man who was driving this monstrous and smelly truck by himself, and then stopping at each home to empty everyone’s heavy and stinky garbage cans.
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   Thank you for blessing me with such a brilliant and generous uncle…who always makes time for me when I need help.
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   Thank you for tough mountain climbs…that lead to spectacular views. A dear friend said it best in a text message to me today, “above the clouds are bright and sunny skies, where the sun is always shining”
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   Thank you for the haircut I gave myself this evening. I looked in the sink afterwards…a sink covered with my fallen salt and pepper hair. I stared at this hair and wondered how it could have come from me?…I still feel like a 20 year old young whipper snapper with a head full of dark hair. As I stared into the sink a warmth also began to fill my being. I felt proud of my years…proud of my grays. And, I felt my dad in those greys, and it made me feel close to him.
   ~ ~ ~
   Thank you for a hot shower on a cold day.
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   Thank you for dinner and a movie at home this evening, curled up with warm blankets on the couch with my son. Heaven.
   ~ ~ ~
   Thank you for giving me life.
   Forever Grateful, Eric

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4. WOW! Thank you for being you! And thank God for bringing you into the lives of so many people! Thanks for laughter and the ability to find something good in everything ~ no matter how hard or long you have to look for it ~ it’s there! Hey, I’m so thankful for getting my computer back up and running tonight! I didn’t expect that to happen for a couple weeks! And I’m so thankful for taking the time away from work on the computer to going to wonderful E-Mail like this sight! The work will be there tomorrow! I’m sitting at my computer and looking up at the wall in front of me and I see my two boys smiling faces. I’m thankful for cameras that can capture that special moment. Next to their picture is a picture of my youngust duaghter and my dog (which she claimed to be “her” dog). That sweet smile holding “my dog” made it so much easier for me to help her move into her apartment with “my – her dog” when she went off to college. (the two of them but a phone call away!)

   Boy, this could go on for days and days! There are soooooo many things to be thankful for! I guess being able to sit here and type away on the keyboard is one that shouldn’t be taken for granite.

   Thanks Eric for this opportunity!

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5. Dear World,

   Thank You for constantly challenging me with such unfair tests of heart. I look forward to each opportunity to rise to the occasion, or to get knocked to the ground. Either way, I know you are presenting me with gifts that I need.
   ~ ~ ~
   Thank You for helping me to not feel all alone early Wednesday morning, when I was feeling deflated and was at the hospital and sitting alone in the E.R. waiting room for hours after breaking my nose.
   ~ ~ ~
   Thank You for the support of loved ones — whose kindness and gestures of love miraculously make everything better. (((Friends&Family)))
   ~ ~ ~
   Thank You for the beautiful movie that I watched last night…”An 1nvisible Si6n”, starring Jessica Alba. Movies are such blessings…whose messages all too often seem to come at just the right time.
   ~ ~ ~
   Thank You for birthdays…such beautiful reminders to celebrate the lives of those I love.

   Forever Grateful,
   Eric

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6. Dear World,

   Thank You for record breaking 80 degree temps on Thursday. The sunshine felt so good!

   Thank You for today’s cold and rainy 40 degree temps. Cleveland is definitely in sync with life’s constant changes! And my run in the bone chilling rain and wind was energizing!

   Thank You for priests and other spiritual leaders who devote so much of their lives to soulful education.

   Thank You for harmonica’s…karaoke…and all things music. Music–the world’s universal language–capable of taking souls to such magnificent places.

   Thank You for broken bones and other injuries and the healing that follows. The human body is amazing! And I love the character my new nose brings!

   Thank You for the Cleveland MetroParks “Boo-at-the-Zoo” event. So much fun!

   Thank You for the opportunity to join David’s class on a field trip to the beautiful Holden Arboretum, in Kirtland Ohio. I’ll never forget the excitement that came with helping the kids find salamanders underneath the colorful fallen leaves!…or being surrounded by kids and once again being reminded of all the joy that comes with being lighthearted.

   Thank You to everyone involved in last weeks TEDx event at Akron University. It was the first TED event that I attended and it was amazing, x1000! “Ideas Worth Spreading” for sure http://www.ted.com/

   Forever Grateful,
   Eric

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7. Dear World,

   Thank You for freedom of expression. It feels so good whenever I am me! It feels so good knowing that in all reality, whenever I’m being someone I’m not, it’s because I’m trying to do the impossible and conform to my inaccurate perception of what I think the world wants me to be. It’s so much easier being the real me by turning to my heart for direction instead…and simply sharing myself with the world. Why be anyone else? That’s too hard and doesn’t feel right. I offer so much less whenever I try to be someone I’m not.
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   Thank You for the beautiful church service my friend invited me too. I left feeling wrapped in love. The music and messages throughout felt as holy as any I’ve ever experienced. A loving community has such incredible power to heal and lead. I feel complete when connecting with loving souls. Feels like warm sunshine basking on a stretching and growing plant…a plant who refuses to stay curled up in the shade.
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   Thank You for an existence where I do not know what’s next. Frustrating and scary at times, but more than anything, incredibly exciting! Feels like I’m a part of a never ending cliffhanger story! I can’t wait to see how it all turns out! And one of the best parts is, I’m realizing more and more that I’m the one writing it.
   ~ ~ ~
   Thank You for a world filled with such sweet smells. I love how smells can feel like time machines that connect my past with my present. Life is such a beautiful web of memories…each one adding to a richer today and tomorrow.

   Forever Grateful,
   Eric

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