Happy Thanksgiving! Here are 23 ways to express gratitude:
1. Send a message to someone you haven't spoken to in a while and let them how much they mean to you.
2. Volunteer
3. Jot down 5 things you are grateful for in a journal each night before bed
4. Say, thank you. A LOT.
5. Focus on "being more" rather than simply "gaining more."
6. Help someone out without needing to be asked
7. Make an anonymous donation
8. Listen more than you speak
9. Take inventory of ways you can improve yourself
10. Serve others before yourself
11. Promote a cause you believe in
12. Take care of yourself so you can do the same for someone else
13. Recommend a great book
14. Give someone a compliment
15. Exercise patience
16. Call and wish someone a happy holiday
17. Take time to consider those who aren't as fortunate
18. Show kindness
19. Avoid waste
20. Avoid gossip
21. Be present
22. Given someone your undivided attention
23. Share laughter
And I'm extremely grateful to ALL OF YOU for supporting my daily message.
Much love,
Nick
Showing posts with label laughter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label laughter. Show all posts
Thursday, November 23, 2017
Sunday, August 20, 2017
All the World is a Stage
About a year ago I sat beaming in one of the last rows of a church I was once forced to attend weekly as a little boy. Many years had passed since my Catholic school days, but this afternoon all seemed to come full circle. One of my best friends was exchanging vows with the woman he planned to spend the rest of his life with. It was a wonderful day.
Just a few months before I sat in the same church for a very different event. Another classmate was mourning the loss of his father. Both were, in some sense, a celebration of life -- what was and what will be.
Looking back I was struck by how the same place could be used for such distinctly different events. And as things often do, it reminded me of creative expression, more specifically the theater.
A place of worship is in some sense like a theater -- a place where people gather to listen, to reflect, and hopefully be moved in some small way. Enthusiasm isn't unique to one place or event and will hopefully accompany you regardless of your endeavor. It does after all mean, "to be filled with god."
When I think back on my relationship to the theater I reflect on the many different roles it's played in my life. It was the foundation for dreams -- GIANT dreams. Some realized, others that remain dormant.
It was at times the source of enormous joy and laughter. I recall life lessons expounded on the cold surface of our black box theater as theater giants like Kristin Linklater, Anne Bogart, Andrei Serban, and Niky Wolcz shared their wisdom.
Finally, the theater could also be the root of great pain -- a mirror in which we were asked to take a deep look into, questioning our most intimate thoughts and the source of our unrealized potential.
What makes these places of gathering, of sacrifice if you will, so special is the breadth of perspective they offer. You can feel so much and so differently depending on the setting.
It's through that stretching of emotions and thought that our ability for creative expression also widens. We feel more, see more, know more, and as a result are hopefully willing to share more.
The essence of performance is when we bring all those truthful experiences to the stage bringing light to our humanity no matter how beautiful or ugly.
Just a few months before I sat in the same church for a very different event. Another classmate was mourning the loss of his father. Both were, in some sense, a celebration of life -- what was and what will be.
Looking back I was struck by how the same place could be used for such distinctly different events. And as things often do, it reminded me of creative expression, more specifically the theater.
A place of worship is in some sense like a theater -- a place where people gather to listen, to reflect, and hopefully be moved in some small way. Enthusiasm isn't unique to one place or event and will hopefully accompany you regardless of your endeavor. It does after all mean, "to be filled with god."
When I think back on my relationship to the theater I reflect on the many different roles it's played in my life. It was the foundation for dreams -- GIANT dreams. Some realized, others that remain dormant.
It was at times the source of enormous joy and laughter. I recall life lessons expounded on the cold surface of our black box theater as theater giants like Kristin Linklater, Anne Bogart, Andrei Serban, and Niky Wolcz shared their wisdom.
Finally, the theater could also be the root of great pain -- a mirror in which we were asked to take a deep look into, questioning our most intimate thoughts and the source of our unrealized potential.
What makes these places of gathering, of sacrifice if you will, so special is the breadth of perspective they offer. You can feel so much and so differently depending on the setting.
It's through that stretching of emotions and thought that our ability for creative expression also widens. We feel more, see more, know more, and as a result are hopefully willing to share more.
The essence of performance is when we bring all those truthful experiences to the stage bringing light to our humanity no matter how beautiful or ugly.
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