Awake.In:::DreamSpace:::

I'm grateful to live in a beautiful neighborhood by the water.

I always wanted to live on the water...  This is the second apartment I'm renting that is on a canal.  I'm very fortunate to have found such a wonderful location...  Thank you Maria Cino, friend and realtor that helped me find this spot.

I love walking with Koda in the neighborhood.  There are water views everywhere.

We cross over the Warwick Road Bridge from Island Park onto Harbor Isle... It is like a mini vacation walking through Harbor Isle.  Beautiful homes and gorgeous vistas. 

Here is the bay view at the end of Island Parkway North...

Crossing over the Island Parkway Bridge back into Island Park...looking South...

The view facing North on the Island Parkway Bridge...

After crossing the bridge, turn left at the end of Suffolk Road looking North...

Love this view... it is six blocks from my apartment, can see the Empire State Building from here...awesome at sunset, dusk, and night...

Very grateful indeed!

I'm grateful that Koda shares life with me.

She brings lots of laughs, joy, energy, excitement, wonder, and LOVE into my life everyday!

I'm a lot healthier because of Koda... without her, I wouldn't have the discipline to go for a brisk walk several times a day...  she doesn't let me be lazy! 

This is what she does when I'm in front of the Mac too long...

Let's play Mommy!...

Life with Koda is magical...

I'm grateful that I own a car.

Even though it goes back to Mini Service tomorrow because the check engine light came on... again!

A car is a luxury... Life without one would definitely restrict my mobility to do what I want when I want.  Today I thought about all the things I can easily do because I have a car to drive.  I realized that many of my daily activities involve the use of my car.  Just the thought of grocery shopping without a car is daunting!

So, as I drive my car to the service department tomorrow morning, I won't be angry at the fact that the car is having mechanical issues again, I will be grateful that I have a car to drive to the service department, it will be repaired, and I am fortunate to own a vehicle that allows me great convenience.

I'm grateful that I am employed.

I'm in the middle of my 24th year at ABC Network, something to be very grateful for.  I have worked here almost half of my life and have definitely taken for granted the lifestyle that I live as a result of the regular paycheck that gets deposited every 2 weeks.

In the past 7 years I haven't enjoyed my job... this has made me very negative about walking through the doors of this building...  Obviously, nothing good has come from complaining and contributing to the negativity that seems to permeate so many things in my corporate environment.  For the past few months, I have been mindful to my thoughts and actions while at work.  I'm grateful for the challenge to practice corporate patience and acceptance!  Gee, if I can master that, the rest of life should be easy... 

I'm grateful that most of my career was filled with joy of loving what I did.  Yes, I was one of those people who was  able to say, I love what I do.  There are many who will never say that.  I experienced it, I lived it, I really enjoyed it.  I have now learned that my attachment to those times has caused the suffering I've been experiencing.  Nothing is permanent, those times are over, let them go.  I wasted so much time trying to recapture something that was never going to be the same... I'm grateful that I can see that now.

Presently at work, I'm trying to perform my duties and responsibilities with a mindfulness that strives for positive thoughts and actions...  this can be very challenging!  I believe that if I stay away from the negativity and complaining, opportunities will reveal themselves since my mind is in a  calmer state.

I am grateful that I found Dharma.

I'm grateful for our Sangha's Kadampa Buddhist Teacher David Hoffner.

The photo is of our meditation room at the Groh Well Healing Center in Merrick.  We set up the room every Tuesday for the General Program Class and every Saturday for the Foundation Program Class.  Our Sangha creates the space since it is a shared room...  I believe that as we are setting up the room, we are creating a peaceful sanctuary and when we return the room to it's normal state, our minds leave with the peace we created there.

Back on March 8th of this year, while recovering from pneumonia, I found the Dipamkara Meditation Center in Merrick.  I stumbled upon this group through meetup.com.  I had been wanting to find out about meditation and the little bit I knew about it was that if practiced one would feel better.  I was sick, stressed out, unhappy, and feeling isolated... so... in the Google search box I typed in meditation long island and my journey began.

I went by myself and had no idea what to expect.  Little did I know that I would find a wonderful group of people, a great teacher, and Dharma.  I have always had an interest in Buddhism, so I was pleasantly surprised that not only was this meet-up about meditation, it also offered Buddhist teachings...  And there on that evening, something clicked in my delusional mind, and I've been practicing and studying ever since...  Without finding Dharma, I wouldn't be on the path of practicing gratitude and compassion and this project wouldn't be happening...

As I learn more and practice Buddhism, so much of it resonates deeply in my mind... it makes sense even though I don't understand everything... I'm convinced that my mind has been on the path before... somewhere... and I'm grateful that I found it again.

A few days ago, I stumbled on this, http://365grateful.com/ click on the link and watch the video...then come back and read the rest of the post.

I've been looking for a "project" and this is it!  I'm at a point in my life where I've got everything I need, but there are times, I'm just not happy...  and when my mind falls into that unhappy darkness, nothing good comes from it...  it leads to suffering created from my delusional mind.

There are so many things I take for granted, never appreciate, and barely look at... so, like Hailey Bartholomew, I will take a picture of something I'm grateful for everyday for 365 days... a one year journey...  I'm excited to find out what I've been missing... there is a lot of gratitude that I need to acknowledge...  I won't have time to be unhappy!

I feel it is going to be a very "enlightening" experience.  And to pass on a catch phrase from our Kadampa Buddhist Teacher, David Hoffner... "Gratitude is an Attitude"  Pass it on!

I have no scientific facts, proof, or mathematical genius, but I think as we get older time moves faster because our minds are approaching the speed of light... when we do, we wink out and get dropped off on the next path of our journey...