Stop and smell the coffee

Recently, a video by the Washington Post hit Youtube. “Stop and Hear the Music.” It was a test to see if people have time for beauty. This video shows Joshua Bell, one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made. He played for 45 minutes in the Metro station of D.C. as 1,097 people passed by. Few people stopped to “smell the coffee,” and the final haul for his playing was $32.17. Three days before he appeared at the Metro station, Bell had filled the house at Boston’s Symphony Hall, where average seats went for $100.
Are we so busy with our lives that we walk past a free concert by one of the greatest musicians in the world? If we do, this makes me wonder what other things are may be missing out on.

There are so many things to be grateful for and many of them don’t cost a thing. What are you grateful for? A few years ago, I began saying 20 things that I was grateful for every day. Many of the things that I am grateful for require little to no money. Everyday, I am grateful for long hot baths, walks, yoga, meditation, love, sunlight, nature, my cat. Whenever a negative thought comes into my head, I turn it into a positive. For example, when I am sitting in traffic getting annoyed, instead of yelling at the car ahead of me, as I usually would, I find something to be positive about. I might say something like, “I am grateful for my car. I am grateful that I have gas in my car. I grateful that the sun is out.”

Let’s try this for one week: What are you thankful for? I am interested in reading your responses. I am interested to see how this exercise changes your outlook on life, and how you feel inside.