I love collecting quotes. In fact, I need to come up with a better system for saving them. I have some in my “notebook”, some are in an email folder, some saved on Instagram, others I never do save and end up losing….
3 that I’m loving this week:
1. “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
-JFK
Yes. Yes. Yes. This is such a good one. I mean, saying, “Thanks!” to someone is nice and well, but not really what it’s all about. It’s about living a life of gratitude, showing people you are grateful for them in your actions and acting like a grateful, content person. Obviously, this takes time and practice to develop. (Which is why I like to focus on this topic so much- I need to drill it into my own head everyday, too.)
With this quote, I don’t think it just means that we should “do things” for other people to show our gratitude, exactly (though that is certainly lovely, too). I think it’s more about honoring our life and others by truly appreciating them and letting that shine through in the little things, every single day. If that makes sense. 🙂
2. “What if today we were just grateful for everything?”
-Charlie Brown
I’m not a huge Charlie Brown fan, but he’s got an amazing point here. He is cute, too. WHAT IF we were? Just grateful? Not short tempered, not frustrated, not trying to “be productive” or “get things done” or “be right”. Just GRATEFUL today. That’s it. I love it. ❤
3. “If you look deeply enough, you can almost always see the innocence in other people as well as in potentially frustrating situations. When you do, you will become a more patient and peaceful person.”
-Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff 2020 Calendar, Thursday December 10
I think I am actually pretty good at this. Not trying to toot my own horn, but I am confident enough to have I think a decent perception of my own strengths and weaknesses. I am generally a major empath and tend to be quite in tune to subtle feelings of others. Similarly, I tend to be pretty skilled at looking at the flip side of situations that otherwise might feel negative.
(Ex. If a waiter is rude to me, I tend to start running through a list in my head of why he might be. Is he super busy right now? Is that big party over there being really demanding? Is it almost closing time and he is tired and wants to go home? Is this maybe his 9th shift in a row and he is also a fulltime student who has an exam tomorrow and he is just done?)
I don’t automatically assume the waiter is just a terrible, rude person. This doesn’t work 100% of the time, of course. Some people just aren’t that nice. But I think more often than not, there is more to a story than meets the eye. 🙂
More holiday lights! ✔✔
Finally, a few pics from our Holiday Lights Extravaganza last night! It was AMAZING!!! SUCH a fun night. Probably at least over 10x larger than the previous display we saw here in Madison- definitely worth the hour drive. We saw a life sized Nativity scene (like the one in Rome!), a beautifully decorated train set and of course, lights galore. We rode outside on a wagon with hot cocoa and sugar cookies! We met my parents who live nearby and it was great. 🙂
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for a 45 degree December night in Wisconsin last night! With hot cocoa and blankets over our laps, we weren’t even cold on the 30+ minute wagon ride. It was the perfect night for it!
GRATEFUL KAE 
i love quotes too! or passages from books. I write them down in my journal to review them in the future. But they are so many!!! and I think it really speaks to us differently at different stages of our lives, so it would be good to review them in few years.
loving all the lights! we have so many here in manila too and I need to pause and watch them more.
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You already know I love quotes – they’re a central part of my blog, after all. I tend to dump a lot of them in Evernote, whether in single notes or grouped together. For ones that really resonate with me, I take the time to handwrite them in a notebook. That’s for the ones that I read and say (to myself, of course), “Oh, wow…that’s just what I needed to read today.”
Also, love the lights pictures! Would you mind telling me where that is in an email? I’m looking for SOMETHING festive to do in lieu of the usual holiday shenanigans.
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Wow that light display looks amazing! I looked at some options in Mpls but I think this is just not the year for that with a newborn who doesn’t seem to love the car seat/car. Maybe next year! There are some nice lights in our neighborhood so one night we will take a drive around to look at them. Paul is finally forward facing (we waited until December when he is 2.75 yo because he is so dang petite) so I think he will really enjoy them this year.
Having empathy is so important! I’m not surprised you are an empathetic person. Especially since you are a nurse and worked inpatient care. Empathy seems like a mandatory skill for that career! I was a waitress, too, so am always very understanding when it comes to food service. I hate it when people aren’t kind to wait staff or blame them for things that aren’t their fault. Like the slowness of food is often times a kitchen issue, not the server!!
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