{"id":19690,"date":"2013-11-28T04:00:58","date_gmt":"2013-11-28T10:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=19690"},"modified":"2023-01-24T19:31:16","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T01:31:16","slug":"the-gift-of-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-gift-of-today\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gift of Today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The older I get, the more I believe that gratitude is the answer to almost every problem we face. It can transform anxiety, anger, and depression.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Gratitude HD - Moving Art\u2122\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nj2ofrX7jAk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It may not change our circumstances\u2014though it often does\u2014but it can change us. And isn\u2019t that really the purpose of this journey we call \u201clife\u201d?<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->My daughter Marissa recently shared a video with me that I want to share with you. It is as beautiful as it is profound. It is well-worth your time to watch it.<\/p>\n<p>I particularly loved this quote from <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/David_Steindl-Rast\">Brother David Steindl-Rast<\/a>, a benedictine monk, and the one speaking on the video:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>You think this is just another day in your life. It\u2019s not just another day. It\u2019s the one day that is given to you today\u2026. It\u2019s the only gift that you have right now. And the only appropriate response is gratefulness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Maybe we would get this if we saw today as the first day of our life\u2014or our last.<\/p>\n<p>Here are four ways you can transform today, taking it from ordinary to extraordinary:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Notice the gifts around you.<\/strong> Whether it is the natural beauty that surrounds you, the interesting people you encounter, or the simple beating of your heart, everything is a miracle\u2014if you have eyes to see it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Open your heart to receive them.<\/strong> It\u2019s so easy to feel entitled and become cynical when we don\u2019t get what we want or feel we deserve. But if we receive everything as a gift, designed for either our enjoyment, our transformation, or both, we open ourselves to <a title=\"Post: \u201cA Question That Changes Everything\u201d\" href=\"https:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/a-question-that-changes-everything.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new possibilities<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Express your gratitude for them.<\/strong> This is one of the things that makes humans unique and sets us apart from the animals. But we have to speak it to experience the power of it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bless someone else.<\/strong> Let your gratefulness overflow into the lives of those you encounter today. It doesn\u2019t have to be fancy\u2014just offer them a smile, a touch, or the simple gift of your presence. (You could also share this post with them!)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Today will never be repeated. It it is unique among all the days of your life. Gratitude can transform into something to be remembered.<\/p>\n<p>Note: If you want to explore gratitude further, read Ann Voskamp\u2019s excellent book, <em><a title=\"Amazon: One Thousand Gifts\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/0310321913\/mhyatt-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"reminder\">What are you thankful for today?<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The older I get, the more I believe that gratitude is the answer to almost every problem we face. I recently watched this short video that reminded me of its importance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":19693,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[1147,66,1148,1149,570,1150],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Gift of Today\u2014Lessons from a Monk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The older I get, the more I believe that gratitude is the answer to almost every problem we face. I recently watched this short video that reminded me of its importance.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-gift-of-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Gift of Today\u2014Lessons from a Monk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The older I get, the more I believe that gratitude is the answer to almost every problem we face. I recently watched this short video that reminded me of its importance.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-gift-of-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Full Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/michaelhyatt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michaelhyatt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-28T10:00:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-25T01:31:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/youtube-nj2ofrX7jAk.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Hyatt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@michaelhyatt\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-gift-of-today\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-gift-of-today\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Hyatt\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/person\/e326267e17b1b742f4062fcbd4fdfff7\"},\"headline\":\"The Gift of Today\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-28T10:00:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-25T01:31:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-gift-of-today\/\"},\"wordCount\":419,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Blessing\",\"gratitude\",\"now\",\"observation\",\"Thankfulness\",\"today\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Personal Development\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-gift-of-today\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/the-gift-of-today\/\",\"name\":\"The Gift of Today\u2014Lessons from a Monk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-28T10:00:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-25T01:31:16+00:00\",\"description\":\"The older I get, the more I believe that gratitude is the answer to almost every problem we face. 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