Month: January 2026

My Abundant Life 1-25-26

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January 25th, 2026

Working With What You’ve Got

“If your everyday life seems poor, don’t blame it; blame yourself; admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth it’s riches; Because of the creator there is no poverty and no poor indifferent place.”

René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (known as: Rainer Maria Rilke) (Austrian Poet and Novelist; December 4th, 1875 ~ December 29th, 1926)

“Up until now many of us have secretly believed that we had to wait until things calmed down a bit before we started to get our acts together. Tomorrow we’ll begin discovering authentic pleasures. Tomorrow we’ll treat ourselves better. Tomorrow we’ll take time to enjoy ourselves. Tomorrow, when everything calms down. This I can report from the front lines: life never calms down long enough for us to wait until tomorrow to start living the lives we deserve. Life is always movement, always change, always unforeseen circumstances.”

“So what are we going to do about it? We can stop waiting for life to become perfect and start working with what we’ve got to make it as satisfying as we can. We can accept, bless, give thanks, and get going. Today, we can begin to call forth the riches from our everyday life. Today we can move from lack to abundance.”

“Think of one thing that would give you a genuine moment of pleasure today and do it.”

“Today, my partner asked what I would like for dinner. I replied, “Crack!” We make a breaded pan fried sole that is to die for. Dinner and pleasure in one go. WINNING!!!”🏆 (Heather Houston 1-25-22)

“Life never calms down enough for us to feel like we are ready to start. Starting in the face of no agreement is being in action in an intentional way. New actions lead to unexpected outcomes. So get out there and do what needs to be done…stop waiting!” (Heather Houston 1-25-26)

“Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that we become rich.”

Sarah Bernhardt (French Stage Actress; 1844 ~ March 26th, 1923)

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 25-26 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

Daily Gratitude 1-24-26

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January 24th, 2026

  • “I am thankful for weekends so we get to sleep in.” (Heather Houston 1-24-26)
  • “I appreciate my husband cleaning the kitchen from last nights cook and making us a yummy breakfast of poached eggs, toast and bacon.” (Heather Houston 1-24-26)
  • “I am grateful the guy who backed up into my car at the bank did not damage my car.” (Heather Houston 1-24-26)
  • “I am blessed to be able to purchase firewood to heat our house and add ambience to our nightly experience. (Heather Houston 1-24-26)
  • “I am grateful that my husband plans ahead in the week to make pizza dough so we have it available to create delicious fusion pizzas. Tonight he had spicy red sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, pickled jalapeños, fresh mozzarella, hot honey and red chili flakes.” (Heather Houston 1-24-26)
  • “I am thankful my rowing athlete was hearty enough to finish his erg workout this morning.” (Heather Houston 1-24-22)
  • “I am grateful to get all my 300+ appointments entered for the whole month of February.” (Heather Houston 1-24-22)
  • “I appreciate the scrumptious meatballs sold at QFC, which helped make dinner super easy and tasty.” (Heather Houston 1-24-22)
  • “I am thankful that I found a bottle of Chianti wine in a wicker basket…🍷Castello Banfi Bell’Agio Straw Flask. I have always wanted to sample this Italy staple.” (Heather Houston 1-24-22)
  • “I am grateful for a partner who cares whether or not I’m rested and scoots me off to bed early each night. Thank you honey!” (Heather Houston 1-24-22)

My Abundant Life 1-24-26

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January 24th, 2026

Blessing Our Circumstances

“Bless a thing and it will bless you. Curse it and it will curse you…If you bless a situation, it has no power to hurt you, and even if it is troublesome for a time, it will gradually fade out, if you sincerely bless it.”

Emmett Fox (Irish New Thought Spiritual Leader; July 30th, 1886 ~ August 13th, 1951)

“After accepting our present circumstances, no matter what they are, we must learn to bless them.”

“…blessing whatever vexes us is the spiritual surrender that can change even troublesome situations for the better. Blessing the circumstances in our lives also teaches us to trust.”

“Then start to count your blessings. Start today. Make a spiritual inventory of all your blessings. See if you can’t get to one hundred….Writing it down focuses our attention on the abundance already within our grasp and makes it real.”

My Gratitude List

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 25 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

Daily Gratitude 1-23-26

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January 23rd, 2026

  • “I am grateful my husband soaked the cornmeal pot from the previous night’s cook which made cleaning the pot this morning a breeze.” (Heather Houston 1-23-26)
  • “I appreciate my colleagues replying to my time sensitive emails so I could continue to move the work for youth and families forward and in a timely manner.” (Heather Houston 1-23-26)
  • “I appreciate my husband refraining from too much of the “Shame Train” when I shared I didn’t and wasn’t going to workout this morning.” 🙏🏼😆 (Heather Houston 1-23-26)
  • “I feel blessed to be privileged enough to chose what I want for dinner and tonight is NACHO NIGHT!” (Heather Houston 1-23-26)
  • “I am thankful to have a loving husband who makes every reconnection a magical experience.” (Heather Houston 1-23-26)
  • “I am thankful to have my partner share his love of football⚽️ with me. I enjoy watching with him so much! Too bad Arsenal didn’t win!” (Heather Houston 1-23-22)
  • “I am grateful I kept on top of my “To Do” tasks and got all the laundry completed.” (Heather Houston 1-23-22)
  • “I am thankful my partner is so adventurous to make a new cocktail for us to happy hour with…Tequila Old Fashioned.” (Heather Houston 1-23-22)
  • “I am thankful the market was not busy and I whizzed in and out in a flash!” (Heather Houston 1-23-22)
  • “I appreciate how loving my dog is as he tries to perch on my shoulder like a parrot…all 20# of love.” (Heather Houston 1-23-22)

My Musical Life 1-23-26

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January 23rd, 2026

#7 This Guy’s in Love with You (Herb Alpert) 👍🏼

Lyrics:
You see this guy
This guy’s in love with you
Yes, I’m in love
Who looks at you the way I do🪄
When you smile I can tell
We know each other very well
How can I show you
I’m glad I got to know you🪄
‘Cause I’ve heard some talk
They say that you think I’m fine
This guy’s in love
And what I’d do to make you mine🪄
Tell me now, is it so?
Don’t let me be the last to know
My hands are shaking
Don’t let my heart keep breaking🪄
‘Cause, I need your love
I want your love, say you’re in love
In love with this guy
If not I’ll just die🪄
Tell me now, is it so?
Don’t let me be the last to know
My hands are shaking
Don’t let my heart keep breaking🪄
‘Cause, I need your love
I want your love, say you’re in love
In love with this guy
If not I’ll just die

My Abundant Life 1-23-26

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January 23rd, 2026

Accepting Real Life

“Everything in life that we really accept undergoes a change.”

Kathleen Mansfield Murry (known as: Katherine Mansfield) (New Zealand Writer; October 14th, 1888 ~ January 9th, 1923)

“Acceptance is surrendering to what is: our circumstances, our feelings, our problems, our financial status, our work, our health, our relationships with other people, the delay of our dreams. Before we can change anything in our life we have to recognize that this is the way it’s meant to be right now.”

“…I have also learned that when I surrender to the reality of a particular situation—when I don’t continue to resist, but accept—a softening in my soul occurs. Suddenly, I am able to open up to receive all the goodness and abundance available to me because acceptance brings with it so much relief and release. It’s as if the stream of struggle has been allowed to escape from life’s pressure cooker.”

“What happens when we accept our circumstances? Well, first of all, we relax. Next we change our vibration, our energy pattern, and the rate of our heartbeat.”

“Acceptance also illuminates reality so that we’re better able to see the next steps.”

“Our task is to say a holy yes to the real things our life as they exist.”

Natalie Goldberg (American Author and Speaker; January 4th, 1948 ~ )

“To accept my present circumstances is to be at peace with what is so. It allows me not to fester on the daily grind, but to then take new actions. These actions will lead to unexpected outcomes and add to my abundance. My partner always reminds me…’If you worry, you will eventually die. If you don’t worry, you will eventually die. So why worry?'” (Heather Houston 1-23-22 & 1-22-26)

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 24 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

Daily Gratitude 1-22-26

On By Heather HoustonIn 5 Daily GratitudesLeave a comment

January 22nd, 2026

  • “I am thankful my body was able to push hard enough on the rowing ergometer to escalate my strain to my WHOOP desired level…10.2!” (Heather Houston 1-22-26)
  • “I am grateful that the defroster in the car was speedy enough to get my love to his dental appointment in time.” (Heather Houston 1-22-26)
  • “I appreciate my supervisor approving my 3-hours of flex time so I can get off early from work on Friday.” (Heather Houston 1-22-26)
  • “I am blessed to have a chef in the house who is leaning into his fusion experience as a chef. He made a western African & southern African pork pap n gravy dish that was out of this world!” (Heather Houston 1-22-26)
  • “I appreciate my husband having a fire and cocktail at the ready when I get home from work to enjoy while holding hands and listening to good tunes! “🎶(Heather Houston 1-22-26)
  • “I am thankful to have gotten all my weekend chores done even though my energy was low.  I just recommitted myself to get organized and live into non-clutter and order.” (Heather Houston 1-22-22)
  • “I truly adore my morning cup of coffee on the weekend as it is with the man I love deeply.” (Heather Houston 1-22-22)
  • “I appreciate the QFC clerk in the self-checkout area for remembering me each time I visit and wishing me a great day.  He is really and excellent human.” (Heather Houston 1-22-22)
  • “I am blessed to have the deep love and attention from the love of my life.  He loves me hard and authentically.  Being able to feel safe and vulnerable with him allows the deepening of our connection. I love him!”💗 (Heather Houston 1-22-22)
  • “I am grateful for another vacation via cuisine with my partner.  We used a country randomizer which selected Singapore.  Since we are committed to having chicken from all over the world, we found a recipe to make tonight, Singapore Chicken.  It was exceptional and so fun to cook together with the Electric Light Orchestra blasting away.” (Heather Houston 1-22-22)
Singapore Chicken

My Musical Life 1-22-26

On By Heather HoustonIn My Musical LifeLeave a comment

January 22nd, 2026

#6 Sunshine Of Your Love (Cream) 👍🏼

Lyrics:
It’s getting near dawn
When lights close their tired eyes
I’ll soon be with you my love
Give you my dawn surprise
I’ll be with you darling soon
I’ll be with you when the stars start falling🪄
I’ve been waiting so long
To be where I’m going
In the sunshine of your love🪄
I’m with you my love
The light’s shining through on you
Yes, I’m with you my love
It’s the morning and just we two
I’ll stay with you darling now
I’ll stay with you ’til my seas are dried up🪄
I’ve been waiting so long
To be where I’m going
In the sunshine of your love🪄
I’m with you my love
The light’s shining through on you
Yes, I’m with you my love
It’s the morning and just we two
I’ll stay with you darling now
I’ll stay with you ’til my seas are dried up🪄
I’ve been waiting so long
I’ve been waiting so long
I’ve been waiting so long
To be where I’m going
In the sunshine of your love