Category: thankful

dreams, family, friendship, future, thankful, thanksgiving

My Year of Hopefulness – More Thankful Than Ever

Christa Avampato

“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.” ~ Cicero


This Thanksgiving is a particularly special one for me. All week I have been with my family in Florida, playing and laughing and cooking, grateful for all of this time with them. I’ve never spent this much time with them over the holidays. In a year that has been so difficult, in a year when I came very close to not being here at all, I can hardly think of something I’m not grateful for. This Thanksgiving was a big milestone for me because I have been using it as a marker to a time I wanted to get to, a time when I would be in a position to make some big decisions about my life going forward. And this week I have – applying to a PhD program, formulating my own business plan, signing up for a full yoga teacher certification course. Life is looking grand from this side of Thanksgiving.

Today I am very thankful for my family and friends and mentors, people who have not only been supporting me through this difficult year, but also encouraging me to get the most out of my time here.
Earlier this week Weez and I went to the grocery store to do some Thanksgiving shopping and we talked about the fire in my apartment building. I told her how that event really eradicated any fear I have about all aspects of my future; when you almost don’t get a tomorrow, every day is gravy so I might as well get on with doing exactly what I want to do with my days. No more compromises. There’s no sense in waiting. She agreed, as has everyone in my life that I’ve talked to about this experience. That fire made every day Thanksgiving for me.

I’m grateful for my health and my ability to imagine a new future with new dreams. Surprisingly, I’m thankful for all that I lost this year because it has made me so grateful for what I have. It cleaned out my life and made room for a drastically better future than the life I was living. It made me realize that a lot of good can be created from something terrible so long as we have the right attitude, so long as we embrace the idea that everything we live through can be an opportunity for learning, for strength, for love. It’s this learning, strength, and love that I am most thankful for and I plan to use this thankfulness to bring these new dreams of mine to life.
fear, grateful, home, insomnia, nature, sleep, stress, thankful, weather

My Year of Hopefulness – Cleansing

Christa Avampato

It’s the middle of the night and I’m having a tough time sleeping. I’ve become accustomed to insomnia as I’ve had it off and on for most of my life. Tonight is a little eerie though. I’m awake because of the wind. It’s keeping me up long past my bedtime. It’s so gusty that as I was walking back to my friend, Amber’s, apartment, I could feel the weather bearing down on me. For a moment I almost lost my footing. You’d think this was Chicago in the winter the way the gusts are going. We rarely have wind like this, especially at the beginning of September.

I can’t help but think that this odd wind is a way for the greater universe to say to me that my life is being cleaned out, and it must be this way as tough as the circumstances may be. With these gusts will go all of the bad energy from the fire. And with that energy will go the fear as well – mine, and my neighbors’, family’s, and friend’s fears, too. Rather than it being a disturbing wind, perhaps it’s trying to be of great use at a time of great need. Maybe a strong, forceful wind is exactly what’s called for in times of stress. At least I’m hoping that’s the case.
As I headed from The Empire Hotel toward the subway tonight, for a second I thought “damn, all my warm clothes might be ruined. I have nothing to wear!” And then a second later I started laughing, out loud. Who cares? So I will have to buy some new warm clothing now that Fall has arrived. I stopped for a moment right by Columbus Circle and looked up at the sky, the clouds faintly swirling and swishing in the very dark sky. I said a prayer to whatever and whoever is up there looking down on me, blowing all the smoke away so that I might see and think a bit more clearly. “Thank you,” I said. “I’m glad I’m here to witness this.” And I’ve never meant any 9 words more in my life.
The image above is not my own. It can be found here.
good fortune, gratitude, thankful, work, yoga

My Year of Hopefulness – Everything You Need is in Your Hands

Christa Avampato

This morning on the subway I was reading the most recent issue of Yoga Journal. Every month they feature a short daily meditation article about a mantra, and this month its about empowerment.

Sanskrit:
“Karagre vasate Lakshmi
Kara-madhye Saraswati
Kara-mule sthita Gauri
Prabhate kara-darshanam”
English:
“On the tip of my fingers is prosperity and abundance (goddess Lakshmi);
In the middle of my hand is eloquence and learning (goddess Saraswati);
At the base of my hand is divine power (goddess Gauri or Parvati).
In the morning, a vision of energy in my hands.”

I’m always looking at people’s hands – they tell you a lot about their lives. What they do for a living, how well they take care of themselves, how they spend their time. They show us the kind of life someone has led.

For the past week, I’ve felt overwhelmed with gratitude and thankfulness. I’ve felt fortunate beyond measure, as if everything I ever wanted for my life is within easy reach. The appearance of this prayer, this call to action, said everything I have been feeling in 10 Sanskrit words.

We spend so much time looking out, looking for signs that we’re on the right track, going in the right direction. Really all we need to do is look as far as our own two hands and realize that there is enough power and grace within us to make the possible certain.

career, economy, government, New York City, opportunity, politics, relationships, thankful, thanksgiving

Thankful

Christa Avampato

Now that the food and travel of Thanksgiving have passed, I’m spending the morning eating leftover pie, drinking coffee, leafing through retail sales circulars, and considering all the things I am thankful for. Friends and family go without saying. This has been quite a year to date so items are making the list that have rarely if ever been on the list before:

My job – despite the normal frustrations that come with every job, I am especially grateful for my current position because the day-to-day tasks and the big picture view get me up out of bed every morning. I’m learning this is a rare blessing.

A place to call home – my friend, Monika among many other people close to me, are quite shocked that I have lived at one physical address for longer than a year. That hasn’t happened since 1998. Ten years of moving at least once a year. Good grief. And now I am finally in a city that is comfortable and feels like home. I feel a sense of ownership and belonging that I haven’t found before in my life. The stability of that sends waves of peace into my life that I have not had before.

Interesting times at a young age – the economy, politics, social activism. We are living in unprecedented conditions and if we can push aside the sense of uncertainty that invades our lives regularly, it is truly a spectacular opportunity for learning. To have this privilege so early on in my life and career is a tremendous gift that will inform many decisions I will make in the year to come.

The opportunity that lies ahead – we may look out into the world at the moment and see a very bleak picture. Though hidden within the folds of that bleak cover, there are wrinkles and pockets of opportunity. Going forward, there will be incentives for us to start businesses, to become a society of savers rather than spenders, to take up the call to protect the environment, and to build better transportation systems in our cities that will benefit generations to come. The good times will roll again, though in different, and dare I say better, forms that before.

In business school, Frank Warnock was one of my economics professors. Frank developed his expertise in international capital flows as a Senior Economist in the International Finance Division at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, DC. And whenever we reviewed cases or economic situations that were troubling, he would always say, “You have to be hopeful. What’s the alternative?” Those words ring truer today than ever before. And for hope, and the people who remind me of its value, I am most thankful.

celebration, grateful, thankful

21 Ways to Celebrate Life

Christa Avampato

A woman named Nancy Rothstein lost her son Josh very suddenly. Once a year Nancy adds a new way to celebrate life to her growing list – one suggestion for every one of Josh’s birthdays. I received the link to the list today – it’s now at 21 items – and I spent my commute home thinking about how I celebrate life and ways in which I’d like to celebrate life. Here’s my list for every birthday I’ve celebrated:


1.) Buy an ice cream cone on a sunny day and walk through my neighborhood 
2.) Listen to my favorite songs and repeat them as many times as I want
3.) Write
4.) Spend time with friends I adore
5.) Explore a NYC neighborhood I’m not familiar with
6.) On a rainy day, I hole up in my apartment with good food, a good movie, and never change out of my PJs
7.) I walk through my favorite area of Riverside Park and linger there as long as I want
8.) Watch re-runs of my favorite sitcoms
9.) Read the latest issues of my favorite magazines cover to cover
10.) Toil in the little shops in my neighborhood
11.) Play with a dog
12.) Practice yoga
13.) Travel abroad on my own
14.) Meditate and remind myself of all the reasons I am grateful for my life
15.) Savor a good meal slowly with good company
16.) Take care of a plant
17.) Call an old friend I haven’t talked to in a while
18.) Dance around my apartment
19.) Paint a watercolor while sitting in a beautiful place
20.) Try something new that scares me
21.) Clean my apartment – I don’t necessarily like the task but I love the result
22.) Spend the afternoon with a good book
23.) Visit one of the amazing museums in NYC
24.) Get a pedicure
25.) Volunteer my time with an organization I care about
26.) Recycle
27.) Don’t money to a charity I believe in
28.) Light a candle, say a prayer
29.) Work on a home-improvement project
30.) Remain conscious of my breathe
31.) Watch live music
32.) Take photographs

Click here for image above.