Lyman Reed

Gratitude for Moving to Twitter

Jan 312012

Today I’m grateful that this will be the last day that I put an Operation Gratitude (or Operation Gratitude II) post up on this blog.

After a week of no posts and contemplating what to do with this little project of mine, I’ve decided that Twitter is a better place for short, simple recognitions of all the good that’s in my life. The blog is too cumbersome, and the last thing that this needs to become is cumbersome. It’s supposed to be improving my mental states, not degrading them.

I’ll still use the blog for other writings, including any daily gratitudes that I feel warrant expansion.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter if you are interested in keeping up with the gratitude posts.

Gratitude for 50/50

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Jan 242012

Today I’m grateful for the movie 50/50.

It really helped to put things in perspective again.

[This is entry 5/365 of Operation Gratitude II: The Grateful Strike Back]

Gratitude That The Taxes Are Done

Operation Gratitude II 1 Response »

Jan 232012

Today I’m grateful that my 2011 tax returns are already done.

I love Turbo Tax… we got the last piece of paper in the mail less than an hour ago, plugged in the numbers, and both my state and federal returns are done. No more dropping them off at the post office just before midnight on April 15th.

Technology rocks.

[This is entry 4/365 of Operation Gratitude II: The Grateful Strike Back]

Gratitude for My Tracy

Operation Gratitude II 1 Response »

Jan 222012

Today I’m grateful for my wife, Tracy Leigh Reed.

’cause she’s awesome.

[This is entry 3/365 of Operation Gratitude II: The Grateful Strike Back]

Gratitude for Secular Buddhism

Operation Gratitude II 9 Responses »

Jan 212012

Today I’m grateful for secular Buddhism.

I wasn’t sure how to capitalize that title, but decided that since “secular” is a descriptor, and “Buddhism” is (whether I like it or not) a religion, I probably got it right.

Actually, a “secular application of Buddhist thought”, as it is often described in The Secular Buddhist Podcast, is probably the best description. Secular Buddhism is just a convenient shortening of that.

The main reason I could never accept Buddhism fully is the same reason that I’m an atheist who can’t accept Christianity, or Islam, or Hinduism. They all have seeds of goodness in them, but also have stories and ideas that one must believe… which I cannot believe.

So I suppose I (and others) are doing with Buddhism is somewhat similar to what Thomas Jefferson did with the Bible – cherry picking the parts that I think are true and useful, and discarding those that don’t work for me. (Of course, everyone does that with religion, I suppose I’m just being more open about it.) I’m trying to do it with wisdom, though. Just because something doesn’t agree with me doesn’t mean that it’s not true or helpful. If it stands the test of rationality, it stays. If not, it goes.

[This is entry 2/365 of Operation Gratitude II: The Grateful Strike Back]

Gratitude for Fall Twice, Get Up Three Times

Operation Gratitude II 4 Responses »

Jan 202012

Today I’m grateful for, once again, not quitting.

Missed last nights entry, so now we are into “Operation Gratitude II: The Grateful Strike Back.”

The thing is, the point of this exercise isn’t really to go 365 days and then stop. It’s to create a habit of being grateful for things, and to share that habit with others who may be interested.

So all that missing days does is extend it into more entries. Which isn’t such a bad thing.

How’s that for a reframe?

[This is entry 1/365 of Operation Gratitude II: The Grateful Strike Back]

Gratitude for Going Dark

Operation Gratitude 1 Response »

Jan 182012

Today I’m grateful that many sites on the Internet went dark on January 18, 2012, in opposition to SOPA and PIPA.

As I write this, my site is still down, and will be for a few more hours. This blog is less than a drop in the bucket, though. The big boys, both those who went completely black and those who stayed up, yet directed their visitors to information on the bills, are the ones who made the difference.

And I’m grateful to you, dear readers, for all that you did to raise awareness and to stand up for your freedom.

[This is entry 36 of 365 of Operation Gratitude]

Gratitude for the SOPA/PIPA Strike

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Jan 172012

Today, I’m grateful that so many websites have chosen to take a stand against SOPA and PIPA on 1/18/2012 and black out their websites in protest of the bills.

A few days ago, I wrote about my gratitude for internet freedom and how our “representatives” want to take that freedom away. While progress has been made (especially on SOPA – it’s apparently been shelved), neither bill is dead. And both of these bills need to be.

So I’ve decided to take my own tiny little stand and join in with some of the biggest names on the internet (Wikipedia, Reddit, WordPress, Mozilla, and hundreds more) when they strike.

While I’m impressed that so many heavy content providers are joining in, the ones that impress me the most are sites like Reddit and the Cheezburger network of sites – for-profit sites that are truly putting their money where their mouths are. That a site would be willing to forgo a day of revenue in order to raise awareness of one of the greatest threats to our freedoms currently in the works is a beautiful thing.

So, I suppose I’ll see you on the 19th… yes, it means that I’ll miss one day of posting – but that’s how important this is.

[This is entry 35 of 365 of Operation Gratitude]

Gratitude for Questions

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Jan 162012

Today I’m grateful that I can ask myself and meditate on questions.

Like this one that I just came across in Stephen Batchelor’s “Buddhism Without Beliefs”:

“Since death alone is certain and the time of death uncertain, what should I do?”

[This is entry 34 of 365 of Operation Gratitude]

Gratitude for Life

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Jan 152012

Today I’m not really sure what I’m grateful for.

Nothing specific is jumping out at me. There are the old standby’s of health, family, job, security… but for some reason, nothing solid is coming to mind.

I guess I’m just grateful for life in general. Not in an ecstatic, jumping for joy kind of way. It’s more of a quiet, satisfied gratitude. Just knowing that life is mostly good, and even the parts that aren’t are pretty damn OK.

[This is entry 33 of 365 of Operation Gratitude]