Gratitude-It Falls from Your Tree or it Doesn't - Part 2

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome back to real estate and more. It falls from the tree or it doesn't. Christmas show. This is part two and I thank you for listening this morning. We're continuing with Erica, who has a wonderful story to share with us. [00:00:18] Speaker B: What makes you feel gratitude? What makes you feel grateful? [00:00:25] Speaker C: So many things. But when I think about gratitude, I think of not swelling in the past or dreaming of the future, but rather really being in the present moment and being grateful for what's in front of you. I think it's so easy to take some of those small moments for granted, but they can make such a large impact in your life. [00:00:49] Speaker B: Are you able to describe a life changing event or some other person's act of kindness towards you that has warmed your heart, made you feel grateful and has affected you in a positive way in an ongoing manner? [00:01:05] Speaker C: Absolutely. I can think of an event that has made such a huge impact on my life, I should say our lives. Eight years ago, my husband and I were involved in an accident which landed him in an induced tacoma for a couple of weeks with a probability that he might not survive, and if so, a very low probability of making a full and complete recovery. So, long story short, as you know, Michael, Tony has made a miraculous and full complete recovery. But being in our late twenty? S and thinking we were absolutely invincible, we were reminded that life is very precious and in an instance it can easily be taken away from you. And so it really changed our perspective on our outlook on life. And really looking at that bigger picture, being grateful, as you mentioned, for waking up in the morning, no matter how tired you are, no matter what's on your to do list, and really never taking that for granted. I think going through that process, I think about Tony's attitude and his can do attitude really was such a big impact on his recovery. I can't say that I would have had the same. I think that it would have been frustrating at that age to be told like, hey, this is going to be a two year process. But you know what? He's here today. And it's the attitude of gratitude that really got him here and put our lives into perspective and made us appreciate also one another so much more than ever. [00:03:05] Speaker B: So many people around us, they're seeing what's going on overseas, they're seeing what's going on with this, with that, the negative, the evil in the world. And it's hard to get over that and not have a focus on it. And I think that in my mind. [00:03:24] Speaker A: The only way we can do that. [00:03:25] Speaker B: Is to say, okay, it's going to be what it's going to be and I'm going to stay on the positive side of things. Do you help other people with this attitude of gratitude? [00:03:38] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, of course. I think I'm conscious of it no matter where I am, whether it be the grocery store, rather it be letting that person over on your morning commute or interacting with somebody on the Internet. I think it's always important to lead with kindness. You never know what people are going through and it's just such a simple thing to do and something that I make sure that I always carry with me. I think about just the community that I live in. We all kind of look after one another, rather that be somebody's traveling and we're looking out for a package that might be delivered or rolling in that trash can. Sending a text to a loved one. Let them know how much you appreciate, know their love, their friendship, whatever it might be. [00:04:35] Speaker A: Thank you, Erica. Erica says to embrace the small moments, to not dwell in the past, but live in the present. To make the best impact on one's life. Thank you, Erica. Author, nutritionist and specialist on longevity, Karen Owak is here to share her story. Good morning, Karen. Thank you for sharing with us. [00:05:00] Speaker D: The word gratitude means to me is that you appreciate what you have and you're not focused on what you don't have. And gratitude is something that needs to be practiced because we're not born with being grateful. It's something we do need to work on every day. And as far as me being a thankful person by nature, I guess I was raised that way. My parents were always very positive and they always made sure that I was happy and I was thankful for what we had. It wasn't a lot, but what we did have was something that still brought us joy. [00:05:47] Speaker A: If you possess this attitude of gratitude, and thus you're thankful, too, what personal actions do you do to practice this graceful way of viewing and interacting with others? [00:05:57] Speaker D: One of the things that I recommend is that I have what's called a gratitude box and writing down some very thoughtful things and thinking about the things that you're grateful for every day and then putting it in this box, because there were days where you're not going to feel that great kind of wake up with a little down, but you go into that box and you open that and you start looking through all these things that you are grateful for and that's going to lift you up. [00:06:33] Speaker A: Is there something like an event or someone whom you credit your positive and grateful attitude to, or is it just something that came to mind one day or where did it come from? [00:06:44] Speaker D: It's come from experience, loss, and one of them being my mother and losing her very early on. My son, the first grandchild, was only nine months old when she passed. She was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer right before he was born. So having that and then that first Christmas, being told that she only had three months to live and that all of a sudden you just appreciate every second, every hour that you have with this person and just the fact that we're living. And that really changed me and it really made me think about, okay, what is life really all about? And we need to be thankful for that. And being in a field where a lot of my patients are very sick and they often say, I'm just glad I woke up on the right side of the grass. [00:07:51] Speaker A: That'S a very heart stirring story to hear. And it's usually some type of an event that actually says, hey, wake up there, Michael. And moving forward, you need to make some changes. So thank you for your thoughts on this. [00:08:09] Speaker D: You're very welcome. [00:08:10] Speaker A: Karen says the meaning of gratitude is that one appreciates what they have and are not focused on what they don't have. The attitude must be practiced as it is a learned skill. Karen practices gratitude each day by writing a note and putting it in her special gratitude box. Then on days when she feels a little blue, she pulls out those notes of gratitude from the box. We're going to take a very short break. Be right back. I'm Michael Hatfield. City team is a credible organization that actually cares for human beings who are poor and are hungry. City team provides food, clothing, shelter and humanitarian services in three Bay Area cities as well as AIDS. Those who are in serious need of a hot meal, please donate what you can spare to city team so they can serve holiday meals to those in dire need. They're able to serve a meal for just $2.49. Yes, just $2.49 less than a cup of coffee. Help sustain another human being by gifting to city team. Any amount helps. And between now and December 31, any donation you make will be matched by a fellow generous donor. Go to cityteam orghristmas to help with your important gift. We can make a difference. Go to cityteam.org slant Christmas. That's cityteam.org slant Christmas. This is an unpaid endorsement by the Michael Hatfield family for another human being in need. And now back to our show. Longtime Minister and pastor Dr. Roger Martin, a pillar of and to the community, shares his valuable life experiences with us. Welcome, Dr. Martin. [00:09:57] Speaker E: Well, thank you, captain. It's great to be with you. [00:10:01] Speaker B: What does the word gratitude mean to you? [00:10:05] Speaker E: Well, that's a great question. And to me, captain, it means be able to express joy and appreciation for blessings and favor that we have experienced in life. And we have been fortunate to just, I guess, just be recipients of the goodness of God. For that. We're very thankful. [00:10:26] Speaker B: Absolutely. You're a thankful person by nature. Do you believe that if there's an event that actually changed your attitude and that you practice every day and was there an event that did that or. [00:10:39] Speaker A: Just part of the maturing process? [00:10:41] Speaker E: Well, I don't know that I am really a thankful person by nature. Really, captain, I find myself sometimes being much more of a taker than a giver when it comes right down to it. When we experience things in life and just different blessings, it's something that I think all of us learn. How many times have we heard a parent say to a child, what do you say? Trying to prompt them to be thankful for some experience or something nice someone may have said to them? And I know in my life it's been something that I've had to work on and learn as well. But when I think back of something I'm really thankful for, I just have to go back to our marriage, our two children, and what a blessing that has been in my life. Simply because, captain, you share life together, and in sharing life together, you share the blessings of life as well as the challenges of life. And we all face those both on both sides. To be able to just say thank you to people, thank you to God in heaven for things. It's an awesome privilege that we all. [00:12:00] Speaker B: Have to be grateful. It's like a learned ability. It's something that you have to learn. And once you learned it, you have to wake up every morning and say, I am so grateful for getting out of bed and practice it every day. You're grateful for your children. You're grateful for your wife. You're grateful for the blessings you have on your table. What has it changed in your life? Being grateful as opposed to being dismal and depressed and dark and grouchy and all of that? What has it changed in your life? And have you been able to change other people's lives by a great. [00:12:38] Speaker E: Well, captain, I think in my life, one of the major changes that I can look back and see what has happened is thankfulness. And gratitude helps me to focus on others rather than be self absorbed and to be self centered. When you're a thankful person. It changes your perspective and your direction and helps you to focus on others rather than yourself. [00:13:07] Speaker B: Is there someone or something that you owe the positive, grateful and thankful attitude? [00:13:16] Speaker E: Well, it would start with my parents, captain. I think I was raised in a home where we were taught to be grateful and thankful. And I look back on that as those formative years where I was taught that I was expected to be thankful, and when I wasn't, I heard about it. It's one of those things that even as a child, you begin to pick up and begin to learn, and it does change your life. One of the things that my wife and I have done over the years is we keep a thanksgiving journal or journal of thankfulness where we are able to write down those unexpected blessings of life that come into our life unexpected, unrehearsed. It's just when people have been kind to us in some way, we jot it down. And when difficult times come, we're able to go back and read that list of things, and it just changes our perspective and causes us to be thankful all over again for the kindness and the goodness that we've experienced. So that's been a good thing in our lives. [00:14:28] Speaker B: Well done, my friend. Well done. I can see you practice it day in, day out, and the people around you have to benefit from it. [00:14:39] Speaker E: Well, captain, I just want to say, well, I was going to say the same thing, that you and Nancy have been a blessing in our lives, and we are grateful for your friendship and just for over the years, so many things we've experienced together. And we thank you for your friendship and we thank God for all these experiences we've had together. [00:15:02] Speaker A: Gratitude is being able to express joy and appreciation for blessings and favor in life. Dr. Martin credits we are all recipients of God's blessings. He confides that he may not be as thankful a person as he would like to be more of a taker than a giver. He has had to learn and is learning to be better. We learn in life how to be grateful and thankful. Pastor Martin is thankful for his wife and his family, as sharing life with others is key. And being thankful to God is an important privilege. I understand that until one has learned to be grateful for what we have, one will not receive what they want in life. Without a thankful approach to life. 1 may have regrets. For me personally, such a regret was when my father passed away unexpectedly. I was all absorbed in my own life at the time and was unable to say the words I would have liked to have said to him all of those memories. At the time, I was flying out of the Atlanta base, so I would have to commute over the day before and be ready to fly the trip the next day. Pop had just got out of the hospital with a heart issue. I offered to stay and hang out. He said, oh, no. He said, you go and you fly your trip. We'll catch up when you return. So I commuted over to Atlanta, and while I was preparing to go and fly my trip to Europe, my pager went off with my dad's phone number in it. I called her home. My wife answered, who was supposed to been an hour away at work, answered with a shocking news. I had big regrets. They kept resurfacing because I did not say the words, those final words that would have cleared things between us. Regret, a little bit of guilt. It was all there. And I carried this regret for some time. Roughly a month later, believe me or not, in a vision or a dream, I don't sure which, my dad came to me not quite in his usual form, but a little like a digital image. Sitting on the old couch in the home I grew up in, Pop came through the door. The front door screen squeaked, as it usually did. He turned his head slowly, and he looked directly at me, smiled, and said, I'm okay, son. I'm okay. I realized I was able now to put the regret of not saying those last words, clearing the slate, so to speak. I was so grateful for this extraordinary communication. From this, I realized I had to change the way I looked at communications with others, as it could be the very last time and the last chance I would have to say the words, I don't want that burden, the burden of that regret. The following is an excerpt from a previous show about city team ministries, a charitable organization we admire greatly. Take a listen. Welcome to the real estate and more show. This show is about giving to others, not just during the holidays, but throughout the entire year. I have an extraordinary woman in studio this morning, a person many communities admire greatly. She is a person of determination and passion for those in need, as you would hope to see in a management team for a charitable organization. Please welcome my guest this morning, Miss Angela Aguilar. Where did Angela come from to become such a rock star in the world, serving those in need? [00:19:10] Speaker F: So my story is that I am passionate about helping the addicted and the homeless, because that's my story. I was homeless and I was addicted to drugs, and city team gave me the opportunity to overcome my life challenges. So for me, it's only logical that I would be passionate about helping others overcome their life challenges and making sure that city team is here for a long time for people in need. [00:19:44] Speaker A: I can tell you really feel it. It's in there and it's coming out loud and clear. Women's program. Can you explain a little bit about that program? [00:19:53] Speaker F: So that program is called House of Grace, and it is a residential program for women who are struggling with homelessness and addiction. It's a year long program, and there I walked women through their program as they did what I like to call life reconstruction in a year. [00:20:13] Speaker A: So where does this extraordinary high level of passion to help others come from? From being there yourself, or do you feel it's from a higher power? [00:20:24] Speaker F: So I believe that I'm called by mean specifically. You know, my time as the executive director of city team Oakland was definitely something that I felt was a calling for me. I was born in Oakland. A lot of my early story is in Oakland. And as I began to work in downtown Oakland, I just connected with that really powerfully. And it just gave me a lot of passion and drive to help the people of that particular city. [00:21:03] Speaker A: What would you say that particular city of Oakland's unique challenges are? And has there been a good transformation accomplished there? By city mean, has city team done good there, do you feel? [00:21:19] Speaker F: I believe that we have. Oakland has a lot of unique challenges, but at the core of that city, there's a lot of good people that are just struggling and this real need for respect and community. And that's really what we seek to provide at city team is a sense of community. Yes. A sense that Jesus loves you and we do, too. So as we provide food and as we provide clothing, as we provide shelter for men and women and children, we seek to empower people to become better. [00:22:08] Speaker A: It's interesting you said sense of community. After any type of awful experience, we'll come together with a sense of community, and then they work together to get a good job done. And I see that city team does that. They have that sense of community that is so important to develop in order to do great. What services does city team actually provide the community? [00:22:36] Speaker F: So we provide a multiple of services. So we provide several residential programs for men who are struggling with homelessness or addiction, as well as nightly shelter, food, daily hot meals, showers in our facility, as well as clothing. We also provide a mobile food pantry that actually goes out to low income families to provide food boxes, as well as residential program for women and their children. [00:23:14] Speaker A: I see your eye just sparkles when you start talking about helping other people, because quite frankly, at the end of the day, you can make all the money in the world and it's really going to come down to what have you done to help your neighbor and to be caring and giving to those others. Thank you, Angela, for being on the show. Thank you. We're going to take a short break. We'll be right back. I'm Michael Hatfield. City team is a credible organization that actually cares for human beings who are poor and are hungry. City team provides food, clothing, shelter and humanitarian services in three Bay Area cities, as well as AIDS. Those who are in serious need of a hot meal, please donate what you can spare to city team so they can serve holiday meals to those in dire need. They're able to serve a meal for just $2.49. Yes, just $2.49 less than a cup of coffee. Help sustain another human being by gifting to city team. Any amount helps. And between now and December 31, any donation you make will be matched by a fellow generous donor. Go to cityteam.org Christmas to help with your important gift. We can make a difference. Go to cityteam.org slant Christmas. That's cityteam.org slant Christmas. What drew you to go to Puerto Rico? Same thing, same feeling, same desire to help. [00:24:44] Speaker G: It's something that every single time I've had the opportunity to go contribute, I've discovered that I go there and I contribute and I come back better than I was before and with a greater, greater understanding. And there's never been a case where it took something away from me. [00:25:09] Speaker A: Being thankful, being grateful and giving to others either falls from one's tree or it doesn't. Being grateful for what we have as opposed to what we don't have is life enriching and life lengthening as well. According to our longevity specialist, Karen, a person who maintains an attitude of gratitude outlook and practices it regularly is likely to actually lengthen his or her life. A person who lends a hand to others without expecting some kind of a return has learned this joyful attitude, whereas some may never learn gratitude at all. I believe practicing a grateful and thankful outlook on life is faith based and that God ultimately blesses us with the wonderful feelings of joy and delight when we are thankful. We also observe there is joy in the hearts of those who give to others in need, an enviable and admirable trait to possess. You've been listening to the real estate and more show. It's our Christmas show entitled it just falls from the tree or it doesn't. You can listen to archived real estate and more shows at Michael hatfieldhomes.com slant Radio and after airing, the real estate and more show is also available on demand podcast on Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, iHeart and most other directories. We wish you a very merry Christmas, happy holidays, and thank you for being a listener. Tune in next week and may we always be grateful. Giving human beings the views and opinions. [00:26:47] Speaker H: Expressed are based on current economic and market conditions and are subject to change. Information on the show provided for illustrator purposes only and does not constitute professional or legal advice. Information from sources deemed reliable but accuracy and completeness not guaranteed. Michael Hatfield and the Michael Hatfield Remax team have no liability for information discussed on the show. Consult with qualified professionals prior to taking action. [00:27:15] Speaker I: We at the Michael Hatfield Remax team enjoy representing our valued clients. If you or someone you know is interested in buying or selling and wishes to schedule a complimentary appointment with the Michael Hatfield Remax team, call us at 925-32-2775 that's 925-32-2775 or go to our website, michaelhatfieldhomes.com. [00:27:39] Speaker A: I'm Michael Hatfield. Thank you for listening today. Join us next Saturday for the next real estate and more when we again sharpen our focus on house the market. [00:27:49] Speaker I: Join us next Saturday and have a wonderful week. Best wishes and blessings to you. CRE 014931.