Full Breath of Gratitude: A journal for reclaiming your passion & purpose

(Paperback)

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I don't know about you, but it seems like the world we live in always seems to be focused on "more." If I just had ____, I would not be angry. If I had this car, house, relationship, or job, I could be happy. The idea is that the world would tell you when you're "enough" or that an alarm would go off in your head when you had enough status, faith, money, power, love, homes, jobs, freedom, etc. Many of us have inner voices that tell us that if we could just reach ____, we would not feel angry, empty, depressed, or so very alone.

But how much stuff is enough How high would you have to reach to have others deem you to be successful Or before you could allow yourself to "feel" successful Most of us want our lives, our work, our relationships to be experienced as significant; we want our lives to matter. But at the end of the day, what have we done with what we already have Have we utilized our gifts Have we treasured the relationships we have or the people we encounter throughout our lives

What have we done with the money, power, knowledge, and opportunities with which life has already blessed us

Often in our search for more, we get caught in a mental loop of feeling like we are never good enough. When we consider how entrenched we are in our need for more and how much we define our worth around the things we feel we do not have, then we begin to understand the value of gratitude.

Think about this: we are born naked, and then our parents feed us, clothe us and introduce us to the communities we grow up in. Our communities quickly begin to tell us what we need to do in order to be accepted if we want to be seen as being successful. So, in a sense, "needing more" is not native to us. We are born into a world that naturally feeds and nourishes us, but it is the world outside ourselves that tells us we must constantly want more and "be more" in order to be deemed significant.

Appreciation for what one has challenges our notion of a world of scarcity the idea that there is not enough in the world and especially that there is not enough for YOU. All of a sudden something shifts in a person's mind when each day they transition their thoughts from considering what they need to what they have been blessed with and currently have.

This journal is meant to be a launching platform-- a thirty-day tool to slowly and quietly dismantle your habit of running towards getting more "things." The exercises begin a mental and spiritual journey toward abundance, which could awaken you to a new sense of fullness of your life and the world around you.

Author Bio

Chris Craig received his Masters in Social Work from Tulane University and his Masters in Pastoral Care & Counseling at Garrett Seminary. Over his career, Chris has worked as a Director of Correctional Ministries, run family shelter programs, has done consulting with churches and businesses, and provided decedent care as a chaplain for hospitals. Chris has a passion for spiritual formation and building a people's sense of purpose from the inside out.

His Stolen Hours consulting business develops inspirational journals and books that motivate people to live their passions and purpose--creating motivational material that pulls people's minds and spirits from personal success goals to how they might establish a life with significance. Chris seeks to be a speaker, writer, and thought leader using journals, videos, and books that prompt people to live their life's calling mindfully and playfully out loud.