I’m traveling in Ecuador today, where Thanksgiving has no significance whatsoever. I ate a burrito with my wolf pack (husband and daughter) and tucked into bed by 7pm.
In the airport early this morning, an elderly woman was cleaning up the stalls, after countless fatigued travelers mindlessly left debris in their paths. She was scrubbing the stall next to me with intention and it was clear she took pride in her work. I walked out of the restroom and grabbed a respectful sum of money to bring back in to the bathroom for her. I handed her the gesture of gratitude, thanked her for working tirelessly and wished her a Happy Thanksgiving. Language barrier aside, it was clear she was grateful for the gift.
I thought about her as I boarded my plane, anxious to experience the next adventures in my two week, 50th birthday celebration. Because of many factors outside of my control, I’m traveling the world and she is cleaning public restrooms. I don’t feel guilt about this, but I feel overwhelming gratitude.
“But for the grace of God go I.” An overly cited proverb people throw around without much reflection at all. Guilt does nothing, gratitude does everything.
You may play a large part in your personal success, but you don’t get to claim all of the credit. Many factors have led you to where you are today, one of which was entirely outside your control-to whom and where you were born. Don’t forget that.
In a bathroom stall, in a filthy international bathroom, there’s a woman who is grateful for what she has. If you can’t find gratitude for where you are, a change of circumstance won’t help much.
Your happiness is not a gift given to you by others.
Create a mantra for your life. If you aren't writing your story, someone else is writing it for you.
Listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eml-radio-talking-truth/id1498113483?i=1000558947971
Hello my friends!
I'm finishing up the transition away from Locals onto Substack and wanted to be sure each of you have made the necessary adjustments to your accounts. For those of you who have remaining months left on your paid support here, I have comped you the balance over at Substack.
This will be the final week I post content here.
I will resume the live recordings over there, starting with our first call on Friday, March 3rd at 9am/12pm. Invitations to join the Zoom calls will go out on Substack. Mark your calendars!
Also, be sure to download the Substack App! I love the app and find it so helpful in organizing content I want to read later by keeping it on my dashboard.
See you on the other side!
https://eviefatz.substack.com/
One of the biggest challenges in writing my book is not being able to share any of it along the way. Given my narcissistic need for constant approval and attention, not having any feedback is killing me. Even negative attention is better than no attention at all (which explains a lot of my behavior in life), so not only am I missing the praise but I also miss my haters.
I need to break out of this cave. Thanks to Chuck Palahniuk who writes Spoiler Alert on Substack, but you would know as the author of Fight Club, I got the idea to share some excerpts and things that won’t make the final edit. This will give us both what we need. I get some attention and you get some thought provoking words to make you think (and possibly laugh, cry or both.)
Today’s snippet is from the first draft of a chapter titled, Remove Your Kindergarten Name Tag. I am currently on my third revision and we can all be thankful for this. As I walk my readers through the dark hallways of my earliest years, and attempt ...
Wanted to pass this short video along. We think of health in very limited ways. Faith, nature, love, communality, shared human experience…all prove to be just as necessary, if not more so, than going to the gym.
I’ve always viewed and taught health from this perspective. It is my belief the lack of these essential elements is as big an issue in our culture as poor diet and lack of movement.
The takeaway-we can do better🙏🏼
