grateful Archives - Brian Ondrako

Gratitude Journal

We can get caught in the hustle of daily life with the expectation that it’s supposed to be better.

Gratitude is one of the lifeboats we can drop into the water when we feel like we are drowning. When we feel like we are in over our heads.

Because as much as we may struggle, deal with pain, or battle our inner demons, we have to recognize that this has been common throughout human civilization.

We are not much different than our distant ancestors.

But we are more comfortable.

If we are cold we turn on the heat.

If we are hungry we have food delivered.

If we want to learn we have knowledge at our fingertips.

Life isn’t easy and being in a tough spot mentally or emotionally isn’t to be diminished. We all have challenges.

That’s where gratitude becomes our friend.

What can we be thankful for?

Where have we gotten a few lucky breaks?

What are things that should be appreciated more?

Coping is a part of life and sometimes it starts in our mind.

How we think could alter how we feel.

How we feel can determine our actions.

Our actions move us forward to a more desired place of joy and happiness.

Start with gratitude.

That perspective will keep us afloat and propel us toward a better tomorrow.

Gratitude JournalBrian Ondrako2023-06-25T13:51:07-04:00

A Moment Like This

At the moment, we feel like this is going to last forever.

We’ll have more opportunities, like this one, to do it again.

Things end far too abruptly but the worst pain is the slow-burning kind.

The ones where we could’ve invested more time but took it all for granted.

Those are the ones that hurt the most.

We may not be able to control the abrupt changes life offers but we have to recognize the ones that are coming up in the distance.

Be grateful for the opportunities when they are in your possession and recognize that each day is one less you’ll be able to do this.

They are precious reminders of the changing tides of life.

A Moment Like ThisBrian Ondrako2023-04-22T16:36:40-04:00

Remember Death

There will be a last time for everything.

The last time talking to my brother.
The last time picking up my son.
The last time seeing a sunset.
A last round of golf.

Facing mortality should give us gratitude for the opportunities in front of us.

The things we do today may end up being the last time we get to experience them.

That shouldn’t scare us.

It should energize us.

It should inspire us to go after it with vigor and excitement.

To put our full energy and focus into it.

To lean in deep and relish the moment.

Memento mori (Remember, death.)

Remember DeathBrian Ondrako2023-02-12T10:07:32-04:00

A New Hope

It’s hard not to be a “prisoner of the moment.”

We uncover neat experiences.
We discover new opportunities
We are wowed by new people.

Unfortunately, one of the more difficult things in life is to accept that these don’t always last.

That although we might create great memories, these moments pass by.

That shouldn’t make us sad. It should give us hope.

Hope that more will be around the next bend.
Hope that we will continue to recognize these as they present themselves.
Hope that as we grow so will the value of the experiences, opportunities, and people we encounter.

We could be sad that the moments are ending or we could be grateful that we had them at all.

We choose our path. What happens on it is sometimes out of our control.

All we can do is embrace the moments that come our way because we never know how long we have them.

A New HopeBrian Ondrako2022-12-28T17:30:43-04:00

Free Lunch

Things that are free are mostly taken for granted.

Our mind.

Our body.

Our relationships.

We only realize how important they are when they get taken from us.

Until we can no longer have them in the same capacity as before.

Sometimes the most priceless things in the world don’t cost a thing.

Free LunchBrian Ondrako2022-12-10T17:12:20-04:00

Cringe-worthy

I was nervous and excited to hit “launch” on Episode 1 of the Just Get Started Podcast 5 years ago in 2017.

Today, I cringe a bit listening back to that first episode.

So many things I’ve learned in those 5 years.

So many accomplishments.
So many mistakes.
So much growth.

If we don’t cringe at our past work it probably means we haven’t progressed that far ahead.

But after we cringe, be grateful we took the chance on ourselves when we might not have been fully convinced this was the right choice.

There we so many unknowns but we started anyways.

We should be proud that we have the opportunity to cringe.

It means we’ve become a better version of our past selves.

We’ve scaled another summit we never knew was ahead.

Bravo!

Now, keep going!

Cringe-worthyBrian Ondrako2022-11-09T18:09:02-04:00

A Frame Of Reference

They say a picture is worth a thousand words but it’s also worth a time stamp. It’s an imprinted memory with a date circled.

It gives us a wormhole, of sorts, to the past.

How were we feeling at that moment?
Where was our life at?
What was happening to us?
Who were we becoming?

A single picture, a snapshot, can open up a wave of thoughts and emotions about life already lived.

How does that make us feel?

Are we sad that the moment is gone or grateful we had the opportunity in the first place?

Pictures capture moments. Moments become memories. Memories give us a view, although distorted, of our past.

It provides the perspective to live in the moment and not waste any of it because eventually, the present moments will become memories that we either capture with a picture or, more importantly, keep close by in our hearts.

A Frame Of ReferenceBrian Ondrako2022-01-13T22:00:42-04:00

This Too Shall Pass

Life ebbs and flows. Some days we are on the highest of highs and on others it’s the lowest of the lows.

Rarely, on the best days, are we ever thinking about despair or loneliness or how we are ever going to get out of this feeling. It’s only on the bad days

Rarely, on the best days, are we ever consumed by the passing watch hands and can’t wait for something to change and get us out of this nightmare. It’s only on the bad days.

Rarely, on the best days, are we ever comparing ourselves to others wishing we were smiling and laughing and being loved by everyone around us. It’s only on the bad days.

“Comparison is the thief of joy” as the great quote goes.

It’s always in comparison to others or to what we don’t have or to what is absent in our lives, that sucks the joy out of it. We all go through this and we know it’s not easy.

But, this too shall pass.

How quickly it passes can be directly related to our efforts in recognizing our triggers and our emotional state when those triggers come to fruition.

We can’t blame others. We have to take ownership and look in the mirror. We can fix this.

Is our worth tied up in others? Are we doing things that make us come alive? Have our decisions put us in stressful situations? How can we learn at this moment to make future moments more manageable?

These questions and others around it can help us focus on the problem areas of our life and address the parts that we need to improve. Generally, there is a “self” before them. We need to have more self-love, self-awareness, self-observation, self-control, etc.

Life can be hard a lot of the time but once we choose to make the effort to approach it in a way where we are in control instead of situations and people controlling us, we have a wonderful chance to lean into happiness more often.

Take a deep breath. We’ve been here before.

This too shall pass.

This Too Shall PassBrian Ondrako2022-04-22T20:02:46-04:00