Where hope and gratitude intersect
Our joy is proportional to the gratitude that we feel in our hearts
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FeaturedGratitude For Mistakes By Omission
Wisdom often comes from mistakes and making a course correction the next time a similar opportunity takes place. Mistakes teach me how to be better. I believe that mistakes are my friend. Perhaps we are too close of friends, as I make many. However, mistakes are like the one friend that lets me know when there is something to improve.
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FeaturedGratitude For Connections
Although I have written about my relationships with others before – family and co-workers, for instance – I wanted to share how I am grateful for my connection with three different groups. They have helped me be a better man, father, and member of my community. I feel that we have to revisit our connections… Read more
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FeaturedGratitude For Co-Workers
“In addition to physical energy, there is intellectual, emotional, and spiritual energy. As we become comfortable using these energies, we develop reservoirs within ourselves. The more competence we have in negotiating life’s challenges, the greater our reserves become.”
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Gratitude For Opportunities
I am grateful for the opportunities in my life. I am not talking about earth-shattering events that alter the affairs of nations, or even my neighborhood, but for the little things that allow me to improve my life one moment at a time. Too often, I bypass the small events in my life, waiting for… Read more
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Gratitude For Transportation
My wife and I went to Bear Lake area for a day trip together. After gassing up the car, we drove for roughly four hours, to the Bear Lake area. After we arrived, I saw that it was different than when we had visited there a number of years previous for a family reunion –… Read more
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Gratitude For Love, Part Do
Halfway through my last blog post, I realized I wasn’t going to get through all of my ideas on the subject. I still wanted to express my thinking on a couple more aspects of love and why I am grateful for them. However, if I put them all in a single post, then it would’ve… Read more
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Gratitude For Love
Love is a strange thing. For one woman, it means falling in love with multiple light fixtures and tying the knot with her antique chandelier. For most, it means being committed to another person over the long term, hopefully for the rest of their lives. For myself, it means being in a committed, married relationship… Read more
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Gratitude For Neighbors
My washing machine broke down a little while ago, and as I considered my options, I received a text from a neighbor asking if I needed help. I was surprised – not that they asked, but that they knew that I had a problem. I hadn’t actively talked about it, mainly to one or two… Read more
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Gratitude For Second Language Students
I am grateful for all of the students that I have taught over the years. I have been blessed to teach students from various experiences and age groups. I have taught second-graders all the way to students entering graduate school, both here in America and overseas. I can say that teaching has been one of… Read more
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Gratitude For Fantasy Novels
Other than a mystery genre based reading contest in the third grade, I’ve been a solid fantasy and science fiction fan for most of my life. The bulk of my teenage years were stuffed with book after book, sometimes reading two or three books at the same time. I am immensely grateful for these authors… Read more
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Gratitude For My Mother
When I mention that I am the oldest of seven boys, I’m asked if we drove our mother insane or if she’d gotten her sainthood. Every time, I answered, “sainthood.” It is not that I think that she’s perfect, as we all have our faults, but her virtues and the sacrifices that she made over… Read more
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The Soul Of Thanksgiving
When I decided to do a post on what makes Thanksgiving Day special to me, I spent a long while pondering the subject. At first, the three main pillars stuck out to me: family, turkey, and football. Of the three, family is the most important and I have a great family to celebrate it with.… Read more
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October 28, 2019
Once upon a time, when I taught high school, I had a discussion with an English teacher I’ll call Cliff. We shared stories of our first experiences teaching. He told me that his first day was the hardest. I wasn’t surprised. He caught me off-guard with his next sentence – after the day’s classes ended,… Read more
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Gratitude For Emotional Control
In the movie Phenomenon, John Travolta spends much of the movie in a frantic attempt actualize himself. It’s only at the end of his life that he finds a sense of balance and peace. He seems to transcend himself from observing the rhythms of nature, a kind of passive acceptance of life – almost a… Read more
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A blog by Jeff Marler
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Instagram: marler.jeff
Email: marler.jeff@gmail.com
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Hope and Gratitude - The Key To Joy 