Intentional Gratitude
Think about how your life would change if you trained your mind to see how things you value are all around you.
Learn moreAbout me
Over the past twenty-five years, I have been a freelance writer, a workshop designer and facilitator, and conducted market research. In 2010, I started blogging on mindfulness and gratitude to bring myself out of depression.
I have posted reflections on things in my daily life that sparked grateful feelings almost every week for more than a decade. This gratitude practice helped me elevate my mood and so much more. Hope and confidence became core aspects of my outlook.
NoSmallThing.net is not just a blog. My offerings have expanded, but my purpose has sharpened. Now, through writing (blog and books), courses and coaching, I have a clear purpose.
I teach and support people in the application of mindfulness and exploration of personal gratitude experiences so that they can live a happier life.
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Current Titles
The Best of No Small Thing — Mindful Meditations is a collection of favorite posts from my blog’s first decade. Each chapter or post is entertaining, highly relatable and thought-provoking.
Accompanied by photographs that bring you into a scene, you are invited to follow my observations and thoughts and consider how similar types of experiences fill our lives.
Practice Gratitude: Transform Your Life — Making the Uplifting Experience of Gratitude Intentional is a guide and workbook for an intentional gratitude practice. It features inspirational quotes and exercises aimed at helping you compile a list of personal gratitude themes. And, it shows how to refer to your unique themes to boost your mood and outlook in new situations.
Learn moreAcknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.
Life Imitates Art
With Thanksgiving coming in a few short days, I’ve been thinking about what I am…
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Let’s Leave the Light On
Like many, not quite half the country. I woke up Wednesday morning to the disheartening…
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What We Share
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has entertained such thoughts. This country is…
Read moreThe No Small Thing - Mindful Meditations Blog
Things that make my life easier, more pleasurable or more meaningful are all around me. Every day, I see something that delights or inspires me.
Every week, I write about such an experience or moment of recognition. As commonplace as an experience might be, the joy derived is no small thing. I offer these posts, from over a decade of blogging, as examples of what you might give attention to in your life.
Explore my blogNews & Events
We Are All Pilgrims: Free Talk and Discussion
Pilgrims are people that make great, often arduous journeys of moral or spiritual significance. Thanksgiving paintings of modestly clothed pilgrims from England sharing food with indigenous people represent limited examples of enjoying the fruit of such a journey. Every year, pilgrimages are made throughout the world to trace to lives of saints. Pilgrimages are also made to find our own hearts, that which is perfect and whole within us. Join us for this talk and discussion on pilgrimages we all make to find ourselves.
Wednesday, November 16th, 7:00 PM CT (Email deborah@nosmallthing.net to reserve your spot. The first 30 people will be sent links for this program.)
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Interview with Jack Canfield, Co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul series, December 2020
See more videosCourses
Whether material presented in small interactive groups is your preferred style or if you like the flexibility of a self-study program, I assist you in understanding your values and teach you how to train your mind to focus on things that lift your spirits.
Intentional Gratitude is ultimately about mindfulness. Mindfulness, and the ability to focus on the present moment, has long been popular as a strategy for stress reduction. But, the benefits of mindfulness extends into many other areas that support wellbeing.
Current course offerings center on developing greater self-understanding and practicing seeing things you genuinely value in any moment. Building on the simple idea that it’s much easier to find what you’re looking for if you know what you’re looking for, understanding the essential qualities that prompt appreciation, you can train your mind to see things to appreciate in new situations.
See current offerings
Coaching
The heart of the No Small Thing approach to intentional gratitude relates to three simple steps:
- Examine past experiences where you felt grateful;
- Distill these experiences into broadly applicable themes; and
- Practice seeing these themes in new situations.
But simple does not mean easy. I can guide you to control your mood and lift your feelings in all range of circumstances.
In one-on-one coaching, I’ll help you make the greatest use of No Small Thing principles. I’ll draw out memories or behaviors that provide clues on what makes you feel grateful. I’ll help you develop your own personal gratitude themes and show you how to use them and refine them.
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