Expressions of Gratitude

As of today, I am 31 years old. Yes, it is my birthday. I thought I’d take a break from “make money online” posts and just get personal. As I write this post, I’m at home with my little girl, Elyana. I’m sitting on the MacBook Pro and Elyana is playing all over me. In…

ByDavid Risley Posted on
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As of today, I am 31 years old. Yes, it is my birthday. I thought I’d take a break from “make money online” posts and just get personal.

As I write this post, I’m at home with my little girl, Elyana. I’m sitting on the MacBook Pro and Elyana is playing all over me. In fact, I grabbed Photobooth and took a quick photo of us from the Isight webcam:

Photo 11

Yes, I’ve got a little toy on top of my head. She put it there. She thinks it is hilarious. 🙂

I was thinking today how much my life has changed. Doesn’t seem like that long ago that I was moving into my first house. I was single and living by myself. I actually liked it. Today, I am surrounded my women. 🙂 I have my wife here (and she’s gorgeous) and the little mini-Risley. I actually sometimes wish I had a little more quiet time, but this is my family. I love them.

But, you know the weirdest thing? That I support all of this as a BLOGGER. I repeat…BLOGGER.

You know, I talk about blogging all the time on this site. I love showing people how to make money doing this. But, it is still WEIRD that you can make a full time living at this. Every diaper. Every bottle of formula. Every meal we eat. Every tank of gas that goes in the cars. All of it is paid for by me typing stuff and hitting the Publish button. Of course, in all fairness, there is a LOT more that goes into it than that. However, it is still odd – you’ve gotta admit it.

I absolutely love what I do. It doesn’t feel like a job to me. And I think I’m lucky to be able to do it.

Alex Cattoni just posted her very first blog post. She says It Is Time To Get Grateful. I agree completely. She says:

This magical little thing I am talking about is expressing gratitude. It may sound basic, but trust me… learning how to express gratitude on a regular basis will do you a world of good. I am a true believer that in order to have everything you want in life (and more) you first need to appreciate whole-heartedly what you DO have.

Alex is a self-professed “personal development junkie”. I had the opportunity to meet her in San Diego a few weeks ago. She lives in Malaysia. I really admire her style and outlook on life. I wish her the best on her new blog. 🙂

So, yes, I’m expressing my gratitude. I’m a lucky man to be able to do what I do and do it well. I am grateful to all of the people who read my blogs and buy my products. I am grateful to my wife for marrying an overweight blogger. 😉 I am grateful to my little daughter for choosing us as her parents. 🙂 I am grateful to all the forward-thinking people who have created the Internet and the vast array of sites and services we all use today. I have no idea what I’d be doing today if it weren’t for the Internet.

Another part of Alex’s post that I completely agree with:

For some reason completely unknown to me, no matter how easy it is, the majority of people in this world are incapable of expressing gratitude. Why? They have a poisoned mindset that teaches them to focus on what they DON’T have, not on what they do. Well news flash people! What you focus on expands! So the more you focus on the lack in your life, the more of it you will have.. and on and on it goes in a vicious downward spiral.

It is my nature to attract abundance. I’m not a big believer in barriers. Today, as I watch yet another birthday zoom by, I take a small pause to simply acknowledge what I love about my life. I’ve got a lot more I want to do with this life, too.

Let’s see what I can accomplish by my next birthday. 🙂

And once again, THANK YOU for being there, guys. You rock.

20 Comments

  3. Happy Birthday fellow Gemini! Today’s my (cough, 40th) birthday and I’m happy to be reminded to be grateful. I’m thankful for having a moment to myself today to (finally) read your email. thanks for sharing all you do.

  4. Happy Birthday Dave!

    I first “met” Dave in 2003 when I got a crazy hankering to build my own computer.

    Well, I STILL have that PC Mechanic CD which was promptly shipped to me and I’m STILL receiving the “Daily Tips” and “Monthly Newsletter” which I STILL look forward to reading!

    It’s been quite an interesting journey watching Dave transform and adapt the original very useful PC Mechanic site to the present blog style sites.

    And now I have yet another valuable resource from Dave that I read on a regular basis….Davidrisely.com, and I have to add that my current very successful website is based on the Wordpress Blog platform due to the theories behind Dave’s “Blog to Cash” campaign a couple years ago.

    (Okay, I know what you all are thinking….but no, this is NOT a paid testimonial!!!!)

    Anyways, happy birthday and a belated thank you for helping me get my site to page one in record time. I hope to be reading and learning from you in another six years!

  5. Happy Birthday David. All the best for you and family.
    Thanks for all inspiration you gave in this blog. People must love what they do, and do what they really love.

    Noer

  11. Happy Birthday David. I always greatly enjoy your posts, both business and personal. Next time I’m in Tampa, I’ll try to attend one of your tweet-ups. I’m sure it would be an awesome experience. Thanks for all that you do.

  13. Happy Birthday David! It looks like you are having a great day.

    I truly appreciate your blog, as you always have good and inspiring information. Your site is one of the first ones I check each day and I am a little bummed when I do not see a new post.

    Keep up the great work…

    Thanks,

    Doug

  16. Happy Birthday David! As you are blessed to have the life you’ve been given, we feel just as blessed to have you impart within us your wisdom. I know it may sound corny, but it’s true. I read your daily and am inspired by you. Thank you for all you do!!!

  17. Happy Birthday David! What a blessed life you have (assisted by your and your wife’s hard work, of course). I hope to watch you being blessed long into the future as Elyana grows and you add to your family.
    You know, one of the main reasons I subscribe to you isn’t your expert advice, though I love that as well. It’s because you’re so human, likeable, open and honest. I just plain like you. (And that’s the end of my Sally Field impersonation.)

  20. First of all, Happy Birthday! Secondly, thank YOU for giving us such great content, advice, and ideas. As of now, I do not yet have my blog up and running, but you are definitely helping me as I develop it. I think gratitude is a great quality that is seriously lacking in our society. If everyone was thankful for the little pleasures in life, happiness would be abundant. And thanks for giving us snippets of Alex’s blog; I will check her out!

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