Hello my Finding the Gift friends, I hope today's email finds you safe and warm wherever you are. 

Perhaps like many of you, we watched a winter storm set in on Saturday. Snow, ice and more snow. Then repeat. It wasn't nearly as much as they forecasted, but it was enough to stop our normal routines. For some of my Tennessee neighbors, it did a lot more than that.

Today, I am surrounded by glistening snow and branches laced with ice. The sun is making everything sparkle like diamonds. I'm truly sitting in a winter wonder-land—it's so very beautiful. I'm having a much different experience than people as close as twenty miles away.

I took a walk down my driveway to share the metaphor that came to me through this snowstorm.

While my family is safe and our power is restored (we had our generator backing us up), some people are still without power in these frigid temperatures. They are seeking shelter and many of those places don't allow pets. It's heart-breaking to imagine what these folks are going through right now. 

We have some fallen limbs because of the ice. Our driveway was blocked, but nothing we weren't able to take care of and no damage was caused. Yet I've seen photos where huge limbs have crushed homes and blocked roads. People are suffering.

I thought about the magnificent beauty this storm has brought, despite also bearing significant trouble for some. But those who are negatively affected by the storm may miss the beauty completely. 

Coming from my perspective, it's much easier to realize that both ends of the spectrum are happening simultaneously. There's incredible beauty to behold and also loss and suffering ... all thanks to the same storm. 

But when I'm the one suffering, it's too easy to get tunnel vision and let my problems overshadow everything else. 

Does today's meditation resonate with you? Please share your voice in our FTG Readers Group on Facebook. Your hopes, thoughts and dreams matter to me.

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Cheers to a great week, noticing the gifts that matter most. Feel free to share with a friend.

Announcements and painting of the week are below!

Until next time...

To your gifts!

Angela

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Abstract Painting of the Week

Quiet Meanderings    30x30  Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. AVAILABLE!

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FTG 10th Anniversary Edition is Now Available!

The 10th Anniversary edition of Finding the Gift: Daily Meditations for Mindfulness is NOW AVAILABLE. You will find EIGHT NEW pages of content including:

• A new afterword with reflections on what's happened since first publishing in 2015
• How in the creative process, we're more assistant rather than creator
• Reflections from devoted readers sharing what the book and weekly emails have meant to them, PLUS
• A link to BONUS meditations—multiple favorites from the last six years of Tuesday FTG emails

Grab a fresh new copy to read all over again, plus stock up for holidays, birthdays, and other gifts. Amazon has the new paperback only. Visit local retailers for the limited gift edition hard cover, as well as the paperback. 

PLUS purchase books directly from me. I will personalize them and add a custom bookmark. If you want a paperback and a hardcover, you'll do that in separate orders, but they will ship together. Please allow a week for processing, plus five days for media mail shipping. Click here to order personalized copies from me.

Thank you for sharing the last ten years with me!

PS

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