Kristi Nelson - Wake Up Grateful: The Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted

This book reminds us of what is most important and not to be taken for granted and how to align our lives with that vital awakening to the beauty and possibility that is always present amidst the darkness and the fear.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction) and author of Full Catastrophe Living and Mindfulness for All

With Kristi Nelsons guidance we are prepared to hold our lives tenderly, be kind, and love each other fully.

Maria Sirois, Psy.D., author of A Short Course in Happiness After Loss

If Kristi Nelsons five guiding principles were pinned to every bathroom mirror, not only would we wake up grateful, but we would most certainly wake up to a different world.

Nipun Mehta, founder, ServiceSpace

Kristi Nelson has written a soul-revealing and stirring companion for lifes peaks and valleys. Im grateful for her wisdom and this book.

Rachel Bagby, founder, Singing Farm Sanctuary

Cancer taught Kristi Nelson to accept the uncertainty and impermanence of life, and through that she discovered gratefulness as a path to healing and wholeness. Now she offers it to us, and it is a blessing to receive.

Mirabai Bush, Senior Fellow, The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society and coauthor with Ram Dass of Walking Each Other Home

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Deborah Balmuth, Liz Bevilacqua, and Nina Shield

Art direction and book design by Alethea Morrison

Text production by Erin Dawson

Watercolors by Nomoco

The following poems were reprinted with permission

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: Excerpted from Hymn, with Birds and Cats by Francine Marie Tolf

: Laughter by Dale Biron, Why We Do Our Daily Practices 2014, Pack Mule Press

: Rethinking Regret by Elaine Sexton

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: What I Want and What I Can Have by Jeanie Greensfelder, from I Got What I Came For (Penciled In, 2017)

: Benediction by Bernadette Miller

: Hokusai Says by Roger Keyes

Text 2020 by A Network for Grateful Living

Ebook production by Kristy L. MacWilliams

Ebook version 1.0

November 24, 2020

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Nelson, Kristi, author.

Title: Wake up grateful : the transformative practice of taking nothing for granted/ Kristi Nelson, A Network for Grateful Living ; foreword by Brother David Steindl-Rast.

Description: North Adams : Storey Publishing, 2020.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020024841 (print) | LCCN 2020024842 (ebook) | ISBN 9781635862447 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781635862454 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Gratitude. | GratitudeReligious aspects. | Well-being.

Classification: LCC BF575.G68 N447 2020 (print) | LCC BF575.G68 (ebook) | DDC 179/.9dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020024841

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020024842

Brother David Steindl-Rast,
and all those committed to living gratefully

My parents,
for giving me the gift of life
and then each in their own way
showing me how to love it
fiercely and with joy.

The book you are holding in your hands has been written by a hero of mine. It is not the fruit of speculation, but has grown out of suffering and of heroic trust in life. Kristi Nelson discovered grateful living while struggling with stage IV cancer at age 33. She knows how it feels to face dying. But that very experience has taught her to speak with depth and weight when she is talking about living grateful living. She knows the deep joy that springs from simply being alive and she can show you ways toward finding joy in your own life.

A miniformula for grateful living runs through this whole book. Kristi has unpacked and unfolded it, until it developed into this full-fledged guide to finding joy and well-being. The three-word formula is: Stop. Look. Go. Moment by moment, life is offering you gift after gift exactly what you need to thrive. But unless you stop, you will rush right by that gift; unless you look, you will miss it; and only if you go and do something with it can you fully avail yourself of that gift.

Practice Stop. Look. Go. faithfully over and over, like practicing a dance step, and you will soon notice with surprise that you are getting more and more in step with life that you had been out of step, without even noticing it. You practice dance steps in order to dance, and grateful living is a dance with life life as it is, in all its ecstasies and also in its agonies. Grateful living is passionate interaction with the world in all its excitement, vulnerability, and risk.

Dare to take that risk and you will be drawn into an altogether unpredictable adventure. I would wake up every morning and notice that I was still breathing, Kristi writes. I would have to touch my face to make sure it was not a dream. Breathing with trust in life that was enough. It was the risk she took. She realized, I was still alive. And being alive was enough.

Coming alive means taking hold of whatever life is offering us, here and now. It is enough and more than enough. And we may trust that its exactly what we need like it or not. Life knows best. Life deserves our trust. And there is no better exercise than Stop. Look. Go. to get us into shape for catching each moments gift. Lets not allow it to slip through our fingers!

Catching the moment. Yes, that skill is what every page of this book wants to teach you: to catch the moment and to live in its fullness. Kristi Nelson is a coach you can trust. Right now, life is pitching her book your way.

Wake up!

Brother David Steindl-Rast, OSB

Azcunaga, Argentina, January 2020

Introduction

Wherever you are is the starting point. Kabir

Not dying changed everything. Not only did I not die, I actually got to live. And living offered me the chance to bring the most meaningful lessons I learned from facing death into my life and the lives of many others. What I have come to understand about taking nothing for granted has transformed my life. My hope is that it will transform yours too.