Okay, maybe that feels like a little much, given how many things we have to accomplish in one day. So let’s back it up to hours. Hours that we’re awake. Say, an average of 16 hours a day. That’s 16 opportunities to express gratitude every day.

That seems pretty reasonable. So why don’t we do it? Why do we so often save up our gratitude and express it only on special days that demand it, like Thanksgiving?

This busy life we lead.

The fact is, we are living at a time when things are moving at break-neck speed. With constant advances in technology, medicine and product innovation, the call to watch more YouTube, push our bodies to the brink and consume more things becomes almost deafening. Our minds and environment convince us that more is better, less is lazy. In fact, we can barely get through our to-do list every day, let alone express gratitude 16 ways, 16 times.

This is what I refer to as the Erosive Life. A life that is measured by what we still have to do, causing levels of emotional and physical erosion that is harder and harder to shore up over time.

Sure, in the beginning, we hardly notice. Adrenaline, caffeine and will power keep us going. Until those things no longer meet endless energy demands. And a whole host of other symptoms start to present: fatigue, burnout, resentment and depression among them. Adding up until we get the flu or have to take a full day off to recover. After which, we start the same process all over again.

It would seem that there has to be an alternative solution to the Erosive Life, other than this cycle that ends in stop-gap, siren-blaring, last-ditch emergency measures.

Sustainability.

This is where our 16 doses of gratitude come in. Acting as the braking system for our ever-busy lives. As we take time, every waking hour, to express some measure of gratitude, we redirect the mind from its standard, “do more” initiative. Asking ourselves to be satisfied with what we do have, rather than what we do not. Satisfied with what we have accomplished, rather than what we have not.

In effect, we are reprogramming the mind and body, asking them to take stock of what is good and healthy in our lives, rather than encouraging them to be constantly moving toward what’s next, what’s better, what’s not yet done. Over time, as we feed that part of ourselves that is satisfied with what is, we stem the erosion that comes from our co-dependent relationship with the should-have’s and must-do’s in our lives. Our gratitude becomes the fuel that balances and sustains us, even during the busiest and most pressing of times.

Give it a try.

Your trial period can start right now. Give yourself two weeks. One time, every hour that you are awake, stop and take at least one minute to express gratitude. Move beyond the lure of lip service and really dive into a full, detailed, rich articulation. You may speak it, write it, sing it, dance it, think it or draw it; to yourself or to someone else. The important thing is that you do this with all of your attention focused on the moment — no folding the laundry or leaving the stereo on while crafting your thanks. Stop everything and direct your energy and attention toward the gratitude.

Because you are asking your system to consciously develop a new, more sustainable pattern that keeps erosive tendencies at bay, it may not always be easy. Hence the Rx of once per hour, every day. As with anything, regular practice will get you through the rough patches, until your efforts add up to a daily life marked by ease, presence, and, yes — gratitude.

We want to hear about your daily gratitude practice. Email kjonas@womensmag.com with your story.

– By Kimberly Jonas
Jonas, of Boulder, facilitates individual and group experiences in body awareness, personal inquiry and intentional space. Contact her at www.kimberlyjonas.com.

However, this hasn’t happened by the natural progression of history.

Rather, it happened because smart, strong and independent women didn’t see why they, too, couldn’t be a lawyer, or a pilot or a politician. Each woman who never let her gender hold her back from what she wanted to do improved the quality of life for her daughters.

That’s why for July, Women’s Magazine is celebrating the lives of three inspirational women who embody women’s independence. These three Colorado women were historic pioneers in their fields. Their professions — and certainly opportunities for all the women who followed  — wouldn’t have been the same without them.

A supreme leader

When Jean Dubofsky, of Boulder, went to Harvard Law School in 1967, women did not become judges. In fact, even women lawyers were uncommon.

In Dubofsky’s law class, there were only four women out of 125 students. She remembers one professor who said the women couldn’t raise their hands and they would rarely be called on.
But Dubofsky was confidant in her capabilities, which she says is key to being successful. You cannot be afraid to take risks, especially in a male-dominated field.

“To be an independent woman, it is really important to have self-confidence,” she says.

Dubofsky made history thanks to her own self-confidence. In 1979 she became the first woman and the youngest person ever elected as a Colorado Supreme Court justice.

Her career reflects Dubofsky’s belief that it is important to take care of people in need.
“People are not just responsible for themselves,” she says. “They are responsible for the well-being of the community.”

After retiring from the bench, in 1988 she opened a law firm in Denver where she continued fighting for Colorado’s disadvantaged populations. She has worked on some of the nation’s most important civil rights cases.

And she won most of them.

For instance, Dubofsky was the lead attorney in the first gay rights Supreme Court case, which challenged Colorado’s Amendment 2. The amendment said homosexuals could not receive redress for discrimination based on sexual orientation. Dubofsky won the case in 1996.

Now 67, Dubofsy continues to work as a lawyer, mostly in appellate cases. She operates the Dubofsky Law Firm with her husband Frank.

Because she was often the only woman in her field, Dubofsky says she worked especially hard. She says her this was the fundamental factor in her achievements.

“Nothing is given to anybody. There is no such thing as totally innate talent,” she says. “When you’re doing something that people don’t expect you to do, you really have to work hard at it.”
Nevertheless, when she looks back at all that she has accomplished, she says she can’t help but to think, “Wow. I did that?”

Emily Howell Warner broke the flying frontier for women, literally.

When Frontier Airlines hired Warner in 1973, she became the first woman pilot in the United States to be hired by a commercial airline.

As a little girl, Warner didn’t dream of becoming a pilot. After graduating from Holy Family High School in Broomfield in 1957, she didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life.

Working at a Denver department store called May Company, Warner watched as glamorous airline stewardesses passed through the store. She thought that would be a great job.

But at 18 years old, Warner fell short of the stewardess age requirement. Nevertheless, one of Warner’s coworkers suggested that she buy a roundtrip ticket to Gunnison, Colo., to see what an airplane ride was like. Warner splurged on the $28 ticket and became the first person in her family to ride on a commercial airline.

Because she was the only passenger on the way back from Gunnison, Warner was allowed in the cockpit with the pilots, where she sat for the whole flight. The experience was thrilling, she says, and she immediately fell in love with flying. One of the pilots, sensing her delight, suggested that she take flying lessons.

“It was like my whole world changed,” Warner says.

The equal rights movement of the 1960s influenced Warner greatly. She knew there weren’t any women airline pilots, but she couldn’t help but think, “Why not?”

Still, it wasn’t easy becoming the first woman pilot. Warner was a flight instructor at Clinton Aviation after becoming a certified pilot. She was frustrated when airlines hired her male-counterparts before her, even when they had less experience. She eventually made enough contacts at Frontier that she was given an interview.

Tears fill Warner’s eyes even today as she remembers the day she was finally hired.

After Warner got the job, other airlines started to hire women, as well. Despite the pressure and constant media attention, Warner says she knew she was a good pilot so she never worried about failing.

“Airplanes don’t know if you’re male or female,” she says.

Warner, now 70, has won numerous awards and has been inducted into both the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame, as well as the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She lives in Denver and is still flying. She now has more than 21,000 hours of flying time.

Gloria Tanner has been active in the community since her mother used to take her door to door posting fliers as a young girl in Atlanta.

Whether it was petitioning for street lights on their block or speaking out against inequality, Tanner’s parents taught her to believe in the value of activism.

Despite the challenges of growing up as a black woman in the segregated and deeply racist South of the ¤’40s and ¤’50s, her parents also taught her to never doubt herself or her capabilities.

Of course, living on the same street as the Luther family — as in Martin Luther King Jr. — didn’t hurt either.

However, Tanner didn’t grow up with the dream of entering politics. In fact, she had something slightly different in mind.

“I wanted to be a nurse and go to Paris to enjoy life,” Tanner says.

Nevertheless, despite her original plans, and fortunately for women everywhere, Tanner ended up breaking barriers. She became the second black person to be elected to a leadership position in the Colorado House of Representatives as well as the first black woman in Colorado to serve as a state senator.

Tanner moved to Colorado with her husband Ted when she was 18. Although she dropped out of college when she was young, she always knew she would go back someday. After her third child enrolled in first grade, she finally went back to school just before turning 40. She graduated magma cum laude from Metro State College with a degree in political science in 1974. Eighteen months later she received her master’s in urban affairs at CU.

Following graduation, Tanner continued to fight discrimination and inequality. She eventually became the executive assistant to Colorado Lieutenant Governor George Brown, one of the first black lieutenant governors since Reconstruction in the United States.

Eventually, as Tanner became more and more involved, her supporters convinced her that she should run for office. She was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1985, where she served nine years. She later served on the Colorado Senate for seven years before retiring in 2001.

“It was a historic thing,” Tanner says. “I hope I opened some doors for other black women to run for office. As I walked through those senate doors, I carried every woman in the state on my shoulders. I was proud of that.”

Tanner passed several monumental bills while in office. She was responsible for the Colorado’s abandoned baby bill, which said parents could leave their children at hospitals or fire stations without punishment. She also created a marital discrimination bill that prevented women from being fired after marrying someone in their workplace. Another important bill Tanner created gave adoptive parents the same rights as biological parents.

Tanner, now 73 and living in Denver, is the executive director of the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women. The organization provides educational workshops that train black women to find leadership positions and run for office.

“If I leave any legacy it’s that I tried to make a difference and encouraged others to the same,” Tanner says.

– By Jessica Warnock

A few years ago, I was working on an entrepreneurial project, living off savings. Some days were financially scary as I was learning to live on faith instead of fear.

One day I was standing in the check-out line of the grocery store, aware the woman in front of me was taking a long time to check out. Although I had no pressing appointment, I became impatient and annoyed at having to wait so long. Finally, I realized that being annoyed wasn’t doing me any good, and I started to pay attention to what was unfolding before me.

The cashier was explaining to a rail-thin older woman in front of me that she couldn’t accept her check, because her checks always bounced. The woman, Alice, was fumbling through her purse looking for spare change. As I thought about this woman’s situation, I had an amazing feeling of peace come over me. I thought to myself that there should be a charity to help people like this. Someone should do something. And I realized that someone was me.

Feeling grateful for where I was in my life financially, as scary as I thought it was at that time, I leaned forward in faith and asked the cashier to just put Alice’s bill of $19.92 on my tab. When Alice insisted on paying me back, I asked her to pay it forward when she could. She gratefully left with her groceries.

The cashier said that simple act had made her whole week, because people are usually so rude to one another. She totaled my groceries, asked for my reward card that discounts some products, scanned the card and told me that with store specials, I had saved a total of $19.92 on my order.

I was stunned and asked her to repeat the number. She did, not realizing that it was the exact amount of Alice’s groceries that I had just paid for. I asked her to repeat it a third time and a look of amazement came over her face. She slowly said $19.92 realizing the miracle we had just witnessed. We stood there in wonder, sharing an incredible moment of “Wow, can you believe this?” I felt I had just been given an incredible gift.

The Universe showed me, in a tangible and public way, that the little things I worry about are nothing. The Universe will always provide what I need, and here was a perfect example. Even from a place of fear and lack, when I was able to step forward in faith and be of service to someone else, I was immediately rewarded and reminded. I walked out of that store much richer than when I entered. To this day, I keep that receipt with the $19.92 savings on my refrigerator as a constant reminder of the magic in the world.

Gail Lynne Goodwin, of Boulder, is the “Ambassador of Inspiration” for Inspire Me Today (www.inspiremetoday). Contact Goodwin at gail@inspiremetoday.com.

Inspirational to-do list

I almost missed the magic that day by thinking I was in a hurry. This month, try this:

1. Take a breath. Slow down.

2. Slow down.

3. Pay attention.

4. Now step forward in faith and watch what shows up in your life. Consciously look for the “magic.”

5. Ask yourself: What might you be missing by not paying attention? Where can you be of service?

I think you’ll be amazed and blessed by what you’ll find; it’s there for all of us.

A few months ago I volunteered to help the homeless. As we were preparing goodie bags to distribute, a young homeless man walked in. He was ragged, thin, unshaven and looked like he’d had more than a few rough nights. We assumed he was here to ask for something from us.

He approached our group, smiled, told us his name was Josh and asked how he could help us. At first we were taken aback by his request. He shared his story of being 24 years old and on the street for a few months. His parents didn’t have the money to help him, and he had no friends or family in the area.

He’d been mugged the night before, was bruised and now had no money, no coat, no shoes, no ID and no glasses. He smiled and told us how much it meant to him that people like us would come to help folks like him. He explained how he wanted to be a giver, too, and wanted to help us assist his brothers and sisters on the street in any way that he could.

We were dumbfounded. We all came from good neighborhoods, great jobs and lives of abundance, and thought we were pretty cool for doing the right thing to help the homeless. For most of us, the worst thing we could imagine in life would be living destitute on the street. Take our worst fear and compound it, and you’d have this young man’s life. Josh made giving real. I was humbled by his smile and his sense of gratitude for the things he did have in his life — few as they were.

We were inspired to help Josh, especially because he wanted to give. By the end of the day, not only did he have his basic needs covered, he also received a place to stay, a new job and the experience of helping his homeless friends.

Giving opens up the magic of the universe. So many times we say we’ll give “when we have a little extra” or “when we have the time.” Yet here was a giver, who appeared to have nothing to give. Instead of sitting in the park feeling sorry for himself, he took the initiative to make a difference for others, and in doing so, his life changed.

Sometime it doesn’t make sense and even seems the opposite of our normal reaction to circumstance, but I know this to be true: Give time when you’re stressed and too busy, and you’ll find you have more time. Write a check when you feel poor and abundance will come your way. Help someone else with his or her problems and yours will diminish. Create opportunities to give.

Not just during this season of giving, but throughout the upcoming year, we can all be givers. For in giving, the doors of receiving are opened up to us. The true beauty of life appears when we learn not only how to be good givers, but good receivers, as well.

Be grateful for the blessings in your life.

Realize you are a giver and know that you have the power to make a difference.

Look for opportunities to give each day.

Learn to be a good receiver, as well as a good giver.

Enjoy this beautiful season of giving!

Goodwin, of Boulder, is the “Ambassador of Inspiration” for Inspire Me Today (www.inspiremetoday.com). Contact Goodwin at gail@inspiremetoday.com.

I’ve started a new habit: to keep Thanksgiving alive year-round. When someone asks me, “How are you?” I smile and say, “I’m grateful.” Usually, this surprises people, because they just expect, “Fine, thank you.”

By saying “I’m grateful” out loud, so many good things happen. Not only is it a reminder of the blessings in my life, the person who asked “How are you?” is now thinking about my answer, and reminded of their own gratitude.

I’ve seen people stop what they’re doing, look at me, pause and tell me how awesome that answer is. Then they start sharing the things that they’re grateful for, and instead of a complaint session, we share an attitude of gratitude. Being grateful shifts the mood.

The “Law of Attraction” is at work here: What you focus on grows. If you’re focusing on things for which you are grateful, more will come to you.

The best way to improve your life is to make gratitude a habit. I do a gratitude exercise each morning when I open my eyes. My list includes things like my husband, children and dog to specific things like the new-fallen snow or the great evening with friends the night before.

We all have a significant impact on each other. When you share gratitude, it is continually passed on to others. Your smile, and your kindness will reach many. You will be the pebble thrown into the pond of life and your ripples will grow exponentially through others. I choose to impact people around me so that happiness continues on, and I do it with the conscious practice of gratitude.

I’m grateful for you!

Goodwin, of Boulder, is the “Ambassador of Inspiration” for Inspire Me Today (www.inspiremetoday.com). Contact Goodwin at gail@inspiremetoday.com.

“Part of what we want to do is train them on how to talk about issues with their friends and families.”

– Maria De Cambra, program director for Latina Initiative

The Latina Initiative recently partnered with 9 to 5, National Association of Working Women, to host the fourth-annual Serious Women, Serious Issues, Serious Action conference in Denver.

The theme of this year’s conference, held Sept. 27 in Denver, was “Women of Action: Elections and the Democratic Process.”

The conference meets annually to bring together young women, low-income women and women of different ethnicities to discuss and define public policy agenda.

“The women feel empowered, they’re getting the education they might not get anywhere else,” De Cambra says.

About 80 women, from 14 to 65 years old, met to participate in panel discussions to learn about issues important to women, such as health care, education, immigration, global rights, economic rights and civil rights. The goal of the panels was to impart skills on how the participants could take action.

“It was very encouraging to see how many grassroots ladies were there. Women who were as passionate as I am about issues and creating a better today and tomorrow for themselves, their children, and their communities,” says participant Cecile Johnson. “I felt very comforted to see the level of commitment and expertise that was in the room, and that these true warriors were out there advocating for my rights.”

Johnson is the Colorado outreach director for the Center for Progressive Leadership.

To learn more about the Latina Initiative and the National Association of Working Women, check out twww.latinainitiative.org and www.9to5colorado.org.

Start your day with your own gratitude list.

Practice it throughout your day by consciously focusing on what you are grateful for.

Share your gratitude with others by expressing appreciation.

When someone asks you how you are, tell them you’re grateful.

Share this message with others.

Looking for inspiration?

“Practice gratitude. It is the easiest, most sure way to guarantee you will have more things to be grateful for.”

Last month, we asked you about your favorite holiday traditions. Here are your responses:

My dad cooks an enormous feast on Christmas Eve. Then we all play music as a family and camp out under the Christmas tree.

– Angie Olsgard, of Boulder

Check out her store, Angie Star, on page xx.

Every winter, my father’s side of the family has a Christmas gift swap. One year, my aunt made a curious addition to the swap. It was a plastic owl, meant to scare off whatever it may be that owls prey on — other birds? Mice? Tootsie Roll Pops? Whatever. When my uncle unwrapped that plastic owl, an Arcand family legend was born.

The next year, it was re-gifted. Included in the repackaged box was a short letter addressed to the family from “Larry” the owl. My uncle named him Larry, possibly because he was a bird and most of the family is from the Boston/New England area (Larry Bird — I know, we’re hilarious).

My cousin who was living in Japan came home for Christmas one year and got stuck with Larry. The next year when Larry was regifted, he was dressed in a kimono. Each year, Larry is re-gifted, and whoever gets him has to add a chapter to the story of Larry, which is now approaching a 20-year saga.

– Christian Arcand, of Boulder

We play an annual football game. I always get tackled. This teaches me that I have the skill of holding wine and playing football in an apron and an old jersey.

We have a Christmas pickle ornament that we hide in the tree. If you find it on Christmas morning, you are the first to open a present.

Oh, and the kids and my husband all have two stockings. One is filled by Santa with socks and underpants. The other is filled with normal gifts, normal things, I promise. The kids have to act way excited about the socks and underpants, or I pout like a little kid.

And no one leaves my house during the holidays. Sometimes I have to kick them out.

– Laura Dinkey, of Loveland

Check out columnist Colleen Conant’s list of some of her favorite holiday memories on page xx.

For next month’s Girl Talk: What is the best risk you ever took? Send your story to speakup@womensmag.com.

I wanted to let you know that your desire to be “consciously creating” is working.

I love your Women’s Magazine. The first edition arrived at our home addressed to a man’s name (or current resident). My husband brought in the mail and said “Um, is there something you aren’t telling me?” We laughed, of course, and I proceeded to flip through the magazine.

While still thumbing through and needing to get ready to host an open house, I took the publication with me and climbed into a nice warm bath. Well, I was nearly a prune by the time I got out of the tub, as I couldn’t put it down until I had read every last article. I found it very interesting, timely, full of great information, etc. So congrats to you for that.

– Vickie Slade, with Real Estate of the Rockies

I just wanted to let you know that I finally got a chance to look at the magazine, and it totally rocks. You ladies are doing an awesome job! The tantric sex article was really good too. Keep up the great work.

– Laura Faeth, of Superior

Got something to say? Send your letters to the editor to aimee@womensmag.com.