This week Awesome Stories brings you gratitude, choice, LEED, beauty and drug reform.

How about a Gratitude Makeover?

I love this idea. So often, we rush to change the externals in our lives without thinking about the causes, possible gifts in the challenge or what is most important to us. Yes, challenges can help stimulate growth when we make new conscious choices that align with our highest and best aspirations for ourselves. But sometimes all we really need is an attitude makeover. Read this post on gratitude by Glennon Melton.

Playing with Choice

Here’s another fun idea I intend to play with. Hiro Boga suggests we experiment with the power of choice by setting up a transaction free day. By this she means a day where we freely give and receive. We give freely with no concern for return or results. And similarly, we receive with no guilt or need to reciprocate, we simply revel in the joy of giving and receive for themselves. Care to join me in playing with the simple joys in giving and receiving free of expectations?

Leading with LEED

I love that USGBC is pioneering the green building movement to design and build more energy efficient and sustainable buildings. Here is a collection of 10 very cool LEED buildings around the country. Of course, from a big picture environmental standpoint, addressing energy efficiency for existing homes and building is much more sustainable than new structures or adding new energy supply. Many experts, like Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, estimate that we could reduce our energy use in the US by about 33% with energy efficiency measures alone. And I’m happy to see new buildings being built with more sustainable materials and better efficiency. It all helps us move toward more sustainable living on this precious planet we call home. Thank you Mother Earth!

Photo credit: Flickr user Gale Cengage

Choice and Your Brain

As you may know, I’ve been exploring the freedom of choice recently. Here’s an interesting, if long, post of how our brains work and how choice impacts our brain. Being a scientist who had a near death experience, Jill Bolte Taylor has a unique view on NDE. After her stroke, Jill had almost no left brain function so she lost the ability to read, talk or remember memories. This became a gift in learning how dramatically different the two hemispheres of our brains function. She learned to see the world holistically, from a place of connection and relationship. Gradually she recovered her left brain function and skills, but she learned a lot about the power of choice. She now chooses to lead with her intuitive right brain side and integrate both sides for optimal living. To me, this sounds like living from the heart, with the mind as a tool, rather than master. What do you think?

The Beauty of Pollination

Vermont Goes Soft on Drugs

There are signs of sanity coming from Vermont. The state has quit the drug wars and instituted laws and policies aimed at health treatment rather than criminal punishment for drug use. Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin has been a strong voice for reform treating it as a “health crisis” rather than a crime. In VT, they are even offering substitute drugs to help people deal with heroin addiction, one of the big challenges in VT. European countries like Netherlands have always been known for liberal drug policies, but Portugal legalized drugs with very good results.

Have an awesome week playing with choice, beauty and gratitude!