gratitude | Julie Saffrin

GIVE A BLESSBACK® CHANGE YOUR LIFE. CHANGE THE WORLD.

November 22, 2016 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

Several weeks ago at the Christian Authors Book Fair in Plymouth, Minn., I ran into Michael Ireland, a British journalist I became acquainted with years ago at the Minnesota Christian Writers Guild. We visited briefly. The next day, he sent me, quite unexpectedly, a host of questions about BlessBack®: Thank Those Who Shaped Your Life, for me to answer as soon as possible as he wanted to do a story with Assist News Service about my book and why I wrote it. I was thrilled at his interest, but crippled by technology. I was in Hill City, South Dakota, visiting my friend…

EXPRESSED GRATITUDE: A BLESSBACK®

May 31, 2016 • Julie Saffrin • 2 Comments

A BlessBack®* is an expression of thanks given to those in your past who have had a positive influence in your life. It is an exchange of blessing between two parties: the giver and the receiver. As you live the BlessBack life, you will discover that at various times you may be a giver and at other times a receiver; sometimes you may experience both giving and receiving at the same time. BlessBacks are different from random acts of kindness. Most often, a random act of kindness is being kind to someone in a spontaneous way. A BlessBack, on the…

Gratitude by the Lake

October 7, 2015 • Julie Saffrin • 4 Comments

A red and white sailboat, moored at its secured buoy, rocks bow to stern. The tour paddleboat leaving the Port of Excelsior just tooted its horn. A man in black sweater, khakis, trilby and white beard checks his dory. It is a beautiful 50–degree day at “my office” in my car at Excelsior Commons in Minnesota. I’ve come today to displace some anxiety. This beautiful setting, of boats and water, is once again working its magic and bringing me to a place where I can both let go of worries and concentrate on what is at hand for me this…

Gratitude Notes

October 6, 2015 • Julie Saffrin • 4 Comments

I know. Not a blog post since June 2015. No, I haven’t fallen off the planet. But I did need to disappear here for awhile. My website was past its sell date and needed a new look. The old blog posts on my mobile looked terrible and did nothing but frustrate me as I tried to navigate my way around it. As well, both I and my wonderful website designer, Angie Hughes of Angie’s Creative, each needed some time to think about what we wanted my website to look like and to find time when we could bring the plan…

Grateful Day 16 in Moments in May 2015 Challenge

May 16, 2015 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

BlessBack® paperback on sale!

February 3, 2015 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

Join us to celebrate BlessBack’s third birthday! February 17th marks the third birthday of the popular book on gratitude, BlessBack®: Thank Those Who Shaped Your Life As a way to express my thanks to all of you for supporting my book on gratitude, BlessBack®: Thank Those Who Shaped Your Life is on sale for the entire month of February 2015. Now’s your chance to get a paperback version for just $11.99. Hurry, offer ends February 28th at 11:59 p.m. Click the red button to be taken to Amazon to get your discounted book. Here’s what others are saying about how…

Thank you for being a friend

May 2, 2014 • Julie Saffrin • 2 Comments

Is there ever reason not to say, “Thanks”? In BlessBack’s May 2014 newsletter, I tell a story from my book, BlessBack®: Thank Those Who Shaped Your Life. Eleanor Roosevelt’s mother-in-law’s response is priceless to the children’s being late for dinner. Their excuse? “We ran out of time.” The matriarch’s words, if we allow them to be, can be a life lesson for you and me. The matriarch told the children, “You had all the time there was.” Life’s uncertainty is certain, yet we can lighten another’s load. Words heal. Words break down the walls and fences we build…

Be Causal

April 14, 2014 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

From BlessBack®: Thank Those Who Shaped Your Life by Julie Saffrin “We can be people of “because.” We can act or write others when we see them doing something good. “Be causal,” by blessing and thanking others with a BlessBack in your neighborhoods, communities and places where you work. It won’t be long before a bond of compassion forms. To help you “be causal,” if you would like to download this free stationery in pdf form, please do and send a letter to someone who deserves your thanks for how they influenced your life. Change the world. One BlessBack at…

Lavish Love

July 3, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

In college, I studied various communication theories. The one I found most memorable was Young Yun Kim’s Cross-Cultural Adaptation Theory, a theory that explains how immigrants learn to adapt to a new culture and country. Kim explained this theory in Understanding Communication Theory: The Communicative Forces for Human Action, by giving an example of how Korean immigrants accustomed themselves to living in the United States. To acclimate themselves to living in America, the immigrants planted one foot in their new country and kept the other in their old by: Speaking English to those who spoke English Speaking Korean to fellow Koreans Reading…

Play Date

May 17, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • 1 Comment

Pink magnolia | https://juliesaffrin.com

In Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, she writes about the importance of having a monthly play date. Friend and author Joy DeKok and I did exactly that on Monday, May 13. Our first stop was the University of Minnesota’s Arboretum in Chanhassen, Minn. Although the Arboretum was just shedding its winter clothes and many of the gardens showed only an inch or so of good things to come, the magnolias were in bloom and filled the pathway with their lovely blossoms and sweet fragrance. The tulips looked like foot-high asparagus spears. But in protected, sunny spots, we did see bright spots…

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