“You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might also pray in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.”—Kahlil Gibran
I lost a big funky button on one of my favorite cobalt blue jackets. And, it was the buttons that made the jacket so unique.
That jacket went with me on a fun date and even to a business casual lunch with a high-powered woman I have greatly admired throughout my career.
After retracing my steps in search of the button, I came up empty-handed. I even called the boutique where I bought the jacket to see if I could purchase a replacement button. No luck as they had no extras on hand.
Fast forward a year. Shopping at a different location of the same boutique, I told the saleswoman of my distress of not being able to wear the jacket I loved so much because I could not locate a replacement button. She took my business card. A week later I got a call that she found a new button for me. I offered to pay her to send it to me. She declined.
Instead, the next week the button arrived in my mailbox, tucked inside a sweet hand-written card with a teaser line: “Button, button, who’s got the button?” The saleswoman’s humor and kindness in going the extra mile touched me deeply.
I knew in that moment of holding the new button in my hand that my life was full of abundance. The generosity of time and effort on behalf of a stranger—and her joy in finding and delivering the button to me—reminded me of the goodness of life, of kind people, and of feeling rich in connection and support.
My prayer for you, my readers, is that you notice and feel abundance in your daily lives, whether it be someone going the extra mile for you or the great celebration of landing a new job or finding new love.
Sometimes, abundance feels even more poignant when the challenges of life have brought us to edges we were not sure we would endure. The irony is that those “edges” sometimes become new doors of abundance for greater well-being, expanded joy and more meaningful lives.
Abundantly grateful,
Gail
P.S. Thanks to all my clients and friends who have reached out and asked if I am still coaching—and to those who signed on for fall sessions. Yes, I am here doing the work I love so much with a renewed perspective. I intentionally took time off from writing my blog these past few months to integrate some new life lessons before sharing them. May our journeys together continue with a deepening respect for the wisdom gained by stepping off-track every now and then.
Gail Kauranen Jones is an intuitive coach, gifted wordsmith and inspiring teacher who has been leading others through transformation for more than twenty years. She is the author of two books, Cancer as a Love Story: Developing the Mindset for Living, and To Hell and Back…Healing Your Way through Transition. Both books were met with rave reviews on Amazon and elsewhere.
She recently appeared as a guest “worthiness coach” on CBS TV’s award-winning talk show The Doctors and on Sirius FM Radio. Her articles and “tips” on worthiness have also appeared several times in Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper.
She has taught many leading-edge workshops at top spas and wellness centers. She now leads Zoom group coaching programs and is a guest speaker at many related events.
Gail lives a passionate and simple life writing, hiking, connecting in meaningful ways, aligning in joyful collaboration and thriving in nature.