Gratitude

Judy Belmont writes a blog on emotional wellness. She shares her thoughts at www.dailypositiveinspirations.com. Recently she shared this thought:

“If you focus too much on what is not going well in your life, you will not be able to appreciate all the things that do!

            How about taking this moment in time to be grateful ‘no matter what’?”

Of course there are those of us who find it hard to be grateful for anything. But perhaps they didn’t try to be grateful?

Let’s try. For the first thing, we arose this morning with another opportunity to make a difference in our own life and the lives of others. The jury is still out on this day and whether we will fulfill the promise of that opportunity. But the opportunity stands before us nonetheless. What are we to make of it?

Second, I have family members with good relationships. Oh sure; I have bad relationships within the family as well! What to do about them is the work for another day. I’ve let it go this long so I can let it slide a little longer. Besides, I don’t really know what to do about those soured complexities! Maybe a little more time and pondering will help me with the task?

Third, I have friends. Most of these friends help me live life so much better than I could on my own. They care. They understand. They forgive. They are even more supportive than family members. Yes, friends are plentiful and oh so valuable in my life. It is a double pleasure: having the friends AND knowing I have friends. Those really are two different things. The knowing is especially rich!

Fourth, I am blessed with assets or strengths that help me live a meaningful life. That blessing I am truly grateful for. I can sit at a keyboard and write fluently what’s on my mind. Perhaps there are few who would want to read it, but no matter! What is important is that I can dump my cares and worries onto paper or electronic media. It is out of my head. It is somewhere else. Not inside of me making mischief!

I found this on the internet the other day. It seems to fit where I am in today’s blog:

“If you are reading this, you have survived your entire life up until this point. You have survived traumas, heartbreak, devastation, the different phases of life.

            And here you are. You go, m*****f***er. You’re awesome.”

That’s a good place to begin the gratitude exercise, don’t you think? We've come this far in life so we've survived a lot of heavy stuff. And we made it. So let’s be grateful for that and use the awareness for new discoveries.

Once embarked on the gratitude trail I think it will become easier to recognize the many things we take for granted. That’s a good place to find what we should be grateful for.

I found an appreciation for food I thought I had but really didn't  In the past I though I appreciated food because I lunged at it. But now I seek the flavor, the texture, the aroma and the feeling on the tongue. I sense the food as it is being chewed and swallowed and makes its way down the esophagus. Yes. So much more about food to be grateful for.

Birdsong. So plentiful in spring and summer. Less so in winter but then all the more rare and beautiful! Such a reminder that birds remain among us to survive the winter with us. I am grateful for that realization and sharing of the dark months.

Music. How it uplifts my thoughts, my moods. How it challenges the brain to conceive of the melody and harmony. How it make new ideas pop to mind. Music as diversion, as intellectual food, as emotional salve. Richness around us in sound. Some of it makes good sense. Some of it does not; noise until it gradually makes shapes worthy of thinking upon.

Books. Written thoughts from others that ease our thinking toward other objectives and worthy avenues. Pursuit of logic, history, story, emotional transactions and so much more. Instructive and expansive. Reading brings so much pleasure and challenge.

Jobs and careers. A chance to do good and useful things. The opportunity to earn money to pay my bills. Or to retire and volunteer to accomplish things others simply don’t have the time for. All these activities are a blessing, something to be grateful for.

Are you grateful? Are you aware that you are? Have you worked on this element of your life recently? Should you?

This is a new day. A new month. In a fairly new year. Let’s get to work!

February 1, 2013