Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving from my grateful heart.

There is something magical about snow when you are warm and cozy in your home just watching it fall to the earth blanketing everything in white. It actually seems quite peaceful and quiet.
All heck will break loose later.
From the window right by my computer, I can see my red hummingbird feeder which seems so bright and colorful against all the white. There is one hummingbird in particular that seems to eat from my feeder the most and s/he is there now causing me to feel enormous delight. Bob is at the piano softly playing Christ mas carols and all feels right in the world. I wonder what my horse friends think about all this snow?

Today is Thanksgiving here in America and a time for me that I like to reflect on the blessings and all that I have to be grateful for.
I am always grateful when I get to awaken from another sleep and have another day in this world. The world doesn't always seem perfect, but then again maybe it is. We judge almost everything in our day even when we don't realize that we are judging....the weather, the traffic, our job, our boss, our co-workers, the food we eat, the line at the grocery store, how someone looks, how they don't look, the kids teacher, etc. It is a never ending list that we don't actually realize is going on inside of us.

I have to stop here for a minute and interject that - OH MY GOSH - my cup of coffee is so darn good.

People are being born and people are dying in the few moments that I am sipping my coffee. The circle of life on earth beginning for some and ending for others and there is so much in between. There is a quote that says we do not remember days, we remember moments. It is a true thought. As I sit here and try to think back on everything, I cannot remember full days, just snippets from here and there. That means I probably can't remember everything I have felt grateful for in the past, but neither can I remember everything that caused me distress of some sort.
But what blessings have come my way and what do I feel gratitude for right now?
Some days my personal world seems so small because I don't have a job right now, but every morning when I awaken, my world is filled with great things. I have a husband who loves me and when he holds me in his arms, well, I can't even bring forth the words to describe how that makes me feel. I have a cat named Zoe who comes to get her love and give her sweet gifts. Then I have 2 dogs that make me laugh everyday. I live in my sister's house here on the horse farm which is a really big blessing and everyday I see 36 horse friends. Now that may make you think I have lost a few cookies, but everyone of those horses have their own personalities and they all have their own way of interacting with me (and everyone around them). There is something wonderful about these big creatures and I love them all and enjoy seeing them everyday. Believe it or not, they make me laugh at times and they give out love as well as accepting love from Bob and me.
My children are healthy and my 2 grandsons are happy and healthy. At the moment, all is well with the rest of my family (sisters, parents, aunties, cousins, etc.) and friends. Everyone is warm and dry and they have plenty to eat.
I am grateful for chances. I feel like I was gifted with another chance when Bob came into my life.
My sister provided us with a chance to live in Woodinville where Bob had lived as a child and where I wanted to live after having come here for the first time many, many years ago. I only name 2 here, but there are many chances that come our way almost every day.
I am grateful for every mistake I have ever made.           Yes, it's true.
Sometimes our actions are labeled as mistakes by others, but good things can be born on the wings of mistakes. At the very least, we sometimes learn what we don't want to do again or have happen again. But if you get something wonderful, well, it was worth every minute.
I am grateful that I am an extra ordinary person. No I did not say extraordinary, I said extra ordinary. I am just me....everyone else is taken as Oscar Wilde said. We all want to think we are unique or special. What we sometimes forget is that everyone else is thinking that also. So we all are unique, special, and extra ordinary all together. We all have gifts to render to the world just as we are a gift to the world. No better, yet no worse than the one next to us.

I have a long list of other things I am grateful for everyday: whoever God let invent the hot water tank and running pipes, the refrigerator, a grocery store, my wonderful mattress, a heater, this structure called home, freedom, the ability to communicate with so many others in so short of a time, choices, someone who loves me, someone to love, sunrises and sunsets, the sun and the moon, light to darkness, the contrasts that exist everywhere......my list is like most every ones. I am grateful to be alive and to have so much even on the days I think I need or want more. Usually those are just things that I think I need or want more of. What money can't buy are the things I am truly grateful for.
So let me end here with a quote by Lydia Child -
Gratitude is the memory of the heart; therefore forget not to say often, I have all I ever enjoyed.

             In every thing give thanks. - 1 Thessalonians 5:18  KJV

No comments:

Post a Comment