Day 5: Thirty Days of Gratitude

Simple gratitude today.

Grateful that our family is healthy and happy.

Simply grateful.

Day 4: Thirty Days of Gratitude

Grateful for free time to....

read magazines that have piled up on my bedside table,

sip my second cup of tea,

snuggle under the electric blanket with my sweetheart,

soak in the tub with bubbles,

write a poem or two,

bake a batch of pumpkin muffins,

enjoy the sunset,

ponder the meaning of life.

Day 3: Thirty Days of Gratitude

My husband and I had a fascinating experience today while sitting and waiting for our boys and their friends at the local tramopoline center.  I don’t normally bring my computer with me when I go “out” but knew I’d be sitting there for two hours and wanted to look at flights and such for our next vacation.

While we were looking at one of the flight options, a gentleman who we came to know as  Victor, (who also had his laptop with him while waiting for his son and friends) asked us if we minded if he played music as he didn’t want to disturb us.

We didn’t mind at all.

What happened next, I can’t really put into words.  We had the most lovely, inspiring, warm, friendly conversation with a complete stranger for the better part of the hour.  Most people, and normally, I would probably include myself in the category of “most people” don’t want to strike up conversations with strangers, but today, Victor, asked about the trip we were thinking about, and the conversation took off running from there. 

I was sitting in awe of our most intimate conversation between the three of us.  Intimate in a real, connect to another human being way.  It was quite beautiful actually. 

I was surprised by his candidness, but then again I wasn’t, and we both appreciated his honest connection and discussions and know will remember this hour many days, weeks, months from now.

There are times in our lives when we are blessed with glimpses into the world and how it might be if we were open to hearing another person’s heart. Heaven on earth is this way. I know it is. 

We are compassionate for others, we have empathy, we share laughter, we are truly who we are meant to be with a total stranger and we are better for it at the end of the time spent together.  He told stories of his one true love, his son, his work, his family, the culture he grew up in, his business ideas, travel, food, beach sand, art and the list goes on.

We introduced our children to each other, shook hands and left the trampoline center.  Perhaps our paths will cross again, perhaps they won’t.  What I do know, is that I am grateful for being open-minded enough that a complete stranger can place an imprint upon my day and am better off from the experience than had I sat there in the quiet.

Simply a beautiful experience today. Simply lovely.

heaven on earth

Day 2: Thirty Days of Gratitude

The sky is cloudy today and the air is still.   It’s my kind of day.  It’s a day to curl up on the couch with a stack of magazines and circle everything you love in bright red.  It’s a day to put on the green knitted socks with pom poms that you only wear when it’s cold and watch a movie.   It’s a day of quiet.   Quiet is something that is on my list of favorite things.  It’s probably up in the top three and often ranks number one on a given day.  

Quiet.

Quiet.

The quiet allows my brain to breathe and my heart to beat in a soft pattern that soothes my spirit.  There are times in our lives when just “being” is what suits us most. If we ignore those calls to quiet, those invitations into “being” then we deny ourselves a gift.

Don’t deny yourself a chance to recharge with a cup of hot tea or to read an article in a magazine in the complete quiet.  Our bodies respond to quiet.  They know when we need to withdrawal into ourselves and relax.  Today I am grateful for the quiet; the quiet that fills my spirit with newness. I hope you will listen to your mind and body and if it’s asking for a quietness, then indulge and enjoy the silence.

Day 1: Thirty Days of Gratitude

Today is November 1st, even thought it's early evening.  Dusk in my neck of the woods about now.  I love this time of day.  The boys have finished their homework, dinner has been consumed, the warmth of the house settles around us and the night is awaiting our greeting.   This day marks the beginning of my thirty-day project on gratitude.   

grat-i-tude: noun 

The state of being grateful: thankfulness

This word evokes an awareness in me of my surroundings and all that is my life.   Not just the big things, but the small details of the world around me and how they impact my day, my heart, my song.  I am grateful for so much, but today I am grateful for the ability to be a stay at home mom.  It provides a flexibility for our family that allows our children to be more involved in activities, school and spur of the moment plans with friends as well as so many other perks for our family.  I adore my job.  

This morning, my little guy hopped out of the car and headed into school without a care in the world.  I then dropped off my oldest and headed home.  I set my purse on the table as I came into the house, when my phone chimed at me that I had a text message.  Chimes in the morning at this time can only be from two people; my boys.   

I looked at the message and sure enough, my youngest had accidentally put the wrong day's binder into his  backpack and was ten minutes away from being binderless and docked for late homework.  I asked which one and jumped into the car and asked him to meet me in the drop off line.  I arrived at the line and he came running out to the car as the rest of the line's students were heading inside.  We made the binder swap through the window.  "Thank YOU!"  It was all I needed for my day.  

It won't happen again, I can assure you.  The feeling he had of being unprepared will last the rest of the school year and I likely won't have to make that kind of trip to school again, but if I do, I will be grateful for the opportunity and be thankful I am able to be there for them. 

I hope you will join me here each day and reflect during this beautiful month of the year.