I've struggled with the idea that there is any benefit whatsoever to practicing gratitude, but in the back of my mind I do sense that it's worthwhile. I get a knot jerked in my tail (I love expressions like that) every once in a while when I reflect on the fact that I actually live a very privileged life.
According to The Science Behind Gratitude (and how it can change your life): "People who regularly practice gratitude by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they're thankful for experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness, and even have stronger immune systems. And gratitude doesn't need to be reserved only for momentous occasions: Sure, you might express gratitude after receiving a promotion at work, but you can also be thankful for something as simple as a delicious piece of pie."
I am grateful for many things, and being an American is in the top five. I remember how off-kilter I always feel when I'm in a foreign country. Travel is great, but it's also stressful.I basically lived in Kazakhstan for 3 weeks when I was adopting Michael, and although it was fascinating to experience another culture, there were so many things that were either just annoying or really scary. Bread in stores sat on racks open to the air, open to being coughed on, going stale. Sidewalks were slushy, snowy, mess, most of the time. Restaurant menus often listed about twice as many items as one could actually order and eat. Public restrooms? Forget it. And on and on.
However, if I had it to do all over again, I'd do it all again, just to be a mom to my wonderful son.
I am grateful to be the child of Tony and Elva. My parents were not perfect. Nobody can make that claim. The things they got right, though, they got really right. My brother and I never doubted for an instant that we were loved. We always lived comfortably. We took nice vacations. We watched Dad go to work day in and day out and we both have great work ethics as a result. We watched my parents cook food to take to families grieving a loss, or simply new to the neighborhood. We were talked to as if we were adults and encouraged to think freely for ourselves. We were taken to church and taught the importance of faith in God.
Even though my father is not on this earth any more, his words are in my head, all the time, particularly this mantra: always do the right thing. Not the easy thing. The RIGHT thing.
I am grateful to live in the South. I like visiting other places in America and there's still a lot of the country I'd like to see, particularly out west. However, I am glad to live in a place where we value good manners highly, we revere the past, and we live in a climate that escapes horrible winter storms 95% of the time. I will never live anywhere else, because my people have been here for generations and I would feel utterly out of place in any other are of the USA.
I am grateful that my mother is alive and very much a best friend and co-parent with me. I have never really felt like a single mom, because I'm not. Mother is always there to listen, to advise me, to commiserate, and to prop me up when I get discouraged. I know sometimes folks think it's a burden, taking care of her, but it's not at all. She takes care of me just as much as I take care of her. When she is gone there will be a terrible gap in my life.
I try to be grateful for every day I have with my mother.
I am grateful for my health. I only take one medication, Synthroid, and I don't have any major issues. Now that I have the pacemaker, I feel physically fine 90% of the time, which is as good or better than most folks, I am pretty sure.
I am grateful for my sweet puppy, Lola -- Lolababy, Lolabelle, Lolar, Lolla-rolla -- and all her love. Dogs are pure love, and humans are blessed immeasurably by their selfless love.
I am grateful to be able to write every day. Writing is how I make sense of the world. It's how I entertain myself. It's as essential to me as breathing. I am not the world's best writer, but I still love the fact that I can write things that cause people to think or feel deeply.
I am grateful to have many friends. Some of my friends I get to hang out with in person, and some only by email or phone or Facebook. I'm still grateful. Friends make life fun, and they make life bearable.
Sometimes when I feel very anxious, I try to just pay attention to my breathing in a meditative way, and think of all the things to be thankful for in my life. There are many things. I am very blessed.
three of my favorite folks...
