gratitude

Sometimes, there are days when I sit down and try as I might I can't seem to come up with any topics to talk about. My projects might all be in the process of being finished or I ran out of pictures. On these days I almost feel panicked...shouldn't I have some profound thing to say to share with the world. Then I take a step back, breath and realize that sometimes it is not the profound that is the most important. Sometimes the smallest thought, simplest words, tiniest gesture is the one that counts the most.

With this in mind I sat quietly and let ideas float past me. Gratitude kept coming to the fore. It is one of my favorite topics.

Gratitude is a special gift that you give to yourself and to those around you. It is the gift of honest pleasure. It is the heart saying, "I exist and that is not just enough it is fantastic. Who could ask for anything more?" Many people they should be grateful only when things come to them or when someone does them a favor or passes them a kind word. Yes, these are definitely times when gratitude should be present but it is so much more than being happy you have been treated well. Gratitude is looking around you and saying, "If I never have anything more than what I have right now this would be perfect." Does this mean that you don't strive for a better life or the ability to have nice things or security in life? NO not at all. It simply means that you don't allow the drive for these things to blur or distort that which is truly meaningful in your life.

With all of the crazy scariness going on in the world, I find it more important than ever to not only practice sincere gratitude in every part of my life but to help my children hone their inner gratitude so that they can be filled with the true joy that being happy in the moment with yourself and life can give you. Gratitude brings with it a certain peace and happiness (these feelings are all close friends and tend to travel in a pack). These are the ingredients to a good and well lived life!

My wish and my request for you all is that you find sincere gratitude in you life. Find a way, be it big or small, to wake every day and say to yourself, "Wow I am so glad to be alive and I am grateful for every moment in my day. Not just the good moments, though these are invaluable to me but the bad moments as well because these teach me much about myself and help me to grow into the person I was meant to be." I am blissfully grateful for my family, for the ideas that I have been gifted, for the encounters in my life that have shaped and continue to help shape the direction I take and the person I am. I am so grateful for all of you. All who visit me here daily or weekly or even just once on accident while searching for something else. You all are helping make my dreams possible and for that I am truly grateful.