7 Things I Am Grateful For

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Today, I’m grateful for…

1. Dandelions.

While I was driving along the highway looking at fields of dandelions, it came to me that God can make beauty out of weeds. Since I’m a sucker for an object lesson, I realized that God can also make beauty out of the weeds in my life. Something to think about…

2. A layoff.

I’m grateful that my husband just got laid off. Yes, it even sounds weird to me. Instead of being worried or frightened, I was excited. My husband was happy, too, and is thinking of it as paid vacation and a chance to travel. Perspective is a good thing. We could look at the economy, and at the fact that union plumbing jobs are in short supply in some areas, and we could choose to be worried. But I, personally, don’t want to waste time on worry.

We have everything we need. We have our children. We have our big, old house. We have our two cars – they’re not new, but they are both paid for. Life is good, whether we’re on unemployment pay or not. We are blessed. Wasting one day on worry is futile and takes away from the quality of life. Since I started this gratitude journey, my life has totally changed and I can truly see the blessing in what could be a black cloud to many people.

3. Saying “NO”!

On our way North, as we were crossing the Connecticut border, my husband’s cell phone rang and I jokingly said, “Oh, that’s just your rep calling about a job that came up!” Ha. Ha. Yeah, it was. The company that had laid him off wanted him to come back for a short-term job. He hung up the phone and we discussed it, but we decided that, while it may SEEM like a good idea, we just weren’t feeling it.

So we said NO! Today, we’re experiencing the fun of family and the lovely, cool New Brunswick weather…all because we said “no” to a situation that (on the outside) could have been lucrative. Sometimes joy should come first. There’s something to be said for deciding with your heart.

4. Daily walks.

Since I’ve been taking my long, fast walks on an almost-daily basis, I have begun feeling better in so many ways. I’ve also allowed myself the time to think things through, vent my not-so-pretty feelings to God and enjoy my music and the fresh air.

I’ve also noticed that I’ll occasionally feel what I can only describe as a wave of gratitude. I have so much for which I can be thankful and it usually hits me most when I’m alone and taking time to talk to God out in nature.

5. Knowing I’m still under construction.

I know a lot of people who like to appear to have everything together. There’s something humbling, though, about being honest with your faults and about being yourself. Facades are exhausting. God is doing great things in me and he’s helping me get rid of a lot of my crap. I know I’ll never be rid of all of it, but the occasional shifts I’ve had in my thought processes and ways of dealing with things are all due to God’s leading.

6. My 4-year-old’s belly laugh.

There is no more beautiful sound than the sound of a child laughing as hard as they can. Sometimes, I need to be reminded to just let it all out. No giggling. No chuckling. A throw-your-head-back-and-belt-it-out gut laugh. There’s healing power in laughter and when I just let go of my worries and the restraint of caring about how I look or sound to other people, I am free to be myself at my most basic level. I love joy, if you couldn’t tell.

7. Choosing to focus on the good.

You know, the main thing I’ve learned so far about living a life of gratitude is the idea of learning to focus on the goodness in life. I’m the type of person who finds it easier to focus on my stress and worry and less-than-desirable circumstances. I hate that about myself. Gratitude, however, is a discipline just like any other. It gets easier the more you practice it.

My gratitude journey started with the realization that my emotions and my depression were my CHOICE. I was choosing to wallow in the mud instead of dancing in the rain…yes, it sounds cliche’, but it’s so true. Once you really start being grateful for every little thing, your life will change and I guarantee you will be able to choose joy when you “should” be choosing despair.

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My hope is that you learn to count your blessings. The more you count them, even the little ones like painted toenails and morning coffee and the sound of crickets as the sun goes down, the less you will focus on the unnecessary distractions of life. You will be more in touch with the fact that life is too short to waste on worry, anger and bitterness. I guarantee that if you focus on your gratitude and on the thought that you are truly, deeply blessed, you will see life differently, and you will even see yourself differently. You are alive. You are vibrant. You are a work in progress. You are the only “you” that there is. Appreciate the fact that you have a purpose, and finding that purpose is only one gratitude habit away.

Image: Kaptain Kobold