Grateful, Thankful and Blessed

 

It's November, my favorite month of the year.  When we live in places with seasons, I celebrate the leaves, the air, the hush that seems to start taking place in the softer hours of the day.  Here in Texas, I pretend these things are happening....but the one constant is taking a really good, long look at all of the things that truly fill up my life and making an effort to be visibly and consciously grateful.  

 Every year  the naysayers of celebrating an Attitude of Gratitude rain on my proverbial parade.  Spouting that it is yet another commercialization of something we should do every day and that makes it less than genuine....well, I will give you the we should do it everyday, just like we should celebrate our parents, our veterans, our freedom...I could go on and on.  In real life, sometimes our gratitude is lost in the overwhelming shuffle of all that must be done, so I say celebrate on!  For 30 days, really focus on all of the good in your life, in the world.

We live in a world that focuses on negativity, that demands that the worst be highlighted while every thing bright and beautiful is a line item at the bottom of the page.  The reverse should be true.  I lead an incredibly blessed life, and I bet, that so do you.  The true measure of happiness is found in being grateful, counting your blessings and not your disappointments.  We have all had moments in our life that have brought us to our knees and we forget that in those moments, we still rise.

The last couple of years in our household have been rough, we have let some beloved members of our families go to God, in not the easiest of ways, we have seen pain and suffering, the losing of ones self.  We have had times in our family and marriage that have been less than the ideal that we would like. We struggle daily with the demands that raising a family put on us as individuals, a couple and financially.  We are tired and worn out.  And yet, we are BLESSED.  We are GRATEFUL.  We are THANKFUL.

I have been given this crazy, messy, beautiful and stressful life to live because I can look at it and see that even at it's worst, it is perfect.   Because it was made to better me, to better the life of others, to be celebrated.  I am filled up because of things great and small.  Having an attitude of gratitude is not solely for celebrating all of those monumental moments, but for acknowledging your small victories as well, in the softer hours of your life.  Yesterday, I was grateful for our first night without a binkie being significantly quieter than our first naptime without it.  In the scheme of things, pretty small potatoes, but it quieted my soul and put a smile on the face of one very proud little girl this morning.

 This movement of thankfulness is not a selfie opportunity, or to amaze and awe all of my friends on social media.  It is to publicly remind everyone of all of the GOOD THINGS that we each experience daily.  To prompt someone who may be struggling with resentment to let some of that be washed away.  To remind myself when I am angry or feeling low, that I have it so very good.  To put JOY, PEACE and LOVE on the front page.