Jan 4 Trials and Trails

cc image courtesy flickr.com/photos/bogenfreund

Sometimes the most foreboding trails are where you discover the most interesting things, and sometimes they are simply more trying.  Either way, when you come to the end you feel a little more satisfied than when you started.

Today I’m thankful for simple things that make the trails and trials bearable:

1. the kind woman that takes out the trash with her quiet humor.
2. laughter and smiles just when you need them.
3. hot coffee in the icy morning and a glass of red wine at the end of another long and trying day.

For what are you thankful?

Dec 29 Instructions

cc image courtesy flickr.com/photos/drp

If Life came with instructions, would anyone actually read them?  I guess a few would pour over them intently, and then spend their days reminding the rest of us that we’re “doing it wrong“.    This year has felt like perhaps I should have read the instructions, or at least asked an instruction reader a time or two:  “Does this sound right to you?“.

I feel a little like 2009 has overstayed its welcome and I’d shoo it out the back door but it’s swollen and stuck shut from all the rain.  Does anyone have instructions on how to open a swollen door?

Today, I’m thankful that ..

1. despite the storms that have rocked this year, somehow we are still hanging on – singing a sailor’s song.
2. Life doesn’t come with instructions.  I would be tempted to look up all the things I’ve done wrong.
3. the ones that love me don’t read the instructions either.

For what are you thankful?

Dec 21 Flame

cc image courtesy flickr.com/photos/29487767@N02

These moments we share are gifts of immeasurable beauty.

Be thankful for every second that ticks while you are reading this post.  I am.

1…  2… 3 ….

Dec 14 Birthdays

cc image courtesy flickr.com/photos/robbrooks

Another life year has passed and this blog is a year old.

I don’t think much about birthdays.  Maybe it’s because I’m a December baby and this close to Christmas the last thing people want to worry about is a birthday. It’s more likely because I resist obligatory routines, but whatever the reason I’ve never been a “birthday person”.  I think I will try to change that moving forward because birthdays do provide a good place to say “thank you” to those people in your life that make all the difference.

Today, I’m thankful …

1. for birthday wishes from people around the world
2. for the people that come here and share their thanks
3. for this morning’s milky white blanket of fog

For what are you thankful?

Dec 7 Two Roads Diverged

cc image courtesy flickr.com/photos/garyj

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

from The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost

I didn’t post yesterday.   I sat down to write but there was this thing circling around in my head refusing any sort of meaningful articulation, and then I saw this image this morning and it resolved.

Ask yourself honestly what you thought of these two men when you first looked at this picture.  Did your mind race to dichotomy?  Did your mind tell your stories about them – who or what they were, in stark black and white?

But this isn’t really a black and white image, is it?  Isn’t it merely shades of gray layered one upon the other, much like the decisions we make every day?  Do this, not that.  Go here, not there.  Wear this, not that.  It’s maddening really.  Equally maddening is how we cast people, like fish from a net, into two buckets – keep, throw away.

Look again, you may see shades of gray.

Today I am just thankful that …

1. I have the luxury of making decisions.
2. you notice the little things.
3. I forced myself to post, albeit “late”.   This little blog has become a special place for me.

For what are you thankful?

Nov 30 Anticipation

cc image courtesy flickr.com/photos/deapeajay

 

It’s dark on the drive home and the glare of street and holiday lights strays into our eyes – it’s the time of anticipation and anxiety.   Can the dreary economy persuade us to stop and be thankful for each tempestuous moment and what it offers as it passes, or will we cover ourselves in blankets of consumption and wait out the storm?

Today I am grateful that I’ve been blessed with

1. folks that have adopted me as their own, seemingly without hesitation
2. a child like wonder and anticipation for the holidays
3. the security of purposeful employment

For what are you thankful?

Happy Thanksgiving!

cc image courtesy flickr.com/photos/beautifulrust

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
–Marcel Proust 

November 23 Gifts

cc image courtesy flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/97350027/

The gift giving season is rapidly approaching and while I still see the holidays through the eyes of a giddy five year old, this year I’ve started to wonder if the emphasis has shifted so far that we forget about the gifts we get everyday.     The little gifts, unwrapped and without fanfare that are no less precious than those surrounded by flashing lights and tinsel, that make our lives richer and more meaningful.

Today I’m thankful for the little gifts that are piling up under my tree of life.

1. new friends that open doors to entirely new worlds and ideas
2. old friends that make you laugh at yourself and be better for it
3. a heart felt, home cooked meal just because it’s Sunday.

For what are you thankful?

November 16 Comfort

cc image courtesy flickr.com/photos/zedzap

I’m feeling a bit under the weather today, blurry eyed and a step behind.   Despite the infirmity, finding comfort has been easy and for that, I am truly thankful.

Today, for the little bits of love and comfort I am thankful.

1. for a cup of hot steaming tea with honey.
2. for warm, soft and sweet smelling flannel sheets.
3. and a huge pot of homemade chicken soup.

For what are you thankful?

November 9th Calm

cc image courtesy flickr.com/photos/spunfunkster

I was not calm this morning.  On the contrary, Monday’s first light conspired to make me edgy and quick to judge and generally explosive.   I initially posted this image at the header, but it was not inspiring – not in the least – in fact it felt like a call to be self destructive.   I waited to post and stared at that image in defiance and slowly the day started to relent, if ever so slightly, as I started to think about the things for which I am grateful.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this blog is that it images and words can bring you down faster that you can imagine.   But a reflective moment, coffee with a sympathetic colleague or a short walk in the park can transform a perfectly dreadful morning into a hope-filled afternoon.  I’m not quite at the “hope-filled” stage at the moment but as least I’m not primed for explosion.

I am completely self-centered at the moment, and that’s okay because today I’m at least thankful that:

1. despite the times I feel completely inconsequential, someone shines a light in my eyes.
2. I started this blog – it’s been a great equalizer for me and I’ve learned that Mondays are perhaps particularly suited for a few moments of reflection.
3. I didn’t do anything crazy and/or rash this morning, thanks to a few gentle but well-timed words from a friend.

For what are you thankful?