An invitation to be thankful . . .

"If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough."  

 Meister Eckhart

Today in my meditation practice the centering thought is gratitude, a most important and powerful practice. So much I written and preached about the power of being grateful, for everything. Gratitude breeds gratitude, once you are thankful for the obvious blessings you start to notice more blessings.   

Here is how Oprah and Deepra Chopra describe this level of gratitude:

There is a deeper kind of gratitude that goes beyond our conceptions and beliefs of good and bad. This expanded sense of gratitude rejoices in life exactly as it is, right now . . . life is perfect in spite of its imperfections. We find ourselves grateful to simply breathe and greet the sunrise. We feel privileged to engage in the full range of human experiences: busy traffic, strong coffee, and missing a loved one. Our heart is big enough to embrace and appreciate life as a whole, just as it is, without worrying about whether it is “good” or “bad.”                                     

                                                                                 

Every day I learn the vastness of gratitude, it's perspective shows everything in a more manageable light.  So today I am going to make a list of the blessings in my life and share some of my list here. And I invite you to take a moment and note the blessings in your lives.  See if you can find the blessing in the situation that you feel is a hassle or a bother, can you find something in the struggle that you can see as a blessing?!?! 

Like the extra long red light when you are in a rush?!? Maybe during your waiting you get to see a blue heron fly overhead, or really get to listen to a poet read their work on the radio, or better yet it allowed you to take a deep breath and you realized that in your rush you really haven't been breathing.  Those are all things to celebrate. 

I feel as though we have been programmed to see things as a hassle, hard or overwhelming.  Maybe it a way of us showing others that we are really working, that we are really responsible and deserve their attention. We have become a society that rewards busyness, multi-tasking and overtime.  But I have a feeling that as a society we are getting tired of that pattern and we want to step back, slow down and smell the daisies.  Or maybe it is more my generation. I'm not sure.  But I am sure of the wonders of gratitude! So take a moment, maybe while you are at a red light, and note your blessings, give thanks, and if you can write it ( put ideas and thoughts into words is also powerful) 

If you wish write some in the comments, sharing such things allows the gratitude to expand as you are giving others ideas of the blessings in their lives.  

For me I believe I could spend the entire day listing what I'm grateful for, but for this post I will note a few AND, importantly, they are in no particular order :) 

I am grateful . . . 

-for my most amazing daughters: Maya and Harriet, 

who both started another year of school today!

- for that I live in a community with a good school system 

and a community that believe in the importance of education

-  for amazing friends!!  those who live near, those who live far, 

those I see often and those whose visits are less frequent 

but full of joy and familiarity 

-for my land of dragons, aka my recently developed garden that 

I have created in the little yard of my rental.  It is a godsent to me! 

The pictures in this post are from my garden.   

- for  plants I put in my garden, some from friends and some on sale because they looked as if they were dead ( they only needed some water and TLC) 

- for the furniture I have in my graden, that I have found on the side of the road 

during my scruffy walks or from thrift shop and junk barns.

-so thankful for my loyal fellow explorer, Scruffy.    

-for finding my favorite crochet hook after looking for it for weeks!  It is a beautiful wooden hook that was given to me by a friend's mother, Polly. I love it.

-for a moment to enjoy a cup of strong coffee in my land if dragons

- for my new installed bird feeder which is continually busy with feathered friends and the occasional squirrel.

-for my rental apartment which is providing my girls and me with a comfortable home.

-for the Apple store which has my laptop (that is why this post may look odd)  , I'm grateful that they can fix my computer  AND I'm grateful that they needed to keep it overnight so that I get a break from the continual demands that the computer offers. 

-for a beautiful tallish summer day, long shadows, soft breeze and a pool to visit later today when it's really hot.

- for this blog! For this place I am very grateful! It is a place that allows me to really focus on the good intentions and profound quotes that I find.  It allows me a moment to exhale and be mindful and it allows me to share. 

So that is a bit if my list, what are you grateful for . . . 

Be well & peace