New Eyes

Today I am grateful for our dog Oliver and his predictable presence around our house. I am also grateful for my eyesight and the glasses that improve it even more.

Consider this:

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes

 but in having new eyes."

Marcel Proust

There is not much that we individually have control of in the world around us. Just our own attitude and actions. We do shape our own perceptions. We decide what we are going to focus on, what we are going to let roll off, what we are going to give energy to.

I was stuck in the rut of self-pity for years. I saw the negative in my own life's circumstances and I focused on the negatives I saw in myself. My mind's eye dulled the beauty and grace around me, while amplifying the pain I felt. The landscape of my life got uglier, I drank more, I hated myself more.

When I quit drinking and then eventually started practicing gratitude, I discovered a wonderful world that had been hidden from my view. I didn't go to different places on the planet, I went to different places in my mind. Safer, friendlier places. I got a new pair of glasses, thanks to daily recovery from alcoholism and daily gratitude practice. 

What a journey it has become! What amazing discoveries have come into view!