Dis-

Today I am grateful for our coffee pot and what it delivers for my morning routine. I am also grateful for the bright and mild sunshine I had time to take a walk in after work yesterday afternoon.

As I drove home from work before I took that walk,  I realized I was feeling discouraged, disillusioned, disheartened. I am guessing you all have days like that too, related to work or other areas of your life. They aren't fun, and they are draining. My job will leave me feeling this way more often than I prefer, but I also always have a choice.

I can choose what I take on and what I let go of in terms of thoughts and emotions. I can remain rational and reasonable and remember what is my part and what is not. I can return to my priorities--family, friends, recovery/faith, running, writing.

And interwoven in all of those priorities is a sense of gratefulness. Living gratefully takes practice, takes daily habits. I am very well aware that my years of practice pay dividends back on days like the one I had yesterday. It motivates me to continue the practice and the daily actions.

Back to that job. It is important to me. I do want to be effective. When I can step back from the harried pace, I can return to gratefulness. With gratefulness comes renewed energy.

And with renewed energy, I can face a new day. That's all I need to get started.

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