Habitual Gratitude

Living gratefully today, I appreciate sleeping in, the birds singing, and playful squirrels. I love how the outdoors is teeming with life in late spring.  I offer sincere thanks and remembrance to those who have died serving our country, and I bring to my mind's eye my father's grave, decorated with loving reminders of his life. I bring to my heart, my sister Mary Jo.  I have always had reverence for cemeteries and what they signify, and today find them more interesting than anything. Like many things from my Catholic upbringing though, I have more appreciation now than I did growing up.  That goes for the sign of the cross too.  My husband Darcy, a deacon in the Episcopal Church, just gave a sermon for Trinity Sunday. In it he spoke about the Catholics in his hometown using the sign of the cross, but not his family's church (German Reformed) and many others in the area. I had never even thought about that.  The sign of the cross is an integral part of the Episc...

Today I am grateful for the plethora of colors before my eyes as I sit on our patio and look at flowers in bloom and the various greenery that is keeping company with the blossoms. I am also grateful for recovery connections that matter. A few of us, a general mix of recovering alcoholics and addicts, were talking about love the other day. Such a topic can go in many directions, and it did, but they were all beautiful. People who have known deep self-hatred and self-loathing in their active addictions go on a journey of self-acceptance when they decide to get sober.  And isn’t acceptance really about love? Loving ourselves as we are when we arrive in recovery—flawed, imperfect, full of remorse and feelings of unworthiness. If I couldn’t find some acceptance and forgiveness, it’s likely I would pick up a drink again. There are many places unconditional love is evident and felt, and one of those is anywhere people seeking recovery are gathered. It is one of the many blessings that ha...

Living gratefully today, I appreciate an extra day off and the long weekend ahead. I give thanks for recliner time with my husband Darcy.  The cyclical nature of a school year is something I am familiar with after 33 years of traditional August to May/June calendars. The energy shifts and changes in various ways as the year goes on. But this, this year #33, has been like none other.  My school has been in session in person all but six days. That has been so good in so many ways, and none of us could have known this when we started the year with plenty of uncertainty and trepidation. I am drained beyond drained. Tapped out. Limping to the the finish line. From the daily masking to the increased mental health concerns that came our way, from the quarantined students to the Zoom meetings, we kept plugging along. So this extra day off to start the Memorial Day weekend is most welcome. These words from one of my favorite writers are also most welcome: Guard well your spare moments....

Today I am grateful for this morning's cool breeze and colorful sunrise. I appreciate the opportunities that are in the day ahead.  Yesterday at the end of the school day, I joined others in a prayer service to commemorate the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder. It had turned into a windy day, and was still very warm and humid, as it has been for a few days,  As we held sacred silence for a few moments, I looked down and noticed the changing shadows and tree "helicopters" blowing across the concrete under my feet. This song, the Scorpion's "Wind of Change" came to mind:  It seemed fitting in many ways. The worst of the pandemic may be behind us. Efforts to bring real solutions to racial injustice seem possible. The wind beckoned the cooler weather now here.  This song is actually about the fall of the Soviet Union, and was written after the group performed in Moscow in August of 1989, among several Western heavy metal acts that were the first to p...

Today I am grateful for comfortable shorts, our dog Oliver, and the humidity that soothes my winter skin. It's helpful to find gratitude in humidity, taking the edge off of the discomfort it also brings me.  Here is a recent "Word for the Day" at www.gratefulness.org: Gratitude is the confidence in life itself. In it, we feel how the same force  that pushes grass through cracks in the sidewalk invigorates our own life. (Jack Kornfield)  It is a nice turn to think of sidewalk cracks as an amazing act of nature, rather than something that might trip me up. Maybe I should consider myself in this same way more often. I am amazing and beautiful in this body, aging flaws and scars and all. Breathing, walking, digesting, stretching and so much more. Unreasonable expectations and unwarranted resentments are what trip me up.  It is my mind that puts up obstacles and spins tales of woe and self-pity. Living gratefully helps me better see where I am and where I am going. That k...

Today I am grateful for celebrations and new places to see. Yesterday brought both. My friend and colleague Judy was one of several educators to receive awards at the 2021 WEM Foundation Outstanding Educator Awards event yesterday. I was fortunate to be in attendance to see her and the others receive their awards, and to also listen to their heartfelt words.  Judy received the "Ethics in Education Award" which is described as "recognizing exemplary educators who embody ethical behavior and promote ethical development for students through classroom or school activities, policies or curriculum." Working with Judy for 21 years now, I know she is a most deserving recipient.  Her content area is Social Studies, and she brings a wealth of personal inspiration and professional experience and expertise to her classroom each day. More importantly, she brings her big heart, love for her students and learning, and a sense of humor.  One of the guests joining us yesterday was J...

Today I am grateful to give trust to others who are helpers in my life. I also appreciate the help that regular meditation time has become. Today is World Meditation Day 2021. I only learned that when I went into the meditation app I use:  Insight Timer . If you have never considered meditation as a practice for yourself, or you have found it difficult to make it a regular routine, I can relate. Maybe today, or a day coming up soon, you will delve into it a little further and give it a try.  (from: momtrends.com ) Like any exercise I do, which my physical self give thanks for, any meditation I do leaves my mental and emotional self feeling more calm. And they all contribute to my overall wellness. Exercise helps my mental and emotional state. Meditation helps my physical and spiritual presence. If you are tired of "World day for this . . . " or "Awareness month for that . . . , " I experience that frustration too. Why do we need all these days and months for stuff t...