Habitual Gratitude

Precarious or Perseverant? balancing act  day in and day out  teetering on the brink of collapse? or surrendering self  trusting Nature  going about the rich tasks and joys of life? 11/5/21 LV The picture inspired the poem. My life experience influences the composing and the deeper meaning.   My friend and colleague Judy and I were taking a walk near our school yesterday afternoon to break up a longer work day. It was a pleasant afternoon and we appreciated the fresh air and conversation. This tree limb hanging from utility wires caught my eye. It looks rather unstable hanging there, but is it? Does it care or is it just enjoying the opportunity? It let Nature take it where it would.  On the days I feel unstable, I have usually contributed to my state of mind and heart. Do I care too much about too many things when I get to this point?  Probably. Only when I surrender can I feel free, even if I am still fragile. Life is precious and fragile and so...

Living gratefully today, I appreciate the human brain and the incredible things it does each moment of our lives.  On a run late yesterday afternoon, I was applying mindful attention to the act of running. I have run thousands of miles on automatic pilot. Tuning into my natural surroundings. Absorbed in thoughts I was trying to work through. Adding up the miles and checking pace for training runs.  I am always grateful for the physical ability to run, but it hasn't been that often when I have considered how amazing it is that I can run, that my arms and legs don't need to actually be told what to do once we get started on our runs together, unless I am telling myself to slow down or speed up. I don't need to tell my arms to pump and my legs to stride. I just start running. How tedious it would be if every stride had to be directed.  I don't need to tell my ears to hear or my nose to smell, they just do.  It got me thinking about many other things I don't need to do ...

  “You can’t love God and hate your neighbor.”  My husband Darcy gave the sermon at church on Sunday. He included the words above from presiding bishop Michael Curry of the Episcopal Church. They are words we could all take to heart. I don't know about you, but I have room for improvement. Our communities, states, countries and world need more love, less hate.  Louder love. Quieter hate. It would be a good start anyway.  Some of the other terms besides God that I use to refer to Higher Power are: Universe, Friend, Great Spirit, and thanks to Glennon Doyle's book Untamed  I have now added Knowing. It is helpful to me to use these all-encompassing terms because it helps me better connect to my own faith.  These titles emanate compassion and openness. A Higher Power that brings comfort, hope, focused energy are what I know I need. What about you?  “May I see God everywhere and in everyone.” These are words from a meditation prayer my sister shared with me...

Living gratefully today, I appreciate my recovery friends and the laughter we share. Drunken laughter was fleeting. Recovery laughter lingers and touches our hearts.  Fleeting. Each moment is fleeting. It comes and goes, often unnoticed. That moment is gone, and the person we were in that moment is also gone. We are really in a constant state of change. It may often be subtle, but then there are the moments and days that bring sudden shifts. Both the subtle and the sudden transform us in truly remarkable ways. Maybe through pain. Maybe through deep joy. Maybe both.  Nature is also always dynamic. The seasons are a wonderful example of this. My favorite stretch of trail to run, walk, and bike is in part my favorite because I experience it a little bit differently each time I travel it. Sunlight or clouds, early or late in the day, spring or fall; the awe-inspiring scene in front of me is always new, fresh in that moment.  I will miss the rich greens and full foliage of sum...

Today I am grateful for: 1. comfortable shoes 2. a cozy blanket on a chilly morning 3. the inquisitive nature of our grandsons 4. hugs shared with loved ones 5. lamplight and the electricity that powers it 6. the play of light, shadows, and a brisk breeze 7. clean water to drink 8. commitment to mindfulness meditation time each day 9. the benefits coming from this commitment  10. chocolate  11. reasonable parents  12. our dog Oliver curled up and sleeping  13. the smell of coffee before and after it is brewed 14. those who helped get coffee to me to brew 15. the road workers doing construction in our area 16. laughter and smiles  17. a willingness to be quiet, wrong, awed  18. the various sounds wind creates 19. morning air, sky, quiet 20. connecting to Nature, Higher Power 21. ease of mind, peace of mind There is simplicity in a gratitude list, and also an expansive energy. For something different, I set my timer for three minutes and wrote a few things on...

Living gratefully today, I appreciate the predictable morning sounds of coffee brewing and our dog Oliver eating.  This was the "Word for the Day" last Friday, October 22: “Behold this day, for it is yours to make.”    Black Elk The day before, I came across a similar thought-provoking quote on this bench.  It is on the campus of Augustana University in Sioux Falls, my husband Darcy’s alma mater. We took a stroll there on a beautiful fall day.    “However great your fortune you cannot buy one day.  So live your life remembering you are not here to stay.” A total of nine words in the first quote and twenty in the second. A total of 24 hours in a day, 1,440 minutes, and 86,400 seconds. How will I spend mine today? How will you spend yours?   Take a few pauses and take in the gifts that surround you and spring forth from within you. Smile. Laugh. Cry. Share. Have a good day! 

Today I am grateful for family time, safe travels, fall colors. And for being a runner.  As I was running yesterday morning on a wooded trail, one of my favorite routes close to our house, I noticed movement up ahead. A little mouse came into focus and it seemed to be running in circles. I slowed to a stop and watched it for a bit. It was aware of my presence I think, but it didn’t dash off.  It continued to skitter around in circles. I started rattling off questions in my brain: is this what mice do when they are scared? Is it looking for home or mom? Is there something wrong with it?  Poor thing.  I took off running again and considered the times I run around in circles—either literally or figuratively. Higher Power or the trees probably look down and ask the same questions…what is she doing? Where is she going? It was a good reminder to me to avoid the figurative and frenetic circling I can be so good at in my head and in the hours of a day. Poor thing. It was an ...