Lessons in Gratitude Day 142

Tonight I am grateful for simple pleasures–I went out to dinner with my daughter. We hung out and talked and I actually had a pretty good meal. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to find something that would taste good and still fulfill my desire to remain aligned with some of the food choices I’d made during the nutritional cleanse I completed last month. So it was great to have a good meal with good company. It was a nice way to end the week.

I am grateful for the week just past–it hasn’t been an easy week, but it’s been a good one. I am learning to ride the mechanical bull that is my life right now. Sometimes I get whipped around, hanging on for dear life and other times I can anticipate which way things are going to swing and can  ride with it. The good news is that even if I lose my grip and go sailing off, I believe I’ll either land on my feet or tuck and roll and pop right up or land against a nice soft cushion. I know, it sounds a bit silly, but I find a bit of periodic fancy helpful in dealing with the blues that still occasionally flavor my days.

I am grateful for good friends and loving family. I am thankful for the growth and maturity I see developing and blossoming in both of my kids. I am grateful for a therapist who helps me see so many important things about myself simply by asking good questions and allowing me to find my way to the answers (we each have our own answers to many of the questions and dilemmas we face; we simply don’t always know how to get at them.) I am thankful that, even though I am not living as comfortably financially as I have in the past (and as I would like to in the future) and though I currently have financial challenges, I nonetheless have my basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation met.

I am asking myself questions and pondering what I want to do with my life. I have been frustrated with my lack of clarity and sense of uncertainty about my future, yet I know that I simply haven’t asked myself (or answered) the right questions or sat still long enough to hear the answers. God grant me the wisdom and patience to do both.

© M. T. Chamblee, 2011.