“The more stressful, dangerous, baffling or unpleasant your situation, the more important it is to laugh at it”
~Martha Beck, Life Coach and Writer
I like Martha a lot. I am currently reading her most recent book, “Finding Your Way in a Wild World.” I’ve been trying to laugh at my situation, but at the moment I can’t seem to muster even a chuckle. I’m working on a smile. I am grateful tonight, once again, for perseverance. I honestly don’t know sometimes what it is inside of me that keeps me putting one foot in front of the other, doing the best I can, and making it through a day. But, tah-dah! I did it again. Although I confess I resonate with the expression, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.” It feels sometimes like I’m in some sort of weird time-space warp in which no matter how far I seem to walk forward, what I’m walking toward gets farther away. This is an interesting if alarming notion, so thank goodness I’m not actually in this time warp. I mean, that’s impossible, right?
I’m not going to write much tonight. The needle on the gratitude-o-meter is in the red zone. The “check engine” or out of gas indicator light on my dashboard has lit up. My cup that could’ve runneth over has sprung a leak. You get the picture. (I guess I still have some sense of humor. That’s something to be grateful for.) I will probably never have a day when I can’t find something to be grateful for. But there might be days when I don’t feel like looking. I thought today was one of those days, but I’ve managed to find the energy to find the things I am grateful for this evening.
But wait, here’s one. On his way out to spend time with friends this evening my son came into my room and gave me a hug and told me he loved me. He told me about a friend of his whose mother was killed when he was a young man and whose life had never been the same. “So hug your mother every day,” this friend had admonished. Jared had already been pretty good about doing that even before hearing his friend’s story, and I am grateful for that. I can’t recall that my son has ever been weird or embarrassed about hugging me, even in public. I do not take that for granted. I know women whose sons barely acknowledge them, let alone hug them and tell them how much they’re loved. There are a lot of things in my life right now that are difficult and managing to get through each day with some semblance of equanimity and grace takes about all the energy I have. But I know my children love me because they tell me so. I don’t have to guess or wonder or read minds or get channeled messages. They tell me. I am grateful for that.
What are you grateful for this evening?
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