Yogis,
Another Thanksgiving is in the books. The week we have set aside as ‘gratitude
week’ is officially over tonight. The leftover turkey has dwindled down to that
final bone holding sad looking bits of meat, the pumpkin pie is slightly dried
out since no one is sealing the plastic wrap down any longer after stolen bites
and the remnants of the green bean casserole sit out in the trash. We all
expressed our gratitude, saw the posts which pulled our heartstrings and heard
the poems. We can now tie a neat bow on top and move on with life. It's a wrap!
Wait a minute. Not so fast……..
It is very gracious, and typical of us to designate a time
for gratitude, but it misses the whole point. Gratitude has no calendar. It also
isn’t something we can think about, as it doesn’t reside in the mind. No,
gratitude is an emotion. An energy that vibrates from the heart and is endless.
Let’s get our gratitude engine started up so we can move into
tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, and the month after
that living in gratitude. A simple practice is one that uses the senses (Mr.
Mind, you can take a rest now).
I am grateful for these things that I can hear….. Grateful for the geese honking overhead and the squawk of the seagulls. Oh, and grateful for the sound of pounding waves. The sound of laughter. Music, the tinkling of windchimes, my breath, the hum of my heater and church bells.
I am grateful for these things that I can smell…….Grateful
for the smell of woodstoves in the night and inhaling the sea air. The smell of
French fries cooking on the boardwalk and even the whiff of dried out pumpkin
pie each time I open the refrigerator. The smell of a new puppy, my lavender
oil, a rose, pine trees in the winter. Thank you, thank you!
I am grateful for these things that I can taste…..Grateful everyday for the first sip of my morning tea latte and blueberries in my yogurt. And who isn’t grateful for the taste of chocolate? What would life be without lemon or garlic or basil or mint or pound cake? Grateful to be given the gift of tasting them all.
I am grateful for these things that I can see…… I am
grateful for the handsome buck carrying his full rack proudly as he greeted us this
morning. The blue of the sky and the waving
seagrass. The red of the maples still in their glory here and the hawk circling
overhead make my heart soar. Flowers! Grateful to see the clouds and the twinkle
in the eyes of the woman we greet as we run by. Grateful for every color because
I can’t imagine a world without yellow.
The engine is beginning to hum…..
Driving through mountains, snowstorms, rumbling thunder, rainbows,
the crackle of the fire……
And once it is warmed up the things to be grateful for become infinite.
Grateful for my fingers which take words from my heart on to paper,
SARAH