Gratitude

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a
home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace
for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
~ Melodie Beatie

Today, in the midst of a house that looks like four separate hurricanes blew through, as I work on two small freelance jobs, two papers for school, back to school night, and the finalization of my divorce this week, I am still grateful. Oh, yeah, and paying bills, feeding the girls, trying to catch up on laundry, and making sure we all bathe on a semi-regular basis, in spite of all of that, or maybe because of all of that, I am still grateful.

I have the money to pay my bills. I have food to feed my girls, I have hot water for showers. I have a house to live in, on a beautiful farm that we all love. I have schools that are wonderful for my girls, in spite of one daughter’s teacher quitting in the second week of school. I am in school, with funding to be able to make it through the year, and I’m enjoying my classes even more than I hoped! I have some work to enhance my meager income. I have my three fireballs of energy and wonder who, yes, wreak havoc through the house and are still learning to help keep it in order, make my life joyous day after day after day. And I have a life full of friends and full living, after years of quiet misery.

There is indeed much to be grateful for this morning. The singing of the birds outside my office as the sun rises. The pride of my eldest daughter as she reports that she successfully rappelled on her challenge course yesterday (the same daughter who has a crippling fear of heights – or used to, anyway!) The majestic beauty of the geese as they rise to wing their way south. The warmth of the cat laying in my lap, warming me on a brisk fall morning. The love of friends who give me essential oil treatments when I’m sick and give me work when I need it. The love of other friends who support me when I am sad, sending me virtual hugs and love and btdt survival strategies.

I am indeed grateful this morning.