Day Fourteen -- Gratitude

It would appear that my efforts at discipline in regards to blogging fell woefully short yesterday. My deepest apologies, dear friends--I will do better in the future.

I had thought of doing two separate posts today to make up for it, but it seemed somewhat silly to me. My thought for today's post was to post a list of five things that I am grateful for in my life--a good thing to remind oneself of from time to time, aye? So, my penance for not posting yesterday will be to do a list of ten rather than a list of five.

Aren't you lucky?

In no particular order, here is a list of ten things I'm grateful for in my life:

• My job. If you've spent any time around me you know that there are days (and weeks, and months) where I complain bitterly about my particular job. However, at the end of the day I am grateful that I do have a way to earn a living and keep a roof over my head and food in my freezer. Also, I would go insane if I did not have something to occupy my time.

• My family. I have witnessed far too many families wherein there is hatred and strife between children and parents, or brothers and sisters, or mothers and fathers. While there have been times when my family and I have not seen eye to eye, for the greater part they have ever supported me in my endeavors, and I have never once doubted their love for me. That is a rare and wonderful gift. Also, I am grateful that somehow my mother and I survived my teen years. I was, to put it mildly, a royal pain in the ass. (And yes, I am continually haunted by my parents' curse that I have a child just like myself.)

• Oreo Cookies. Where did it say that all the items on this list had to be deep? I am very grateful for the invention of Oreo Cookies and the guy or gal who had the original idea of dunking them into milk. That person was a genius to put Einstein to shame. Or Da Vinci. Or... well, you get the point.

• My husband. It is said that it is not good for man to be alone. It is equally true that it is not good for woman to be alone. Every morning I wake I am continually amazed at the joy and comfort Sam brings to me, and I do not know how it is I ever got by without him there. It would appear that Will was right--I did eventually settle down and marry.

• Theatre. If those silly Greeks hadn't decided to act things out for their religious purposes, my life would have taken a distinctly different turn. In fact, I would probably have ended up either a journalist (horror of horrors) or a politician (and yes, I would have been amongst the first killed when the revolution comes).

• Rockband. This game has reminded me the love I have and the joy I take from music, whether it's listening to it, singing, or pretending I have a sense of rhythm and playing the drums. I have always been happier when music is incorporated into my life. Probably one of the reasons why it's a good thing I married Sam!

• My friends. "A strand of three cords is not easily broken." Praise God that my strand is made up of many more cords than three. I have never excelled at telling people how much I love and appreciate them, but let there be no doubt whatsoever that my life is deepened and enriched by the people in it, particularly Sherri, Brad, Regina, Eric, Philip, Kelly, Will, Kim, Travis, Daylene, Alicia, and dozens more that my horrid mind is blanking on. I love you all.

• My kitties. Purportedly there are studies which show that pets lengthen lives and give people a better quality of life. They obviously never lived with Nala. (No, I really don't mean that. It just wrote itself. Really.) There were days when the only reason I got out of bed was because I knew a) the cats needed fed and b) the litter-box needed cleansed.

• Language. I know it seems like something totally random to be thankful for, but I really am glad that language exists. Even as a small child I took delight in things that had to with language--reading, writing, spelling, speaking, the way words interact and the ideas conjured--all of it. In particular I have fond memories of a Speak-And-Spell that my parents gave to me as a little girl. I was still playing with it when I was ten years old. If I knew where it was, I'd still be playing with it at age twenty-five.
  

• God. This one is obvious and shouldn't even need a statement, but it's there. Without God there would truly be no joy in my life, and I likely would have given up, curled up, and died a long time ago. All glory and honor goes to Him, and everything on this list for which I am grateful is a direct gift from Him. All I need do is look at this list and remember His unending love for all of us.

And there you have it! Ten things for which I am very grateful for. Go forth this day and think of ten different things you're grateful for!


"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."
--Melodie Beattie