gratitude...

I know I have much to be grateful for.  A couple of years ago some girlfriends and I started a daily gratitude list.  I get emails nearly every morning of my friends' gratitudes.  These messages range from the simple to the complex from the mundane to the extraordinary.  The idea behind this email list is that by finding something in our life we are grateful for we begin to concentrate on the good and uplifting things in our world. And it does work.  Once you start naming the things you are thankful for you think thankfully.

But, finding gratitude can be a funny little thing, I have found.  On certain days it seems aloof to my senses.  I find the things I think to be grateful for as trivial and trite and not worth naming.  "Of course I'm grateful for my bed," I think.  Why even write something so obvious?  Other days my mind draws a complete blank and I can't seem to think of one thing.

I am not so very sure about my attitude on days when I feel this way.  I can't say for certain that I am less happy these days, more prone to stress or anxiety or feel more overwhelmed than any other day.  But, what I do know is that the more I work to find and note something I am grateful for, the more evident the things I am grateful for become.  And this makes me happy.  A working gratitude keeps me in the moment and stops me from thinking about the past or worrying about the future.  It settles me inside.

Today I am grateful for the gorgeous produce I picked up at the grocery store.  Baby french carrots, locally grown cherry tomatoes, fresh arugula, squash and zucchini.  I am grateful for the ability to buy this food for my family.  To cook healthy and satisfying meals.

I am also grateful for the newly planted Silverado Sage that is bursting into blooms in front of Paul's studio.  I took a quick picture of it this morning and it doesn't even do it justice.   It is so beautiful.

Have a wonderful day!

gratefully,
steph