I love my life!

Thanksgiving - Day of Gratitude

May
every day
be
Thanksgiving.




Thanksgiving is a time when many families gather in gratitude, and sometimes in prayer.  Composed around the turn of the twentieth century, Walter Rauschenbusch, the theologian and Baptist social reformer’s words remain as beautiful and poignant today as they did a hundred years ago.

Thanksgiving Day Prayer
by Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918)

For the wide sky and the blessed sun,
For the salt sea and the running water,
For the everlasting hills
And the never-resting winds,
For trees and the common grass underfoot.
We thank you for our senses
By which we hear the songs of birds,
And see the splendor of the summer fields,
And taste of the autumn fruits,
And rejoice in the feel of the snow,
And smell the breath of the spring.
Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty;
And save our souls from being so blind
That we pass unseeing
When even the common thorn bush
Is aflame with your glory,
O God our creator,
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

The following is from a segment on one of my favorite radio programs called “On Being”, hosted by Krista Tippett.  She is an angel.  Check it out at http://being.publicradio.org/

Abundance

I am grateful for everything. If I am not grateful for what I have, why would I expect the Universe to give me more.

Life is enough...

Today I went windsurfing at Eckerd College.  It might have been over 15 years since I had been windsurfing.  The water was nice and cool and the wind was light - and I was alive.  I remember my days in college at Eckerd as if they were truly yesterday and I remember my life up until that point - life is enough.  Simple to be alive is all I need today. 

Attitude of Gratitude

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread.  They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances..." - Victor Frankl

Today, I had to run around and get documents for my application for the Certified Addiction Specialist certification and I met with my former probation officer, one of the best people I have met in Orlando, and I met with the director of Crossroads Treatment Center, again a truly wonderful person.  Both women gave me encouragement and cared about me because they know that I care about others...I try to be the one giving away my bread...but today, I am hungry.I have given it all away.

I am grateful for so, so many things, but today I am grateful that I know this is just a day, just one day.

Being Grateful

Be thankful for what you have; you will end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough - Oprah Winfrey.

If a fellow is not thankful for what he's got, he is not likely to be thankful for what he's going to get - Frank A. Clark.

To live a life of gratitude is to open our eyes to the countless ways in which we are supported by the world around us. Such a life provides less space for our suffering because our attention is more balanced. We are more often occupied with noticing what we are given, thanking those who have helped us, and repaying the world in some concrete way for what we are receiving. - Greg Krech.

The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; bu the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings. - Henry Ward Beecher.