Intention

I have to say, it was a bit challenging celebrating a day of thankfulness this year.

A couple of years ago, people started posting what they were thankful for every day in November.  I really loved reading those.  But then I noticed the negativity set in when others would post, “we should be grateful every day, not just in November.”   Were they really getting upset over someone else’s gratitude?  I think those people missed the point of the exercise. 

There is power in words.  And there is power in being grateful.  On purpose.  Even when the world seems to suck at times.

Gratitude can change perspective.  Gratitude heals.

So here are some things that I am grateful for…right now.  Because I need this right now.  I need to be intentional with my gratitude.

· My oldest sister visited over Thanksgiving and cleaned the worst baking pan known to mankind.

· I found amusement in watching my stick-thin niece get creative with her many helpings of Thanksgiving dinner.  An open faced turkey, gravy and mashed potato sandwich.  Genius.

· I finally got to watch the second Hobbit movie.  In my pajamas.

· I was more active this weekend then I have been in weeks.  Hiking, biking and “yoga.”  Quotes are necessary if you would have seen my moves.

· Although going back to work after a long weekend was difficult, I was grateful to return to a job that I love.  And I am grateful for the memory of when I found out I got this job. My mom was in the grocery store parking lot with me, and we got to share that special moment.

· And I’m grateful that in a moment of intense grief, when I silently wondered how I could ever return to this work and listen to other people’s pain, that an old friend of my mom’s told me that I was doing the work I was meant to do.  And she couldn’t have possibly known how much I wanted to run away from this work…and how much I needed her to tell me to stay.

How does that happen?  How does it go from movies in my pajamas to serious?  This grief thing has a mind of its own.

Certainly this list doesn’t capture everything.

But the point isn’t to capture everything.

This is about the power of gratitude.  The power of saying that despite life being hard, there is still good in the world.  This is about hope.