Gratitude Month: November

Well, last month taught me a lot.

Truthfully, it is easier to see the bad instead of the good some days. I have had to train my eyes to see the things to be thankful for, the things that are beautiful, those things that are sometimes hard to see through the muck of the world.

Looking back at the month I realize one resounding truth: my life is good. There are many things that I wish were true about my current existence that are not. I wish I owned a house. I wish our financial situation was different. I wish I had babies and a garden. To that end, I wish I had chickens and eggs and life in the middle of nowhere. But I don't have that life, not right now. Sometimes it is easier to see the things that aren't instead of the things that are. Sometimes it is easier to see all these things that I desperately want to happen instead of all of the wonderful things already happening right now all the time.

The not yet will come, as it always does. Someday all of those previous things will happen and when they do life will be joyful.

Here's the thing, though, my life is joyful right now. My life is full of blessings, full of grace, full of love. Sometimes I refuse or decide not to see it, but the truth is my life and by default our life, is really quite wonderful.

I have a home to live in with plenty of space for entertaining or living. I have a sewing room devoted to my craft. I have a husband who is worth more than all the gold and jewels in the universe. There are loving family members on both sides looking out for us, rooting for us, there if we need them. I have a few friends close by and a wide net of friends far away. There is food to eat and clean water to drink. There is warmth from a heat source and the finances to pay for it.

In short, there is love. What else is there, really? How can I not be exceedingly grateful?

My month went well. Here's to a life as filled with gratitude as I can make it.