I Am Grateful For…

The things we're grateful for come into us and then leave us, like lights shining for others.

As we move into true autumn weather in mid-North Carolina, I’m aware of how blessed and full my life has become. While I’ve had my struggles and low points in life, their memory magnifies the joy and peace I’m learning to accept as a natural way of living. My job is one I love, both the actual work and the people who surround me each day. I work hard beginning this time of year, and it won’t end until February. But again, I love the work. Summers have become sweeter as I’ve learned to enjoy the slow time and use it for fun, personal connection with family, friends, and with my deeper self.

I’m astounded that Matt and I have the relationship we do. We’ve worked hard (that word again) to get to this place, but neither of us regret the time we took to work through the past obstacles life and our own stubbornness placed before us.

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I am so incredibly grateful for my morning hours and a supportive partner who gives me that time to myself. Matt gets up with me at the crack of dawn, although he’s not a morning person. I settle into my meditation chair with a comfy blanket, a heated neck wrap, my journal, and a cool fountain pen…while Matt feeds the dogs and makes me tasty french-pressed coffee that he delivers to my side table fixed exactly how I like it. There are evenings when I can’t wait to wake up and take that first sip of coffee. It’s that perfect for me.

Our lives will always have those irritants that want us to choose their importance over what matters most in our hearts. Some days I fall for their wily shouts and cries of inequity. As I grow in love for all that is, I’m able to overlook that noise more than I could even last spring and hold close to me what truly is my chosen—the beauty in all that surrounds us.

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