Attitude of Gratitude -a whole month of Thanksgiving; Day 11

(In place of a photo today: this song, an old favorite of mine) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntExC9aJ0iM

I got sucked down the wormhole of social media today – reading all kinds of articles/blogs about Paris and Beirut and terror and politics and humanism. And some times it’s hard for me to not judge the views that to me seem limited, overly simplistic, too black and white. Today, my practice was feeling compassion all of it. Start with compassion and eventually, figure out where my voice needs to land in it all. In the meantime, I choose to let me life be my voice – there is a place for the vocal activists to shout about the wrongs and speak up for those who have no voice, or lend their voices to those struggling to be heard. I have, so far in my life, never been very good in that role. I can only try and live a life that could be an example for a ‘life well lived’ – with compassion and love and hope that my example (and stumbles) can inspire and guide others.

I am grateful for:

  1. A ‘good’ yoga practice today – steady breath and a body that felt strong and graceful, even when it stumbled or fell out of a pose.
  2. My hands – recently I’ve been really looking at them and, as silly as it sounds, I really like them. They are beautiful, strong, and capable of manifesting awesome things and bringing touch and care to people in my life.
  3. Long phone chats with my parents (when it’s the right time). I am lucky to have parents who are interested in knowing me as a person and encourage me to share what I think about the world and are content to listen to me chatter on as I figure out what I think about things and who I am.
  4. And I’m grateful for better learning my boundaries and reading my own signals – when I am clearer about what I am up for and what time is the right time for me, my relationships are cleaner and my work more effective because I’m not dumping frustration on the tasks and people in front of me that has little to do with them and everything to do with me not giving myself what I need at any given moment.

What are you grateful for today?