When I sent out my closing post for Gratitude Week, I shared this quote:
What if, today, we were grateful for everything?
~Charlie Brown~
Ah, the wisdom of sweet Charlie Brown. And I know some of you may be shaking your heads, thinking immediately of circumstances in your life – or in the lives of others – that one could not possibly be thankful for. And I get that. I can think of questionable scenarios too.
Is it possible to feel grateful for everything?
I honestly don’t know, and I won’t try to answer that for you or anyone else. But here’s what I do know and feel…
It’s hard to feel grateful for forest fires raging in California. But it’s easy to feel gratitude for all the people working to save the people and the forests, to see the communities that gather to support one another.
It’s hard to feel grateful for gun violence. But it’s easy to feel gratitude for the people working hard to make a change. (here’s an easy way for you to insert your voice)
It’s hard to feel grateful for loved ones suffering chronic health issues, but it’s easy to feel gratitude for the families and friends who gather round, for the health professionals who dedicate their lives to alleviating pain and disease.
These are just a few injustices to illustrate the point that, at surface value, some things won’t seem worthy of our gratitude but that, if we shift the place from which we stand ever so slightly (figuratively, sometimes literally), might offer a softening of the heart. This softening won’t erase anything, but it might make the continued journey – because that is what we do, living here on this Earth, we journey – a wee bit pleasanter. A tad easier to wrap our brains around, if only for a moment.
I’m not asking anyone to be grateful for everything. That’s a pretty tall order. But maybe we can shift the way we understand the interconnectedness of people and things, of life. So that, somewhere down the line, there’s a glimmer, a spark, a recognition….of the good that is ours to embrace.
always the love, m
P.S. Whether you’re celebrating Thanksgiving in the United States, or are having a regular day/week somewhere else in the world, I wish you love and kindness. I wish you strength to shift perspective, as necessary. I wish you grace to rest wherever you are, always.
P.P.S. There’s still time to sign up for Just Five Things…
Michelle GD 