Gratitude Challenge -- Day 31

I can't say it any better myself...

 

What if today, we were just grateful for everything?

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 30

My Daughters, Kathy and Jennifer.  Beautiful.  Creative.  Generous.  Amazing women.  Far surpassing their parents' contributed genes.  I stand aside and see them as individuals who are separate from me.  Distinctly themselves.  On their own journeys.  My greatest joy is in observation.

On Children

by Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday,  

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 29

1.  My years in Kenya. I have wonderful memories of the country and the people.  However, most significant is what Kenya taught me.   I spent much of my time advocating for my students.  The progression of that experience--I learned to advocate for myself.  Kenya enabled me to rediscover what I'd lost many years before.  My voice.  My inner self.  From then on...

 I found an inner strength to fight for myself. It was clear that nobody else would.
                                ― Tehmina Durrani

2.  Trick or Treat Children.  Halloween isn't at the top of my list of favorite holidays.  Prior to the first little ones coming to my door, I place a child's gate across the opening.  That way, since Gilly believes that every knock or ringing of the doorbell is a personal visit for him, the gate corrals him.  Then, while he greets, I hand out candy.  If the holiday isn't my favorite, it certainly is his!

Dogs love company. They place it first in their short list of needs.

                     --- J.R. Ackerley

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 28

1.  Guy--as in male--friends.  You know, the kind you can meet for coffee.  No romantic attachment--or even interest.  In most cases, these fellows have wives with whom I'm also friends.  But the guy relationship adds a dimension to my life that I appreciate. 

Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. 

Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.
                                                                 ― Elie Wiesel  

2.  Journals.  I have years of them!  They record my activities, thoughts, mistakes, craziness, sadness, and joy.  I can't remember when writing didn't clear away head-debris to enable me to see more clearly.   Occasionally rereading one is an excellent habit for observing one's grown...or not.

To me, reading through old letters and journals is like treasure hunting. Somewhere in those faded, handwritten lines there is a story that has been packed away in a dusty old box for years.
                                                                          ― Sara Sheridan   

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 27

1.  The little voice inside me.  Religious and cultural traditions all have words to describe that sometimes murmur, sometimes shout.  It brings wisdom and sound judgment.  For many years I resisted the voice.  Then finally in adulthood I realized I could trust my own intuition.  

At times you have to leave the city of your comfort 

and go into the wilderness of your intuition. 

What you'll discover will be wonderful. 

What you'll discover is yourself.”
                                     ― Alan Alda

2.  Friends of many years.  I am Facebook friends with a few people I knew in grade school.  I've stayed in touch with several high school classmates over the years.  In some cases our current lives don't intersect on a regular basis, but there is a depth, which history creates, that makes us family.  

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, 

but of respect and joy in each other's life. 

Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.
                                          ― Richard Bach 

Gratitude Journal -- Day 26

1.  Shopping AFTER a holiday.  Wow!  What opportunity!  Retailers aren't crazy to see me coming--except that I do help clear out inventory. But what a great feeling to come home knowing I've saved money--and on just a few occasions purchased items that I have no use for whatsoever...but they were sooo cheap!

Buying something on sale is a very special feeling.  

In fact, the less I pay for something, the more it is worth to me.  

I have a dress that I paid so little for that I am afraid to wear it.  

I could spill something on it, 

and then how would I replace it for that amount of money?  

                                  --- Rita Rudner

2.  The Value of Integrity.  I love the word itself.  It doesn't imply perfection.  It is not rule-based.   Values come from a deeper level of the human psyche and encompass a broader perspective.  In looking at integrity, I must ask myself if I am living honestly, with principle, and with virtue and trustworthiness.  

Lead your life so you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip. 
                                     ― Will Rogers

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 25

1.  Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  What was once thought by police and others to be "a domestic situation to stay away from" is now seen for what it really is:  A crime against all humanity--because domestic violence touches all levels of society!  Every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten.  Yesterday I marched in a parade through downtown Medford to bring awareness to this criminal act--domestic violence counselors, police, judges and survivors spoke of the need to hold perpetrators accountable.  I am truly grateful to be a part of a community that cares for all its citizens.

Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, 

but, above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.”
                               ― Yehuda Bauer

 2.  Chinook winds.  I love those warm breezes after the cold has kept my muscles cramped together for survival.   Renewing.  Refreshing.  Rejuvenating.

While sleeping in a hammock, with the touch of a warm wind

we remember why we are in love with life!

                         --- Mehmet Murat Ildan