Today is the first day of one of my favourite months, Thanksgiving month. Which means it’s also time for day 1 of the ‘giving thanks’ challenge: finding something each day to be grateful for. It’s very easy — especially in an election year! — to be depressed. But really? There is SO much to give thanks for.
I’m giving thanks today for the macro: my healthy, happy, human life, as the Dalai Lama says. Do my knees creak & ache non-stop? Yep. But … they work. They get me from place A to place B. Are my former pianist fingers no longer long & slender, but gnarled & twisted as my grandmother’s became? Yep to that one, too. But they can wield pruning shears, measure tea into a strainer, and brush a little boy’s hair after bathtime.
And yes, I wish I could still run, and dance for hours on end. Who doesn’t?? Still, in the grand scheme of things, I’m very very fortunate to be pretty healthy. Which is an amazing gift, and one that I almost never take for granted. As the sister of two breast cancer survivors, I well know that life offers no guarantees. As the daughter of an Alzheimer’s mother, and the grand-niece & granddaughter of several more Alzheimer’s sufferers, I try hard to greet each day w/ the enthusiasm it deserves. Maybe not as fervent at 6:30 a.m., readying for a trip…, but most of the time!
Today, why don’t you begin your own countdown to November 30th? What inspires you to give thanks today? Looking at even the most simple of lives, is there sunlight? Are there late fall monarch butterflies? Share what it is that brings you joy this month!
Tea and Breath 