Today I am grateful.
Actually every day I am grateful. I can look back on moments of my life where I struggled to find one thing to be grateful for and now I struggle to find one thing I am not.
But today I am especially grateful for my cousins and my parents who looked after my kids while my husband and I were away. They didn’t just look after them. They made them laugh and enjoyed their company. They fed them with not only food but with things that nourished their beings – loving attention, joyful experiences, and comfort. They love my children. They made them feel safe and secure while we were gone. There is nothing more that I can ever hope for – to witness my children be loved.
While we were away, we stumbled onto Cafe Gratitude on our last day.
It is a beautiful cafe with an amazing workplace culture and philosophy. To order something off the menu, you have to say an affirmation. You start with “I am” and then order the item which could be “blessed” or “magical” or “worthy”, etc. And when your dish is served, the server says, “YOU are blessed” (or magical, or worthy, etc.) And then there is a question of the day.
Our question that day: What are you grateful for?
We have asked our children this question trying to make sure they feel grateful and acknowledge the blessings in their life. We talk about being grateful for family and our home and each other. But often we question if they know.
Do they really know what gratitude means? What does it mean to live that question?
To live IN gratitude. To truly believe in abundance.
I am slowly starting to see the answer as my life unfolds. I see it when the sunset and the sunrise move me to tears. I see it when I greet every ordinary moment as a blessing in and of itself. I see it when I feel joy in all the experiences that life has to offer. I see it when I simply pay attention. I see it when I connect and I am open with others. I see it when I choose to witness what I need to learn in every situation.
Living it is the only way I can teach my children to know what gratitude means – the feeling that everything is ok and that they are loved.
What are you grateful for today?
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100 scribbles…hurriedly writing the here and now.
#100scribbles
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