Things to be Grateful for:

Recently I have been grateful for the oddest things:

Slogging my own Christmas tree across a field of calf-deep, crusty, wet snow.

Making 11 trips up and down the stairs of the local food bank with boxes of canned goods.

Doing my own vacuuming.  Yes, it took over a week of procrastination (some things never change), but I did it myself!

I cannot tell you how grateful I am to be grateful for these ordinary gifts of a life without debilitating symptoms.  I feel afresh for all those who are not free of such suffering.

We are such delicate creatures, really.  Our health and well-being depend on so many, many elements being in balance-- both within our own bodies, minds and spirits, and beyond that in the wide world of chance, or luck, or fate, or karma, as you will--  and we humans wildly over estimate our control over most of these things.

Here's my discovery about that:  When I relinquish control over those things over which I never had any control in the first place, I feel a rush of liberation, and immediately on its heels, a flood of gratitude.

To be able to do one's own vacuuming-- what a gift!

In the spirit of the season, I wish for you, my friends, all the gifts of health.  Even more precious,  I wish you the gift of appreciating everything you have.