GRATITUDE

FRIENDS Since 2006, I have met people from all over the world. We have come together in various seminars and classes. Most I may never see again. No matter. Each one shared a moment in time in a seminal point of my life. For their participation, their input, their presence, their place on the path of this journey, I am grateful.

There is a group of friends – I call them my ‘old friends’ – who were a part of my life while I was married. Often, after a divorce, relationships fall by the wayside. It is not a lack of caring. I’m not sure what to call it, but often the time spent together becomes less and less. In part, I have been reluctant to extend an invitation to them to be with me…foolish on my part, for friendship should be a two-way street. These friends won’t give up on me! They are dear souls who continue to seek me out, include me, love me. I am grateful!

Then there are my high school friends, with whom I have reconnected in the past two years. Thank you, Vicki, for that call out of the blue…angels are everywhere! After so many years of distance, I was amazed at how comfortable and comforting it was to be with these characters. I am grateful for this presence in my life.

PARENTS I’m not sure I could say my parents are the ones I think I deserved, but they gave me life.

My mom and my biological father gave me genetics that seem to be able to withstand the ravages of time and a certain amount of abuse. I feel so lucky to be healthy, strong, able to workout as I do, walk and hike, with no end in sight.

My step-father gave me a comfortable home, my first look at the night sky, love, a lesson in how to watch a baseball game and track the box scores, a college education. If only his attempts to teach me geology had been as successful as all the other lessons.

I always joked that my “real” parents, the King and Queen, were looking for me to bring me back to the castle. What I have learned is that my parents were the ones I needed in order to learn the lessons this life is designed to teach me. They may not be the parents I think I deserve: they are the parents I chose and for that I am grateful.

RESILIENCE I have called myself a chameleon in the sense that, living the nomadic life of my childhood, I was always being plopped down into an environment and having to adjust on the fly…having to size things up quickly in order to determine what I needed to do in order to fit in where I found myself.

I even drew an “I Am” mandala in a C.H.E.K. PPS workshop that symbolized my life as that chameleon. At the time, I am not sure I viewed that characteristic as a positive.

What I have come to realize is that I have the ability to continually rebound or spring back from anything. I don’t get down for long. I always seem to have hope. I have been told that I have continually reinvented myself. This is a good thing! Constantly putting one foot in front of the other, striving to be the best I am capable of being (even if I am not always sure what that is!), growing with each life experience. This resiliency is something for which I am very grateful!

HUMOR I crack myself up!

Honestly, I have such an irreverent sense of humor, a delight in the absurd, an exuberant appreciation of the delicious ironies of life that I will always be able to have a happy heart. This has only grown with age. The gratitude I have for this aspect of my personality is immeasurable.

TEACHERS I have had the extreme good fortune to study with, learn from, some eccentric geniuses.

There are also many unlikely looking angels and archangels in my life that have been an updraft: have supported me, taught me, cared for me, loved me, been patient with me, challenged me, frustrated me, believed in me. These men and women are carried so deep in my heart…words of thanks pale in comparison to your value to me.

FAMILY By this, I mean the one I created.

My former husband gave me security and stability. He fathered our wonderful daughter. He exposed me to fabulous experiences all over the world. When I chose to leave, he let me go with as much grace as was possible. He is a friend.

Having a child has made me a better person. There is a love like no other for a baby turned wise woman that you have carried inside you and given birth to. Thank you, dear girl, for the gift you have given me, for the relationship we continue to grow.

I am grateful to you both and for you.

I am grateful for the work I do in the place my partner and I have created. I am grateful for the morning when I get to sleep in and dawdle over the crossword puzzle and a second cup of organic coffee. I am grateful for peace and quiet in my life. I am grateful for my willingness to experience life…a dear friend told me once that pain is a given, but suffering is a choice. I am grateful that I still want to love, no matter the risk. I am grateful for the blue of an autumn sky in Texas. I am grateful for the things posted by my Facebook friends! I am grateful for the color purple…doesn’t it go with everything?

So, on this Thanksgivng Day, I thank the Universe.