I like to think about gratitude as a “state of being”, but I am searching to learn how to keep myself in that “state” throughout the days and weeks. On tennessean.com I found an opinion piece by Bishop Joseph W. Walker III about gratitude. One particular point he made was:
Add up the things in your life that money cannot buy.
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Today is a day of remembrance of the more than 500,000 precious lives lost from the ongoing pandemic in the USA. Let us take a moment of silence to remember each of those individuals as well as their families and friends who have died.
My mother was a poet and one of my favorite of her poems was about death, because it is really not about dying but about life and a future. I share it with you now to give you comfort and peace for your loved ones.
This Is Not Goodbye My Dear
This is not goodbye, my dear,
That body of clay I’ve left it here.
To live in the celestial Heaven above,
Where all is peace and joy and love.
I’ll speak to you through the stars at night.
I’ll glitter and twinkle and you’ll know I’m alright.
I’ll speak to you through those drops of rain.
I’ll speak this way again and again.
I’ll speak to you through the falling snow
I’ll touch you gently and then you’ll know.
That love’s a bond that can’t be broken,
The snow flake, the rain drop, will be our token.
I’ll speak to you through the song of the bird,
In a song, a language like you’ve never heard.
I’ll speak to you through the stormy night,
Through the thunder roar and the streaks of light.
I’ll speak to you through the baby coo.
A message dear, just for you.
I’ll see in your eye that tiny tear,
Remember, my love, I’m really near.
God changed my body to another form,
His way is right have no alarm.
He changed my body from a house of clay,
To a glorified one where I’ll live fore aye.
In that rain, that snow, and those stars in the sky,
I take many forms, but I did not die.
For life’s dimension is unending,
This is not the end,
Just a grand beginning.
© Marian E. Blake
My mother was a minister too and wrote many comforting poems for members in her churches. For other poems to honor and remember your loved ones, please see her poetry below. Peace be with you on this day and always.
Huer, M.B. (2013) A House Inside of Me Poetry by Marian Elsie Blake. Huer LLC, pp. 104-105.
A House Inside of Me is available on Amazon.com
This is #gratitudelite. See the post on February 28, 2021 for definitions of gratitude categories.
This morning on the Today Show they featured a woman who had a second face transplant. Her past boyfriend tossed acid on her and burned her face. A terrible story of domestic abuse surviving for anyone. But, not Carmen Tarleton!
She met the donor family of the second face transplant. It was such a joyful event for all, but what impressed me the most was her joy that now she can wear earrings again. And, she can finally wear glasses because now she has ears!
Be grateful for what you have! If Carmen can be happy, so can you!
This is #gratitudelite. See the post on February 28, 2021 for definitions of gratitude categories.
Interesting story today. I have a wonderful son who lives out of State. Whenever he comes to visit his friends, he comes to visit me too. This morning we greeted our neighbor, sitting on a curb and smoking as he always does, as we walked past him. I said my usual “hello” and we exchanged updates about our neighbors, and then my son said to him, “I am taking my mom for a walk”! It sounded so funny. I guess my son views me sometimes as a pet. I walk my dog. He walks his mom!
I am grateful that my son takes me for a walk!
This is #gratitudezero. See the post on February 28, 2021 for definitions of gratitude categories.
I just watched the movie Nomadland (2020), about a woman living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad, traveling through the American West after she loses everything in a recession. It was an interesting snapshot with persons I have met, especially during this pandemic. It seems that we are all managing our daily joys and problems, as best we can according to our personalities and temperaments.
I love water. I love the ocean, so when I came across an article on the Big Five personality traits from Wikipedia, known as the OCEAN model, I took a closer look. The model identifies five traits:
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Last year I made a YouTube video titled “Through” on my YouTube Channel, Aspiring through healing to health and wellness, and learned the mighty power of one little word “THROUGH“. I had forgotten about that video until this morning when I came across an article titled, “9 Eye-Opening Ways to Expand Your Empathy and Gratitude” by Chris Holder. Hence, I am reminded of the power of words and when attached to images, change is amazingly possible. Through our words and images, especially on social media today, we motivate others to action.
Dr. Holder describes 9 actions we may each choose to keep us in a “State of Grace”. When I got to his number 4, I paused:
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As I examined the wooded setting of Airy the RV in the photo above, I found pleasure in the breaking of dawn through the trees, as well as in the lit underbelly of the coach. Both types of lighting touched my mind’s eye and I asked why? One light protected me near the the RV, while the other protected my early morning drive from deer leaping, or hikers walking.
One light is man-made and artificial; the other is God made and natural. Jill Harness noted on hunker.com that there are several differences between natural and artificial light, between firelight and candle light, and fluorescent bulbs, flashlights, or sunlight. There are a surprising number of differences between light sources found in nature versus electronic sources.
The intensity of light, the duration of light, and
the amount of light is only under your control with artificial lighting.
I made a note to myself to ask “Do I have control of my life’s light?”
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It is happening, now… Gratitude Squared is multiplying… Oh Happy Day!
Friends, peers, colleagues, strangers, and family are talking about “Gratitude”. They are sharing their own stories about being grateful, and/or joyous about various experiences in their life.
There is “positivity in the air”!
As the author of these blogs, I am watching the radius of circles rolling out as these “posts” are thrown out into the world, similar to dropping a pebble into a pond and being mesmerized by the perfect circles formed after the entry of the stone, falling into the deep waters.
People need each other so often form various groups, for friendship, for play, for spiritual blessings…
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Gratitude is deeply personal. The experience and felt emotion comes from within. One may find their gratitude when receiving help, assistance, kindness from others, in appreciation for recognition, when you feel pleased, experience a positive emotion, develop strong relationships with family members, friends, or other people in your community, improve your health or life circumstances, give to others, or through spiritual study. Your pathway to gratitude may follow one or more of a variety of events throughout your life.
Robert Emmons describes two parts of gratitude:
It seems important that we ask “What is gratitude”? Where does gratitude come from? Can anybody find gratitude? Is gratitude derived from giving or receiving, or both? These questions and the answers may offer us significant directions along our journeys and pathfinding to gratitude.
If we consider the event of dying as a stimulus, for example, has does knowing one is dying trigger the feeling of gratitude? Or, if we feel deeply moved during a beautiful sunset, or when proudly watching our young child perform a speaking part in a school play, or watching a dog scratch his back on the grass, from where does this emotion we call gratitude come? Gratitude is an emotion of thankfulness. It feels good. It is a form of pleasure, and positivity in life. It may be related to a positive mood, or memorable action, or creative idea. Gratitude has also been described as a spiritual discipline, or a grateful heart.
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Gratitude Squared 