Bee Grateful

“Gratitude is the first step on the Simple Abundance path or it just won’t work.  Simplicity, order, harmony, beauty, and joy - all the other principles that can transform your life will not blossom and flourish without gratitude.”

Many moons ago I sat at the foot of my grandmother’s bed watching Oprah.  On one episode in particular Oprah was interviewing the author of Simple Abundance, Sarah Ban Breathnach. Sarah spoke about keeping a gratitude journal and the possibilities one could discover by being gracious on a daily basis. "The single greatest thing you can do to change your life today would be to start being grateful for what you have right now," Oprah said. "And the more grateful you are, the more you get."

This morning I was awoken, far too early, by the sound of the rain, nevertheless, I am grateful.  I am grateful that beside me is the world’s kindest loving man.  I am thankful that at any moment I will hear the footsteps of my little one as she makes her way into our bed seeking the comfort of her parents.  I am thankful that we are surrounded by a structure that we have come to know as our home and that at this moment we are warm and comfy.  I am thankful that we went to bed with our bellies full.  I am thankful that hours ago Jalayla and I were able greet our favorite visitor (Nana) and that I was able to spend some quality time with my husband.  I am thankful that today my brother is coming to visit.  I am thankful for genuine people, soft blankets, wellington boots, laughter, hot cocoa, frozen yogurt (even during the winter), and am especially grateful that despite the challenges that I face God continues to show me that He is with me.  At this moment I am even thankful for the rain and the fond memories I have of puddle jumping as a little girl.

I remember watching Oprah that day in my grandmother’s room and saying to myself that I had to get my mother that book.  I am not sure who took me to the book store but eventually I made my way and left not with one but with two of Sarah’s books one of them being a journal.  In the journal readers were instructed to write down 5 things you are grateful for each day.   Try it (or think it).  Come on.  You can do it.

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5.

Now, I will be the first to admit that I don’t always feel like being grateful.  I have moments in which I experience anger, frustration, and insist that I have the right to be upset and I do. I am human –  the embodiment of imperfection at it’s finest.  I don’t know if you know this but I come with a variety of emotions and wear an invisible sash which states “work in progress”.  Thank God for progress. I believe Oprah’s statement “the more grateful you are, the more you get” to be so true.  The more grateful I become the more joy I feel. The more grateful I am the more peace I feel.  The more grateful I am – well you get the picture.

Today I encourage you, no matter what challenges you are faced with, to be grateful.  I will remind myself to do the same.  While our challenges may be no less, for lack of a better word, challenging, I believe that a life lived with a grateful heart can be much sweeter than one without.  Today I am determined to focus on the rainbow that is coming rather than the actual rain itself. 

Grateful,

HB

"Grace is available for each of us every day - our spiritual daily bread - but we've got to remember to ask for it with a grateful heart and not worry about whether there will be enough for tomorrow."

 ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach