Embracing My Blessings
[caption id="attachment_7239" align="aligncenter" width="448"]
Golden ferns add warmth to my home.[/caption]
This morning I read a post from one of my favorite bloggers, who never fails to bring me a sense of peace through her writing. Today, Kathy of Lake Superior Spirit announced this in her post called "Count our Blessings" blogging practice:
I don't want to live life that way.
[caption id="attachment_7227" align="aligncenter" width="336"]
Rocks and trees remind me of the blessings, power, and beauty of nature.[/caption]
So, once a week I too will focus only on gratitude and blessings--major and minor--the things that make life rich and wonderful and worth facing every day. Every week I plan to remind myself of all the good things, even if the world of chaos and craziness continues to swirl around me.
A funny thing happened, however, as I began to think about this post (while on a family hike in Purgatory Chasm). Every time I thought of something I was grateful for, I qualified it in some way in my mind. For example: "I'm grateful to have legs that allow me to hike, even though I'm slow and clumsy." "I'm grateful to have a daughter who loves to explore despite the fact that she seems to resent me lately."
[caption id="attachment_7228" align="aligncenter" width="584"]
My little monkey loves to climb, and I am thankful she is so courageous and strong.[/caption]
It's like, I'm almost afraid to claim blessings as too perfect. Maybe I'm worried (in a strange twisted way) that perfection will be taken away. Maybe we've been raised to be so modest that we can't even embrace the wonderful things in our life, for fear that we will sound vain or egotistical or that somehow what we envision as good can be destroyed.
That's no way to live.
So today begins a journey for me, where I embrace my blessings without qualification. Where I say thank you to the universe and the people who have graced me by being part of my journey. Where I acknowledge that, while the world may not be perfect and sometimes life offers unexpected challenges, I still have many things in my world that I wouldn't exchange for anything.
[gallery type="rectangular" link="file" ids="7240,7241,7242,7244,7245,7246" orderby="rand"]
I am also grateful to be included in the Theme-Thology community, and to be part of a group working so hard to create quality work. I am thankful that I am able to contribute in small ways, whether by reading and commenting or promoting the book.
I am blessed by all of you, my friends and follower, my readers and fellow bloggers. You have enriched my life in so many ways--through blogs and e-mails, on-line and in person, and through a sense of community that I could never have imagined.
Thank you all.
What are some of the blessings in your life?
Golden ferns add warmth to my home.[/caption]This morning I read a post from one of my favorite bloggers, who never fails to bring me a sense of peace through her writing. Today, Kathy of Lake Superior Spirit announced this in her post called "Count our Blessings" blogging practice:
"Once a week in October, November and December I will share Blessings, both received and given. To consciously acknowledge some of the ordinary and extra-ordinary gifts of each day. To focus on the many blessings which arise like the sun over our multi-colored ever-changing earth."While this is not a new concept, I realized that it was time I too began to embrace and acknowledge my blessings. Too often I rant and rave about the myriad annoyances in life. Too often I focus on the negative and not the positive, and it sucks me down into a depth of depression from which it is difficult for me to escape.
I don't want to live life that way.
[caption id="attachment_7227" align="aligncenter" width="336"]
Rocks and trees remind me of the blessings, power, and beauty of nature.[/caption]So, once a week I too will focus only on gratitude and blessings--major and minor--the things that make life rich and wonderful and worth facing every day. Every week I plan to remind myself of all the good things, even if the world of chaos and craziness continues to swirl around me.
A funny thing happened, however, as I began to think about this post (while on a family hike in Purgatory Chasm). Every time I thought of something I was grateful for, I qualified it in some way in my mind. For example: "I'm grateful to have legs that allow me to hike, even though I'm slow and clumsy." "I'm grateful to have a daughter who loves to explore despite the fact that she seems to resent me lately."
[caption id="attachment_7228" align="aligncenter" width="584"]
My little monkey loves to climb, and I am thankful she is so courageous and strong.[/caption]It's like, I'm almost afraid to claim blessings as too perfect. Maybe I'm worried (in a strange twisted way) that perfection will be taken away. Maybe we've been raised to be so modest that we can't even embrace the wonderful things in our life, for fear that we will sound vain or egotistical or that somehow what we envision as good can be destroyed.
That's no way to live.
So today begins a journey for me, where I embrace my blessings without qualification. Where I say thank you to the universe and the people who have graced me by being part of my journey. Where I acknowledge that, while the world may not be perfect and sometimes life offers unexpected challenges, I still have many things in my world that I wouldn't exchange for anything.
[gallery type="rectangular" link="file" ids="7240,7241,7242,7244,7245,7246" orderby="rand"]
I am also grateful to be included in the Theme-Thology community, and to be part of a group working so hard to create quality work. I am thankful that I am able to contribute in small ways, whether by reading and commenting or promoting the book.
I am blessed by all of you, my friends and follower, my readers and fellow bloggers. You have enriched my life in so many ways--through blogs and e-mails, on-line and in person, and through a sense of community that I could never have imagined.
Thank you all.
What are some of the blessings in your life?
