A Gratitude Snapshot

So, as Christmas gifts, my sister Eliza gave her sisters (and a few friends) journals that she had decorated in some fashion with sayings/ideas we had identified as "beacons" for the coming year. And we are to start every day with a list of 10 things we love and end every day with a list of 10 things for which we are grateful. I started strong, but two-and-a-half months in, a few days have passed now and again with no entries at all. Part of this is owing to me leaving the slimmest of margins for getting ready for work in the morning and pushing myself well beyond a reasonable bed time far too often at night.

It's a good practice, though. I'm noticing how many things come up again and again on my love list. The gratitude list I try to focus on events of the day-- mindfulness of the moment. Mostly I have not struggled for that list of 10.

So, though it's been nearly a third of a year since I've written a blog post (le sigh), I decided tonight I would make my gratitude list public. If there is an order it would be chronological. But mostly it's just whatever has struck me or stuck with me from the day and often one thought triggers remembering something else.

I am grateful...
-for waking up with both my cats curled up on or beside me. They are such faithful companions.
-for a congestion-light commute in and an unusually quick commute home.
-to have a job I do not dread going to every morning.
-for the windows on our floor that let in so much light and allow me to see the sunny blue skies.
-for temperatures that allowed me to take the first walk of the year during which I had to worry neither about falling on my butt nor freezing it off.
-that I am healthy enough to be able to walk. Forward motion. Long strides. Good for the soul.
-that I live in a place where I can walk alone after dark and not feel unsafe, which I know is a luxury so many people do not enjoy.
-for my sister who likes to cook and share her food with others and is good at it.
-that I have friends of all ages and from such a wide array of backgrounds, each of whom is intelligent and real and fighting the good fight. And I got to have dinner with one of them tonight.
-for music. always.

So, there it is. The walk tonight did me so much good after such a very long winter . I was moving at a respectable clip. I wonder whether walking, particularly when done just for the sake of feeling your legs carry you forward, is different depending on height. I cover a lot more ground in one step than my 4" shorter sister. But does it feel the same to her? I surely hope so.