Today I am grateful for life.  Things change in the blink of an eye and it’s amazing how even if we are aware of this thought, we somehow always manage to forget it.  We continue about our routines as if that is what our life actually is, as if that will save us, as if that is all we are here for when, in reality, things can change forever.  It isn’t important what we accomplish and get done in a given day—we need to remember how we feel, how we make people feel, how we want to feel.  As sad as it is, you never know when we will see someone or speak with someone for the last time.  I’m not saying this to be morbid, I’m saying this to emphasize the importance of being aware of what we are doing and to take it in while we are there.  Stop rushing through life to get things done, to get to the next part.  All we have is now.  This is the part when we are alive and we will never be as old or as young as we are in this exact moment so experience what is, as it is and live.

Today I am grateful for reminders of presence.  We experienced a trauma in my home this past week and we are still reeling from it, still on edge.  In that moment, I will tell anyone that time stopped.  Nothing else in the world mattered except pulling through and surviving.  This is now a before and after moment with my family.  At this point, the only thing I can say for the moment is it brought my attention to something that very clearly needed to be addressed on my part and something that needs to be addressed on my husband’s part.  This isn’t something we can think our way out of—we need to work through this until we have the answer, and we can only do that by being with each other, now, remembering what is important now, and being aware of now.

Today I am grateful for the utmost clarity.  I’m off of work and I have taken every opportunity to do exactly what I want to do.  I’ve worked on my writing, on my business, on my health, on how I spend my time with my son and my family.  It has been the best experience, the best gift I ever could have given myself.  The clarity I’ve gained from shifting focus is a gift.  Knowing that this is what I need to do next, knowing this is where I’m going, is a gift.  All the other crap doesn’t matter.  This is the drive I’ve needed to get where I’m going.  No hesitation, no doubt, no fear.  Certainty that this is it.  This is sustainable and real.  It’s time to move forward.  This is another type of before and after moment, the best kind.  What an incredible gift. 

Today I am grateful for support.  During this time, I have seen how important support networks are.  The human condition is simultaneously stronger than anything and fragile as anything, and we work our way through the web of relationships and independence and any number of interactions with people around us, and we see how people can either lift us up or bring us down.  The beauty I’ve witnessed is the complete rally of support for those who are down.  Without question, coming together in crisis and showing people the best of who they are because they are reminding others of the best in themselves.  Support is about remembering and witnessing and honoring the connection we have with each other.  It’s the give and take of energy and the remembering that we are all human, and loving that humanity for exactly what it is.      

Today I am grateful for learning.  There is so much beauty in this world.  There is so much to learn about, so many natural resources for us to use and tap into.  We have an even cooler way to share this information, computers at our fingertips 24/7.  I’ve been curious about natural elements for a long time, particularly mosquito repelling plants.  We went with some friends to a plant nursery today, and let me tell you, there was so much to learn.  I was only looking for one type of plant to see how it may work in my yard, and we ended up with baskets of different plants.  This world has the answers, we were all given the answers, we just have to know how to tap in and listen.  How cool is it that we have our own medicines and remedies available all the time if we learn to cultivate them?  How cool is it to be able to use these things to take charge of our lives?  Changing how we work literally changes how we see the world. 

Today I am grateful for the new opportunities coming my way.  I’m working on shifting a lot of things in my life and I am grateful for how everything is coming together.  I didn’t realize how deeply entrenched I was in my own ways of doing things, trying to balance out the impossible, trying to take on more.  Pausing and seeing that there are other ways to do things shifted a lot.  The Wait can be difficult, especially when we feel we need something or that we are on the right track and that thing doesn’t come through.  It can be challenging to accept the wait or to see that we still have work to do to pivot.  That doesn’t mean the opportunities aren’t there.  Trust. Change the focus.  What is right is coming, what is meant to happen is happening, all in due time.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead.