Both Prompts: Gratitude: What are the 5 things, people and moments you are grateful for in 2011? What would you like to be grateful for in 2012?
1. Every time I get a negative result on a mammogram or PAP smear, or stay below 100 on a blood glucose test, I am immensely and deeply grateful. While my own actions can certainly affect the last test, the other two are beyond any control of mine.
2. After being with Tony for 14 years this fall, I continue to actively say gratitude prayers for his loving, steady presence in my life. The relationship we have is the one I asked for so many years ago (before I met him) and it still amazes me. The honesty, deep love, attraction, and fun that we experience is a gift that not everyone receives, and I am so grateful that I do.
3. Every time we go to a play or a concert or a special event or to the ocean or mountains, I'm grateful that we CAN. I'm grateful for having enough money to attend these events or go on these trips, grateful for the talent and beauty that is shared, grateful for our own health and presence of mind to enjoy and appreciate them.
4. I have more really good friends than I've had since I was a teenager. While I can be fairly social, I am by nature more introverted which doesn't always mesh well with cultivating strong friendships. Some have grown strong in the past few years, some are a bit older but have become more important to each of us, and at least one goes back nearly 30 years and two ex-husbands (one each). I hope I give as good as I get: being with each friend strengthens me and delights me every time, and I am always slightly surprised that they seem to be grateful for me too!
5. While our day-to-day routine sometimes seems pretty unexciting, I am grateful for that stability: no big scary health issues, no ginormous financial crises, no unexpected relationship train wrecks. Life is good: we have enough of everything to sustain body, mind, and spirit, and I love the rhythm of our days.
Even when we're feeling out of sorts or fretful, it is very rarely because of something that we have control over, other than our feelings, but because of external issues created by people we love, political or social issues that impact us in some way, or events/situations because of where and how we live.Our own inner stability and foundation is solid and comforting, and for that, I am always, immeasurably, grateful.
If I can write this same list in 2012, I will indeed feel blessed. There is nothing more that I could want.
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