Thanksgiving
Six years ago my doctor told me I had 6 months to live. I was in my mid-40’s and had teenage children. I was just beginning my new self-created life only to have the rug pulled out from under me. And so began one of the most interesting times of my life.
If you want to learn the art of being thankful look at life with an end date in mind. Write your own eulogy, will, and goodbye letters to loved ones. Consider the impact your departure will have whether financial or emotional. That’s what I did and I came away from the experience with a greater appreciation for life and the people I choose to keep close.
Recently, with the blessing of my daughters, I followed a long held dream of living in a little latitude, in a climate where it’s pretty much summer every day. It’s green and warm all the time and I love it here. Just yesterday I discovered another delightful addition to my continually blooming garden.
Yesterday also brought a surprise in my mail. My eldest daughter, who lives in northern Vermont where it’s been cold and snowy, sent me four intricately detailed paper snowflakes which she made herself. In the card she wrote:
“Soak in the sunshine for me. In exchange I’ve enclosed a little touch of the north.”
More surprises followed later in the afternoon when I received 18 long stem roses in various shades of pastels from my youngest daughter. When I opened the box I was greeted with the following words:
“Somebody thinks you’re special.”
And then I went to the beach, a daily ritual which is always full of surprises. And even though the sky was ornate with clouds and seaweed inundated the beach, it was a delight just the same.
While some might see that landscaped as unattractive and undesirable, I considered the texture interesting. It added depth. It isn’t always a perfect day at the beach, but it is nevertheless a day at the beach. And so it is with life.
Each day brings its own texture of excitement and boredom, thrills and chills, surprises and expectations. How we choose to interpret them is what adds definition to our lives and who we are as people. I now choose to see life as one big glorious adventure filled with a myriad of textures.
My wish for you is that you see the texture in your own surroundings and embrace each gift, unexpected or otherwise, with open arms because it is there that gratitude lives. It is from that place that our true Thanksgiving stems.
<*(((><
Copyright 2008 Diana Taylor, Pug At The Beach
Photo credit: All photos, Diana Taylor
http://www.pugatthebeach.com/aboutauthor.htm
http://pugsnewsfromthebeach.com/2008/11/04/whats-blooming-in-the-yard-right-now.aspx
Comments