I lift up mine eyes unto the hills and all like that there

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

–         Melody Beattie

It was my birthday the other day. The occasion gave me pause for thought. An important thought being, while I’m not all that thrilled that another year has passed in my life in this sphere, I am at least here still to think such thoughts. That is, as far as I know, a good thing.

I note the “as far as I know” part only because I have found, as the years have gone by, that I have undergone changes in my approach to who I am and where I am in the universe. One of the changes is that I believe I am a considerably more spiritual person than I was when younger. Not spiritual in a Sunday-go-to-meetin’ manner. I’m afraid I don’t have much truck with conventional religious observance. That’s my right and I choose to exercise it and it works OK for me. No, my spirituality lies within – from my own thoughts, my own readings, and my own meditations. My approach is not a perfect answer but it generally works.

So, OK, I am more spiritual now, but I am much less mystical.  That’s liberating, I find. While I once might have at least granted cursory attention to astrology, assorted soothsayers, spirit-guides, soulmates, incantations, smudging ceremonies and all sorts of other (in my opinion) folderol, I reserve a much more profound skepticism which leads me more realistically to the here-and-now. This is all I got, folks so I had better make the best of it and be grateful for what it is.

And so right now I am grateful for:

–         The fact I can look out my front window and see the scene pictured above. Well, not exactly like that. A zoom lens helped to emphasize the good stuff. Anyway, that old Queneesh Glacier comforts me.

–         I have a comfortable, centrally-heated house, with food in the fridge and a big ole dog lying in front of the fire even as I write this. No, I am not sleeping rough, while some are.

–         My health is relatively good and my vices have largely been arrested. I try to live a healthy life and am smart enough to be able to figure out what I need to do, and what I shouldn’t do.

–         I am in a contented and loving domestic situation. I don’t have a good track record in that regard, but to my former wives (2) I bear no grudges and love each in my own way. I always shall. It just didn’t work out, but you taught me a lot.

–         I have friends whom I love and friends whom I like, of both sexes. I know myself well enough to understand that I need the balance of both sexes amongst my loved ones.

–         I have always been susceptible to falling in love. That’s both a bad and good thing. Bad in that such thoughts must remain not acted upon as I am loyal and responsible; yet good in that I know my heart is big enough to feel such emotions in what is often a very innocent and caring manner (nowadays, at least). I am, after all, just truly human. I like that about me. You know, the human part.

–         I’m intelligent. Not braggadocio, but I know I am and cherish that fact. I’m not rich, but my intellect has allowed me to follow endeavors that demanded intellectual acumen. It didn’t make me rich. I don’t really care about that.

–         I’m creative. What I am is creative ‘enough’. I am not brilliant in that regard, but I have earned a decent enough living from my writing and I love to escape via painting. Again, not brilliant but always prepared to learn.

–         I was raised by a family (no, not of wolves, though sometimes it felt like that) that cared about learning and encouraged it. I am hard-pressed to feel deeply affectionate towards those that raised me, but they did give me a respect for learning and an equal respect for hard work.

–         I have traveled considerably and have lived abroad and I would like to have the time and health to do some more, thank you very much. You know, if that’s in the cards and all.

–         I try to ‘give back’ as much as I can and feel privileged to be able to contribute rather than drain my society.

I’m getting on a roll here and should end this. But, I am also grateful for having a public space in which I can share my gratitude with others.