Sometimes I can be a little negative, but it occurs to me that I have a lot for which I can be grateful, too. In no particular order, here are a few…
My parents are supportive, funny, loving people who go out of their way to bring joy into my life. Six years ago I moved all the way across country just to be near them, and I’ve never once had reason to regret it. We have had more fun together than I had hoped for and I truly can’t imagine my life without them in it.
My health, although not perfect, is good. It would be even better if I ate right and moved more than my fingers on a keyboard, but I am mostly disease-free and have no broken bones at the moment. After going through cancer several years ago and worrying about my sister’s current situation, this is not something I take for granted. Nor do I forget that I spent the first half of this year on crutches and in a cast with a broken leg that would not heal. Although my limp is not completely gone, I no longer need a cane, let alone a wheelchair.
My home is small by some standards, but watch even a single episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition and you learn to appreciate a home with no major flaws not to mention extra room for the extra stuff you don’t need anyway. I lived for more than 15 years in a rental with structural damage, no landscaping not provided by the dogs and a neighborhood crumbling faster than the house’s foundation. I love my home, and am grateful for it every day.
I will never be a mother, but I have been blessed with a love for animals that compensates in no small way for the children I can’t have. Harley is the smartest dog I’ve ever known, Scooter the most loving and Maverick the most patient. Through the years I have had so many beloved dogs, and the current ones may be the best yet. I can’t wait to see who I get to love next. The rats aren’t half bad either.
I have a stable job that I enjoy with people I respect. I get to play with computers and ideas and sometimes I get to share my small skills where it really matters. Guide Dogs of America, I’m thinking of you.
I could go on like this all night. Just listing the forms of entertainment that we have available that weren’t even dreamed of by the greatest Kings and Czars of the past would take me all night. Books by the hundreds, movies, TV, the internet… the list is endless. I could talk about the good fortune I have to be born into this time, in this place, with the knowledge and light we have in the world. I could talk about my church, my friends, my music, but I’ll leave those for another time.
They say, count your many blessings, but right now I think I will go play a couple of songs on the piano (there’s another one) sink into my queen-size waterbed (one of the better ones) and snuggle with my dogs (have I mentioned them) and see what blessings tomorrow brings. Remind me of this next time I get grumpy, ok? I forget sometimes, just how blessed I am.
I always enjoy reading about your life. All of us have many things to be grateful for. I try to think of a different one each day of the week!