My Ever-Thankful Heart

Cloudy or not, it's another gorgeous day in Rehoboth Beach, DE. As I walked my dog Piper this morning, my heart overflowed with gratitude. I'm grateful that we were able to move here, and that I have the ocean within walking or driving distance. I'm grateful for new friends, new places to eat, new places to walk and to discover. I'm grateful for my husband, my sons, my grandchildren, the dogwood and tulip trees
budding all around me. I'm grateful for the CDs I have made and I've wanted to find new ways to share them with the world. Now my website is up and running; I know my songs help people so I'm grateful to be able to help even more now. And so I'm wondering about the world around me today. So many people seem angry, dissatisfied, annoyed, even vengeful. I wonder what THEY are grateful for.

So I challenge you to start your day tomorrow with a recap. What are YOU grateful for? It can be big things or small -- to quote myself, you can "appreciate the apple" before you, you can "celebrate the joys of life" from pancake mountains to baby babble. If it helps you, write a quick list of 5-6-10 things you are grateful for (you pick the number). Then think about each one for a moment. Try to include a few things that you may have taken for granted -- maybe the right to speak your mind in public, the car that transports you from place to place, the electricity that comes on when you flip a switch. The feeling of hugging a child and the feeling of watching a sunset. And in every case, try to STAY in that feeling for a minute or two. If you can do this -- really be in the moment of each thing that fills you with gratitude -- you will find an unexpected peace filling your heart. That's because if you are truly grateful, there is no room left in you for anxiety, regret, annoyance or sorrow -- only the gratitude -- and without the conflicting feelings, you are at peace and "all is well". "And gratitude for all of it -- for the blessings in each part -- it's all that I have room for in my ever-thankful heart." And so it is!