the ABC's of gratitude

Aargh. Don't you wish that worthwhile things were easy? In my life, that does not seem to be the case. First there's the fitness thing. I have learned to get my butt to the gym several nights a week for yoga, swimming, weights, and the elliptical because if I don't, I get all twisted and achy, thanks to my lifetime total of twenty broken bones. I guess every cloud has a silver lining. Some of my broken bones were due to me being a klutz, some due to misfortune. Whatever. We must take what we're given and make it work.

Second, there's the mental attitude thing. I would like to always be naturally happy and buoyant, I would like to be this even-keel person, like Quiet Guy, who never gets hyper and never gets the blues. But I am the opposite of that, and strive to feel lovable, while freakishly expecting every single day to be great.

This is all my mother's fault, of course. Not really, but... the woman could, and often did,  pack up and move our entire household at the drop of a hat, sometimes without my knowledge until I got to the new house. How does that happen? Despite all the uncertainty, we had some amazing adventures and never got bored living in the same place. I don't know why I bring this up, except that when my sisters were here, we talked about all the places we'd lived growing up, which, at fourteen, was less than I thought. I seemed to remember something closer to a thousand.

Anyhow, the truth is that, just as with my broken bones, I must cultivate wholesome habits of thought to optimize my outlook, and they are just as difficult as power yoga. Besides prayer and meditation, gratitude is the most helpful habit I have found. Practicing gratitude benefits my emotions like working out helps my body, and it is always available only a thought away. Gratitude is the opposite of worry because, whereas worry focuses on potential future problems, gratitude is all about appreciating the now.

The important thing about gratitude is that I can't just accept that it's a good idea, but have to actually spend time each day actively doing it. I need to do my grateful sit-ups, as it were. When I am tempted to worry, I have to force myself to replace that thought with something I am grateful for, such as my dog or the beautiful sky overhead. Every night, I conjure up three things I am grateful for from the day, and ponder those for a while. This gives me peace. Today, I took these photos of the apple, bee and morning coffee I was grateful for. How would I ever get out of bed without that coffee? It might be possible, but I hope I never have to find out. Life is mysterious. Life is a journey. Be grateful.