The mystery of life to me is not that we were all created.
The mystery to me is that we all choose to keep living.
I am constantly astounded at the human spirit to live, survive, create, love.
I am amazed that we all keep saying “Yes.”
Since 2011, I have been practicing gratitude by writing a daily gratitude list.
It has been transformative.
Each day, I list ten things I am grateful for. I then list ten things I’m excited for. And (hardest of all,) three brags.
I post it to a Yahoo group started by a mentor/friend.
Each day, I get emails containing the posted “grat” lists of others.
It is amazing to have the daily reminders of appreciation for the small and big things in life. It helps keep my focus on the positive.
The way I am wired, for some reason, I have the tendency to focus on the negative: what isn’t working, what’s not going right, what I did wrong, what I do not have/is missing in my life.
The grat list keeps me looking for what is going right, what I do have, what I can appreciate right now.
One of the great parts of the grat list community is how it has become a virtual safe space where we can share whatever we need to and receive support or whatever we may need. It is a “no guilt, no judgement zone,” a place to be totally honest. It is not about being cheerful and positive, it is about being real.
I may go through dark times, but I can always find some things to be grateful for. That my limbs function. Sunshine. Clean water. That I woke up.
And, through our grat list group, I am never alone. Sometimes, the others’ lists keep me from falling into isolated despair. I may be down and another’s good day holds hope for the inevitable upswing that will come if I hang in there, a fact that is easy to forget when left to my own devices.
I am truly grateful for the grat list group, and all that the practice of gratitude has given my life. It is a powerful muscle that I plan on keeping supple.
“I prefer to stand,” she said through teeth gritted with barely-contained hostility.
A young man had offered her his seat.
She had just entered middle age.
#shortstory #threesentencestory
I thought I was broken, thought I was missing
Thought parts of me had just died
Made friends with the holes that I thought you’d made
Made peace with what was left inside
Turns out I was wrong, nothing of me was gone
Certain parts just learned how to hide
I am whole, I am thriving, I am filled with myself
And that truth just cannot be denied
No longer have to trademark my grief
Don’t need the world to see where I was broke
I’ve given myself full attention and love
All I’d held dormant is now woke
I’ve befriended it all, found a place in my heart
For what used to have me in tatters
Don’t need you to see it to make it all real
It’s mine now, and that’s all that matters
She can’t decide
She can’t hear
There’s a cacophony
In her inner ear
What to think
What to do
Which way to be
Which her, or who?
Inspired by The Daily Post Daily Word Post: cacophony (and Dr. Seuss)
Anytime anyone says “Allow me to enlighten you,” get away from them as soon as you can.
“You’re not at all what I expected,” I said upon discovering my True Self.
“But I guess we’re stuck with each other now.”
That’s it.
You’ve gotten all you’re gonna get from me.
Like a tube of toothpaste, you’ve expressed the final remnants of the love I had for you.
Empty, flat and hard, I’m done.
Watch me climb
See me rise
See the power
Behind my eyes
Think I’m nothing
But tits and ass
Here to serve you
Not ranking class
Know my glory
Know your loss
No longer welcome
No more the boss
I know my value
I own my fire
Try to shoot me –
I’ll just fly higher
Beyond the Skinny Branches 