Much Appreciation
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Winter is my least favorite season. I know this will shock all of you ‘we love fall most of all, people’, but when that season hits, I start to feel homesick. It’s not that I’m actually away from home, but summer is MY time and the further I get from it, the sadder I become.
Not counting this winter, which has been amazingly mild, there are days, and sometimes weeks when we see very little sun. If we do see it, we certainly don’t feel it. But, like I said, this winter has been so much nicer than any I can remember.
However, recently we had a bit of a cold spell. The temperatures dropped and the sun disappeared. After a few days of this, my attitude sank. I know seasonal depression is a real thing, but I’ve never thought it was something that affected me. Now, I’m rethinking that.
The best way I’ve found to get beyond this Mother Nature-induced misery is to think about every little thing I’m grateful for.
It goes like this
When I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is let my dogs in and feed them breakfast. They greet me like it’s been months, even when it’s just been a few hours. Next up are the cats, even though one of them is clearly irritated that I disturbed her slumber, the male - Frank - is always happy to see me.
From there, I think about how lucky we are that we woke up to a warm house, lights that work, and a shower with warm running water. I thank the Lord that we live where we do - even with winter - because all our kids and almost all our grandkids are close by.
Spending time being grateful for everything from breakfast in my fridge to a car that runs, always makes me feel better, lighter.
I can also take my gratitude one step further and examine where I’m at in life. I have goals and dreams I haven’t reached yet, but then I think about how much closer I am than ever before.
This past week, I joined fellow writers in a Zoom call and we all talked about where we are in our writing journey. I was grateful to be able to respond that I’m published, my word count is growing in my novel, and I have a bit of a blogging audience - thanks to you! I was not as inexperienced as some in the room. Super grateful for that!
Gratitude tends to build upon itself and extends to every aspect of my life, once I start paying attention to it. I notice that the number of amazing people, things, and experiences keeps growing. The sign I see first thing in the morning that says ‘Ready for today’s magic’ becomes a reality.
We’ve had some sad situations in our family lately and it’s hard to not focus solely on those. But the flip side is that it’s bringing us all together, physically, for the first time in as long as I can remember.
(Side note: why does it take a funeral to get people to gather? Shouldn’t we be getting together during happy times?)
I think the bottom line is that being truly grateful is just one of the building blocks to living an authentic life. Things can change in a blink of an eye, without warning. I, for one, am going to continue being eternally grateful for this crazy life we get to live.