Days of Gratitude

By Gratitude Girl Carolyn

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Melody Beattie

It is easy to forget to be grateful. This morning, after a long night of snowfall, I awoke to 10” of snow on the ground and no electricity in the house. I also awoke to the silence that the snow brought to the neighborhood and to the beauty that was unfolding right outside my windows. In East Tennessee today, as the snow has continued to fall all day, I was quite literally forced to become still. I was forced to become open to the beauty of nature as she took the reins of my day and encouraged me to be present in each moment. I was grateful to have a lovely wood burning stove in the basement. And I was grateful that the fire had been laid carefully and expertly in anticipation of the snowfall.

With my flashlight in hand I carefully descended into the dark basement. I opened the wood stove’s heavy door and lit the fire. It sprang to life and within minutes, there was a warmth that spread upward to heat the house.

How amazing that this convenience was available. How grateful I was to have dry stacked oak logs to feed the fire all day. How wonderful to know how to crochet and to have projects that did not require anything of me except my willing hands and a grateful heart.

Instead of pushing against the ‘inconvenience’ of a house darkened by the storm, I felt an overwhelming peace and stillness descending as I sat in the light of the windows and crocheted. All is provided. All is well. All is as it should be in the house.

It is still snowing and there is no movement outside the windows. But inside, the electricity has returned and the wood stove is now an added benefit to the house, not and essential element. But my grateful heart still gives thanks for the day, for the warmth, and for the peace of this winter gift.

In whatever circumstance we find ourselves, that is the appropriate time to give thanks, to relish whatever is presented, to find the grateful heart that lives within. On this snowy winter day, I am grateful.