“Grateful for Gratitude Lists”
“GRATEFUL FOR GRATITUDE LISTS”
I need lists! My Attention Deficit Disorder(ly) mind craves lists! They are very helpful to me—provided that I don’t lose the lists, and that I actually look at the lists frequently.
However, the list I need the most (even when my mind does not crave it) is the gratitude list. Indeed, I am grateful for gratitude lists. I try to start my day with at least thirty things for which to give thanks.
It is not, of course, an original idea. Most good ideas aren’t original, and many original ideas aren’t good. Gratitude lists go back as far as some the psalms of the Bible. The Apostle Paul, along with other letter-writers of the Greco-Roman world, started almost all of his letters with gratitude. (The one exception in Paul’s writings is his letter to the Galatians. He was so upset with them that he “forgot” the thanksgiving. I’m sure that got their attention!)
Usually, I write my gratitude down. I’ve tried doing it mentally, but that isn’t as easy or as fruitful. I need a hard copy!
I am rarely grateful for big things. That’s good, because my life is not usually made up of big things. I blog, wait tables, prepare for Hebrew class, try to keep the house straightened up, since my wife works at a very stressful job. I make and take twelve-step calls and e mail reports. If I am not grateful for little things, I won’t be grateful for much of anything, since virtually everything I do seems small.
The other day, a friend of mine who is on our church softball team, gave me a very down-to-earth reason to give thanks. We were talking about our team, our attitude, and our record. It is a perfect record, including the whole of last season. (In other words, we haven’t won a game in the past year plus.)
Bob is about my age (which is not nearly as young as I used to be). He said to me, “At our age, it has been a good game if we can get off the field on our own power.”
True that!
I am not suggesting that I (or anyone) should ignore the pain of living. That isn’t healthy! I am not suggesting that life is not a difficult business. It is a difficult business.
However, if you don’t have some things to thank God or the universe for, you’re not paying sufficient attention.
The sun is coming up as I bring this entry to a close. There are a few clouds in the east. They are a color I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before. In any case, I have never seen this particular sunrise. I’m sure of that.
GRATITUDE LIST:
1. This lovely sunrise.
2. . . .
Dteb
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