May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life
that have, for us, thus far accrued…
and to begin each day with a word of thanks…
and thoughts of gratitude.
Today I’m thankful for having grown older
Because:
if we’re fortunate to climb the mountain of age
even though our youth is irretrievable
and we may get a little more out of breath these days
The view from here…is unbelievable.
As I was leaving the doctor’s office he was dictating notes about our meeting…
I eavesdropped…because I can….
He said he’d just finished up a conference with a delightful 70 year old man.
I was glad he used the word delightful…it was a wonderful compliment to hear…
but ‘old man’ are the words that kept ringing in my ears.
I know it’s just the way he phrased it…but it would have sounded better to my ears
If he had said a delightful man…who’s lived for 70 years.
It happens often at the bookstore too…it’s usually a brief encounter
when a parent with a child who wants to buy a book says,
“Give it to the old man behind the counter.”
I used to look around…wondering who that old man could be…
Now…I take the book with a smile….knowing that old man behind the counter…is me.
They all don’t actually say ‘old man’…those words don’t always occur
sometime I think they are implying it….other times…I infer.
In truth…I’ve never felt bad abut growing old…about looking older…turning gray.
It’s never been about growing older…it’s more about growing…every day.
It’s more about the person I am…than the person they first see….
It’s growing…no matter what age I am…into the person I’ve always wanted to be.
I can’t help growing older every day…but I’ll be happy…this I know…
If I continue to grow a little more delightful…the older that I grow.
May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life
that have, for us, thus far accrued…
and to begin each day with a word of thanks…
and thoughts of gratitude.
Today I’m thankful for our diversity
and I hope one day everyone will see
the one thing we all have in common
is
our diversity
One thing that strikes you when you’re out in nature…
(that, once you know it helps you to proclaim,)
is how, of all the wonders you are seeing…no two are ever the same.
They may share similarities…but it’s part of nature’s mystique
that everything she has created is individual and unique.
No two stars are identical…no two planets…
no two clouds that float upon the breeze…
no two flowers,…no two rivers,…no two mountains…no two trees.
The fact that no two of anything are identical…
once our eyes have been taught to see
is why we relish in their individual beauty and their overall diversity.
No two waves upon the ocean are identical…
no two fish…no two mammals…and let us not forget
no two apples…no two oranges…no two sunrises…no two sunsets.
The more you walk in nature…the more gratitude and love you’re feeling
knowing that amazing diversity is what makes our world so beautiful…
and our nature so appealing.
What strikes you when you walk among the people…also a part of nature
that once you see it helps you to proclaim….
of all the people you are seeing…no two people are the same.
This fact, instead of dividing us, should unite us…once our eyes are taught to see
we should relish in each one’s beauty…and our world’s diversity.
If only we’d take the time to understand nature’s people
I believe more gratitude and love we would be feeling…
knowing it is our amazing uniqueness that makes us all so beautiful
and our nature so appealing.
May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life
that have, for us, thus far accrued…
and to begin each day with a word of thanks…
and thoughts of gratitude.
Today I’m thankful for music
and remain amazed at its multitude of varied and diverse roles…
How it can make us sing, dance, laugh and cry
How it can illuminate our hearts
and soothe our aching souls
I heard a song this morning whose rhythm, melody and rhyme
immediately transported me back…to a different place and time.
It was years ago…riding in our car with Deborah…this memory is so strong…
when we decided this song, which we heard for the first time that day…
would forever be…our song.
I can’t explain the science…I’m not sure the reason why…
but this song always brings a smile to my face…and tears to Deborah’s eyes.
I guess we never know as each new day’s about to start….
which memories will be etched into our souls and leave footprints on our hearts.
And it doesn’t end with one song…there are many more songs…
even songs in nature that transport me to the past….
Today was not the first time…and it definitely won’t be the last.
I’ll never comprehend how memory works…
how in the vast array of memories we’re making every day
some memories remain forever while other quickly fade away.
For now I’m happy knowing some memories…
realizing they play an important part
dwell forever in endless rooms somewhere deep within my heart.
And I’m glad one of those rooms is a concert hall
with songs and rhythms and melodies gathered there….
waiting to surprise me…when I hear music in the air.
May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life
that have, for us, thus far accrued…
and to begin each day with a word of thanks…
and thoughts of gratitude.
Today I’m thankful for our eyes…
and how much we have been blessed…
To know our eyes can often reveal
what our words cannot express.
Through the years they loved holding hands…it made their love feel brand new.
Whenever they were asked why they answered…it’s just something that we do.
Crossing streets, at the movies…on long walks across the sands
If you are lucky enough to see them…you will see them holding hands.
But with age as her eyes began to weaken her vision was not as clear as it use to be..
she cried on her husbands shoulder thinking of all the beauty she’ll no longer see.
“Have I ever thanked you,” he asked, “for giving me the most wonderful surprise…
for allowing me to feel the world through your heart and see it through your eyes?”
“You taught me how to enjoy life…to look for happiness…to have fun…
to see the beauty in every day…in everything…and everyone.”
“If your eyes do turn off their light…then we’ll walk together in the wind and rain
I’ll describe everything I see…and in your mind…you’ll see them again…”
“I’ll describe every color…every rainbow…every shooting star that soars across the sky
every ladybug that lands upon your finger…every bird and butterfly.”
“I’ll describe every sunrise every morning
and the sky every evening when the sun bids the day adieu….
The colors of the leaves in autumn…every flower christened with morning dew.”
“I’ll describe everything I see…I’ll be explicit and precise…
I’ll help paint a picture your mind can see…of our walks in paradise.
“And now,” he said smiling and holding her near…
“when we walk along the sand…
ut’s just another reason they’ll see the two of us holding hands.”
May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life
that have, for us, thus far accrued…
and to begin each day with a word of thanks…
and thoughts of gratitude.
Today I’m thankful once again for my heart…
and while I’m on the subject
for my ability to dream..too
Because
So many times when I have followed my heart
the dreams I dreamed came true.
Sometimes I wonder what it’d be like to be a bird…
to sing a morning song
to spread my wings and fly
high above the treetops…
to soar across the sky.
Sometimes I wonder what it’d be like to be a river otter
to swim and dive and spin all day playing in and out the water.
Sometimes I wonder what it’d be like to be an elephant
to use my trunk just like a hand
To…at the same time be the strongest…
and gentlest creature on the land
Sometimes I wonder what it’d be like to be a dolphin
think of all the places I would roam…
if I could swim as fast as they can
if the ocean was why home…
So many different animals
I wonder what they’d be like to be….
and I wonder…
if they ever wonder…
what it would be like..
to be me.
May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life
that have, for us, thus far accrued…
and to begin each day with a word of thanks…
and thoughts of gratitude.
Today I’m thankful for the resilience of the heart
That, while keeping the rhythmic beat of life for every,
Man
Woman
Girl
And
Boy
also has the ability to absorb our deepest sorrow
while at the same time releasing our ultimate joy
How even after the loss of someone we love
the heart has the wherewithal…
To help us deal with the sorrow of never seeing them again….
by reminding us of the joy and honor we had
in knowing them at all.
