DAILY GRATITUDE SHOULDERS

 

Today I’m grateful for shoulders…

I have been blessed to have stood on my ancestors shoulders…

Blessed the way our lives have intertwined….

And I hope someday my children and grandchildren will feel blessed

to have stood on top of mine.

STRONG SHOULDERS

 We will all have certain burdens in our life…

a life that will be long and diverse enough to vary them…

May we be blessed that whatever burdens life throws at us…

we have shoulders strong enough to carry them

SHOULDERS

 

When I think about the way I was created…every part of my body is enchanted…

from those parts I rely on every day…to those I take for granted.

Take my shoulders for instance..there was a time when I was young

and I looked in the mirror…at my shoulders I would scoff.

thinking their only use in life is to keep my arms and head from falling off.

It wasn’t until years later…when I became a Dad

I began to fully realize the importance my shoulders had.

Yes, once I had children it didn’t take me very long 

to realize why my shoulders were there…and why they needed to be strong. 

When my children were small and innocent…when life was so brand new

they would ride upon my shoulders to get a better view.

When they were ready to be on their own…as their life unfurled….

I was glad I had shoulders for them to stand on 

as they stepped into the world.

One important thing my children taught me…that helped me as a parent gel…

is that my shoulders not only needed to be strong…but needed to be soft as well.

Strong so they can lean on them whenever they’re filled with dread

and soft when they need comfort and a place to lay their head.

As long as I am living I hope my children (and grandchildren) will be aware 

when and if they ever need them…my shoulders will be there.

These days when I think about my shoulders I no longer scoff…

I no longer think their only purpose in life 

is to keep my arms and head from falling off.

No, these days when I look in the mirror…I am instantly elated…

because I now know exactly whey my shoulders were created.

DAILY GRATITUDE HEROES

 

Today I’m grateful for a better understanding of what a hero is:

for 72 years life has been my teacher

And she has taught me a hero 

is anyone determined to make this world a better place

for every living creature.

HEREOS ACROSS OUR PATH

 May we all be blessed to have heroes cross our paths

Those who help to make us who we are, 

who set our spirits free 

and thus…

We hope they all know who they are 

and 

how much their heroism meant to us.

HEROES AND MONSTERS

 

When we were young there were heroes and there were monsters

and in our innocent and limited childhood view…

from Fairy Tales and with our parents help

it was easy to tell the difference between the two.

In the evening when we woke from a nightmare and our hearts were filled with dread….

our heroes were our parents who vanquished the monsters beneath our bed. 

In our Fairy Tales it was easy to tell the good people from the bad.

They were strong honorable men and woman…just like Mom and Dad

But it becomes more difficult as we grow…the more our wings are spread…

when the monsters aren’t just the ones who sleep beneath our bed.

Some monsters were easy to spot…they didn’t try to hide themselves away.

They wore swastika’s on their clothing like the Nazi’s or white sheets like the KKK. 

But it became more difficult to tell the heroes from the monsters…

when their swastikas they shed

when they wore tailored suits to work instead of hoods upon their heads. .

What makes monsters different today is that they could be anyone we see….

At first glance there’s no way to tell difference between them and you and me.

They can be our neighbor…or someone we once thought of as a friend…

and we will never comprehend or fathom the horrors they intend.

Today the only way to distinguish one monster from the rest

Is to follow their path of evil, their destructiveness…their unrest.

Now, when we search for a happy ending…dream of a better day…

it’s up to us to become the heroes and every evil monster to slay.

To work for the day with the other heroes help these monsters will no longer exist…

the day when we are blessed to have no more monsters in our midst.

The day when we live in a world where we don’t cause our children any dread

the day when the only monsters they need to worry about…

are the ones beneath their bed.

FALLING IN LOVE

 

One thing we are blessed to experience as parents…

which in life will always be a plus…

Is how we fall in love with our children

long before they fall in love with us.

OUR DUTIES

To all those who don’t think what’s happening In this country is evil or bizarre…

A reminder of the duties to our children…PLEASE…remember who you are…

We have a duty to all the children of the world from the moment of their birth…

A duty to make them feel safe and happy while they walk upon this Earth.

A duty to teach them right from wrong…how to respect the land, the plants, the birds

A duty to show them our actions will always be more important than our words.

A duty to show them kindness and love…to help them grow, mature and cope.

A duty to teach them about friendship, honor, justice and to fill their world with hope.

A duty to show them things that need to be changed…and things they must accept.

A duty to show them all life is precious…and that promises need to be kept.

A duty to help them handle their mistakes and failures…

to show them good manners are never outdated…

A duty to show them that tenderness, love and charity can never be overrated.

 

A duty to allow their imaginations to soar…

to show them it is courageous to say when they’re wrong.

A duty to teach them compassion, caring and compromise 

are ways of showing they are strong.

Our final duty is to teach them every human being is important 

and deserves respect…no matter their sex, gender, color or race.

And when we choose to fulfill these duties 

the world is a more peaceful and beautiful place.

Perhaps the best reason to fulfill our duties to the children of the world

from the moment of their birth…

Is so they’ll be ready when they grow up to fulfill these duties

for the next generation of children 

as they walk upon this Earth.

 

DAILY GRATITUDE ABILITY TO SMILE

 

Today I’m grateful I have a face

a place for my smile to wear…

and for all the people in my life

with the ability to keep it there

SO MANY SMILES

 

May we al be blessed as we travel trough this time and in this space

to have many people in our life who, 

when we think about them

bring a smile to our face

BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER

 

There are three distinct stages in any relationship that stand out undeniably.

Three phases of any connection we make with our pets, friends and family.

There is the time before we were blessed to know them…before they came into our life.

The time before partners, pets, children, grandchildren, friendships, a husband or a wife.

There is the time during which we know them..when in so many subtle ways

their love helps us navigate the world…as we change a little every day.

And there is the time after they are gone…

A time, if we stop to think about, we fear.

A time when, for whatever reason, in our life they’re no longer here.

Before is a hopeful stage…it’s like how in winter we anticipate the spring…

since we haven’t met them yet we have no idea what joy into our life they’ll bring.

During is an easy stage…as the two of us connect

as we build a relationship mixed with joy and sorrow…and mutual respect.

After is the most difficult stage!

Before…we never knew them.

During is filled with all the experiences we build our love and relationship on…

but we are only left with memories…after they are gone. 

I imagine the best we can do…

Is to fill our during with as much love as we can

with as much joy and happiness and laughter….

so we’ll have a host of wonderful memories

to fill up all our afters.

DAILY GRATITUDE MUSIC AND PLATO

 

Today I’m grateful for music and for Plato

to his words I often cling :

Music, he said, gives soul to the universe

Wings to the mind

Flight to the imagination

And life to everything…

POWER OF MUSIC

 

May we be blessed to understand music 

the way Pablo Casals understood music

Before this world we shall depart…

He believed:

Music is the divine way to tell beautiful

and poetic things directly to the heart

TAKE US HOME

 

In 1971, John Denver wrote Take Me Home Country Roads

and though in 1997 he passed away… 

I imagine he’d be smiling knowing his song is still being sung today.

Country Roads take me home 

to the place I belong

West Virginia, mountain mama

Take me home, country roads

Country Roads came on the radio in the bookstore the other night

and I found there is still magic in John’s song…

when an older couple in the store began to sing along.

Then a younger couple, then a family with children began to sing along

for a moment it’s as if time had slowed…

and before I knew it everyone in the store, including me,

was singing take me home, country roads..

It was a spontaneous unplanned flash mob…

people of all colors, sizes and shapes…singing that chorus…that verse

and when the song was over we all smiled, nodded to each other

then happily dispersed.

There is a lot of discord in our country at this moment

and it was wonderful to hear and see…

together in the bookstore…this moment of harmony.

When cruelty and brutality become the norm…

When evil is spewing out lies and trying to re-write history

We need more moments when people come together to celebrate humanity.

This was a reminder as this evil works to separate and divide us

wherever we may roam…

together we are strong…we have each other 

Together…we can take each other home.

Country Roads take me home 

to the place I belong

West Virginia, mountain mama

Take me home, country roads.