DAILY GRATITUDE BALANCE

 

I am grateful for understanding early 

what some people understand too late…

that balance in our life is not something we find…

it is something we create.

ONLY WHAT WE NEED

 

May we be blessed in life never to succumb 

to the enticement and attraction of greed…

May we be content and happy with what we have…

give to others who may need…

and as we navigate the world

take from it…only what we need

BALANCE

 

There is a time as children…when we realize

so much of our world is magical…everything is a surprise….

Where we spend our days looking for rainbows and watching fireflies.

When we find ourselves talking to ladybugs, to the bees and the butterflies. 

When we can bee seen whispering to the rabbits, the deer, the birds, 

the flowers and the trees

laughing with the stars, the mountains, the dolphins and the seas.

Then we grow up…get busy with life and it’s responsibilities…

and we spend more time on these and less time with the flowers and the trees

Along the way we forget that feeling of wonder…that feeling of surprise

we had while conversing with the ladybugs, the bees and the butterflies.

We forget how important they once were to us…

how on their every movement we once hung 

when we still spoke with all of nature…at a time when we were young.

Then when we grow even oder…with our eyes re-focused we again realize

how there is still so much magic in the world…so many wonders to surprise.

And as life slows down we find we have more time for rainbows…

for ladybugs and bees…

more time for conversing with the stars…the mountains and the trees.

There are some who learn quite early…

yes, in life there’s time for growth…

that when it comes to balancing time in nature and our responsibilities…

there is always room for both.

And there are some who learn too late…

how life is filled with many magic moments to be seen…

and from their old age…looking back to their childhood they wonder

what they did with all those magic moments in between,

DAILY GRATITUDE OPEN HEARTS

 

I am grateful to all those people…

who leave their hearts and minds and souls open…

whose acceptance and compassion never ends…

so everyone who enters their lives as strangers…

leave knowing they are friends.

OPEN OUR HEARTS

 

May we be blessed as people

created with beautifully diverse and varied parts…

to stop closing our doors to one other

and begin to open our hearts.

OUR FAMILY

 

We are extremely lucky…some would say blessed

from this moment looking back into our family tree

to be a part of a beautifully large and varied extended family.

When looking at our family…due to natural circumstances, we openly defy

the current reigning political philosophy…meaning…our family is DEI.

We come from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and identities…

Look at us and you’ll see…

We are the embodiment…the epitome…the definition of diversity.

We see everyone in our family as equals…this we happily proclaim…

meaning when it comes to every member of our family… 

we love them all the same.

We love, respect and support each other…through joy and adversity…

We accept new members with open arms 

happy to welcome them into our family…

And we do our best to help each family member understand…

how everyone has worth…

and how our extended family…extends out across the Earth.

How it is up to us as a family…to be kind and gentle with every kind of folk

to fight injustices where and when we see them…

Yes, we proudly say…our family’s WOKE!

The governor of Florida…for reasons only he knows why…

has repeated time and time again that Florida is where WOKE goes to die.

It’s a certain political philosophy he is trying hard to sell…

but if our family (and so many families like ours) are any indication

WOKE is alive here…and doing well.

So I have news for you governor…and all who think like you:

your particular intolerant philosophy:  we enthusiastically defy.

because diversity, equality, and inclusion are not dead…

look around you…they will never die.

LIKE BUTTERFLIES

I am grateful for understanding how our children 

are like the tiny butterflies…that land in our hands for us to hold…

and grateful I’ve been around…

to see the moment their wings unfold.

 

SHARING WINGS

 

May we be blessed

whenever we see someone afraid of falling…

afraid of what that fall might bring…

that we put them on our shoulders

and share with them…our wings…

And equally blessed when we are afraid of falling

afraid of what that fall might bring

that someone will put us on their shoulders

and share with us…their wings.

A RIDE WITH A CATERPILLAR

 

Yesterday while driving to meet my daughter and attend a Lacrosse game 

I noticed a caterpillar on my shoulder…

I’m not sure where she came from…but I have a feeling as to why…

She was there to remind me of all there is to learn from our friend…the butterfly.

And as I watched her quietly crawling on me

thinking how one day…she will reach for the sky

I was mesmerized thinking of the silent beauty…that is the butterfly.

While we made this trip together…her presence made me reminisce…

how just like her we humans are in a state of metamorphosis.

How like this tiny caterpillar…we are all a fragile sort…

How we need to make each moment special…because our time on Earth is short.

How our life is always changing…

how we must be patient with what each change brings

patient and resilient…if we are ever to grow our wings.

How once our wings have formed…it might take more than just one try

before we find the courage…the skill, the fortitude…and the confidence to fly.

And how once we learn to fly we're in for a wonderful surprise…

we get to share the entire world with a host of different butterflies. 

When I arrived at the Lacrosse field…

I thanked the caterpillar for a moment I was glad I didn’t miss…

then gently set her down on a big green leaf 

so she could continue her metamorphosis.

When I walked into the stands to sit…I couldn’t believe my eyes…

for everywhere I looked I was surrounded by butterflies…

A diverse and beautiful group of Butterflies…butterflies just like me…

all sizes, ages, shapes and colors…in different phases of their metamorphoses 

It’s funny all the other people seated next to me…

saw only a lacrosse game on that field through their eyes…

but because of a car ride with caterpillar…

I was happily sitting…in a field of butterflies.

DAILHY GRATITUDE HUMANITY

 

I am grateful for those humans out there (and there are a lot of you)

who don’t make the daily news

whose kindness often goes unseen…

who are loving, compassionate and accepting

In a world where some have forgotten what being human means.

HUMANITY

 

May we be blessed to remember…

When deciding the kind of human we want to be

That the kindness in our heart

is the best part of our humanity

WE ARE ALL HUMAN

 

I am a human being which means 

(and you’ll find all anthropologist agreeing)

I share many of my characteristics…

with you…and every other human being.

This truth, in some, evoke both hatefulness and wrath…

How, as human being, we all share a similar evolutionary path.

Which means when you or I meet a fellow human being…

It’s not the whole human we first see…

because some of our human characteristics

are hidden…inside of you…inside of me.

For like you and all humans I am many colors…

I am black, brown, red and beige…I am the colors of the stars at night…

In fact because of our melanin, a natural pigment we all share,

the only color we are not…is white.

So when some humans try to divide us up…

when they decide to categorize and segregate us…

Not only are they doing a disservice to every human…

But to those who worked hard to create us.

And when we bomb and kill and abuse other human beings…

When we say they are not welcome…when we build a wall…

we are not only damaging those fellow humans…we’re doing damage to us all.

This basic information…can be found in our science books…

where the facts are waiting for us to understand them…

provided those humans…who are afraid of this truth

have not already banned them.