Yesterday was Thanksgiving here in the States. Over the past few years something about being a mother and spending the day preparing our “feast” has turned this holiday into a very personal and special one for me. Some years have been better than others, in regards to cooking the turkey – and there has definitely been a learning curve in that. But I wouldn’t trade this day for the world.
This is the first year that I put up our Thankful Tree – something I’ve wanted to do for a few years but never got around to. It was fun to think with the kids about the things we are grateful for and seeing what things are important to them.
Seeing our tree every day helped me be conscious of all the things I am grateful for, even if I didn’t write them all down and add them to the tree.
As I have focused on a grateful heart, I noticed a number of times where I would look around and the simple things of life seemed to shine with an added luster of beauty. It wasn’t anything big – a lot of times it was the way the sunlight came in the kitchen windows across the curtains and hit the floor, or how our lawn looked after clearing off all the fallen leaves, or watching my kids interact as they played on the trampoline. I have noticed the beauty in those things before, which seems obvious now that I type that. But this has been a different feeling of beauty that I haven’t felt before.
Simpleness. Peace. Calmness. Freedom.
I struggle with depression and anxiety, and there was a week or two this month where I was really trying to run away from those emotions as hard as I could. It was exhausting – because of course you can’t run from your own emotions. But these quiet simple moments were like an awaking out of these emotions. Like a gift. A beautiful touch of reality and mindfulness of what is. right now. in this moment.
Wishing you a wonderful and full life of love and friendship! May we all find the strength to forgive, and make room for peace and compassion. Things that definitely aren’t easy, but always worth it!
