Today I can find more fault than to be grateful for. The wind was blowing so hard that the house was shaking all day, leaving me quite unsettled. The boys were running around like wild banshees, loud and free with careless abandon. The cats were jumpy.
And yet, I there are always things in my life to be grateful for. I am always grateful for my kids. Even on these wild days, they are still wonderful individuals. I am grateful for my kitty, Snowshoe. She has the softest fur, and her purr is the kind to melt the coldest heart. I am grateful for my cordless mouse. I love my little green mouse! I am grateful for my laptop, and for my true love that gave it to me. I am grateful that I am free and will wake up tomorrow to a new day.
Find the Perfect Halloween Costume!
02 May 2010
01 May 2010
Finding Gratitude On Bad Days
On a day when you wake up feeling just slightly off, you might start to wonder what you have to be grateful for. This morning as I posed that question to myself, my sense of sarcasm kicked in, and I found myself snapping.. I am grateful for my head hurting! I am grateful for being dizzy. I am grateful for the tickle in my throat telling me I am getting sick. Hmmph.. perhaps I should be grateful that I have an early warning system so keenly attuned. I can foretell my future, and yet am powerless to change it.
Although finding things to be grateful for on these days can be challenging, it is worth it to do so. Remember, what you feel today, is what you are creating tomorrow. Well, it might be further in the future, but you get my meaning. With practice, it does get easier. And soon you will always be able to see the brighter side of life, and find more happiness and fulfillment with it.
Today, I am grateful for my voice over phone line. Without it I would not be able to talk to the comfort of my life who lives across the ocean from me. The phone is like a lifeline of peace and security to me.
I am grateful that my children are all old enough to take basic care of themselves, and help each other. As a single mom, there is no one else around to take care of things when I am not well.
I am grateful for my laptop. Even if it is still a bit hot tempered.. Haha.. the way it likes to overheat so much.. I had forgotten my sheer joy in using it.. how my fingers seem to fly along the keys without hesitation, and the gently clicking sound of them being music to my ears.
I am grateful for the internet. Another lifeline of sorts.. it allows me to glance into the outside world and realize that there is sanity out there in places. It allows me to leave my physical surroundings and dwell in brighter, sunnier places full of intelligence and creative ideas.
I am grateful for my DVR. I love not having to watch shows when they are on, and not having to watch the commercials when I am ready to catch up on shows.
I am grateful that tomorrow is another day, and I do not have to drag any of the past with me, but can start afresh each day.
Although finding things to be grateful for on these days can be challenging, it is worth it to do so. Remember, what you feel today, is what you are creating tomorrow. Well, it might be further in the future, but you get my meaning. With practice, it does get easier. And soon you will always be able to see the brighter side of life, and find more happiness and fulfillment with it.
Today, I am grateful for my voice over phone line. Without it I would not be able to talk to the comfort of my life who lives across the ocean from me. The phone is like a lifeline of peace and security to me.
I am grateful that my children are all old enough to take basic care of themselves, and help each other. As a single mom, there is no one else around to take care of things when I am not well.
I am grateful for my laptop. Even if it is still a bit hot tempered.. Haha.. the way it likes to overheat so much.. I had forgotten my sheer joy in using it.. how my fingers seem to fly along the keys without hesitation, and the gently clicking sound of them being music to my ears.
I am grateful for the internet. Another lifeline of sorts.. it allows me to glance into the outside world and realize that there is sanity out there in places. It allows me to leave my physical surroundings and dwell in brighter, sunnier places full of intelligence and creative ideas.
I am grateful for my DVR. I love not having to watch shows when they are on, and not having to watch the commercials when I am ready to catch up on shows.
I am grateful that tomorrow is another day, and I do not have to drag any of the past with me, but can start afresh each day.
30 April 2010
Take It As It Comes
I could write about how bad things were today.. the whole water bill issue with the landlord that has been going on the past few months. The one that everyone I talk to is appalled that the landlord is NOT taking responsibility for. But guess what, the law is ambiguous enough that if it went to court it would come down to what judge had the case, and how they were feeling that day.
I talked to a lawyer, and the honest truth is that I have some strong arguments, but because of how the lease was written, and the favoritism of the state for landlords, I might have a 65% chance of winning. Those odds are just not good enough for me. And I would rather cut my losses and move on than continue to play the I have to battle it out or I have to be right game. So why do I write this? Isn't this just me proving that I am right? Hmpphh.. Well, I am. But, no. I am sharing this to perhaps help someone else realize that the are fighting a battle that isn't worth fighting.
What am I going to do now? Simple, put the water bill into my name. Use water MY usual conservative way. And get back to building my business and creating my future away from here. That is what is important.
But I thought this was a gratitude blog! It is.. I am grateful for finding wonderful, friendly people to talk to about the laws in Arizona this morning. I am grateful for finding a lawyer who would talk to me over the phone and be honest with me about my chances and why. And I am grateful for my ever supportive boyfriend, who is my best friend and always there for me even though he lives half way around the world from me.
I talked to a lawyer, and the honest truth is that I have some strong arguments, but because of how the lease was written, and the favoritism of the state for landlords, I might have a 65% chance of winning. Those odds are just not good enough for me. And I would rather cut my losses and move on than continue to play the I have to battle it out or I have to be right game. So why do I write this? Isn't this just me proving that I am right? Hmpphh.. Well, I am. But, no. I am sharing this to perhaps help someone else realize that the are fighting a battle that isn't worth fighting.
What am I going to do now? Simple, put the water bill into my name. Use water MY usual conservative way. And get back to building my business and creating my future away from here. That is what is important.
But I thought this was a gratitude blog! It is.. I am grateful for finding wonderful, friendly people to talk to about the laws in Arizona this morning. I am grateful for finding a lawyer who would talk to me over the phone and be honest with me about my chances and why. And I am grateful for my ever supportive boyfriend, who is my best friend and always there for me even though he lives half way around the world from me.
29 April 2010
Giving Gratitude For Making It Through The Night
There is nothing that quite compares to living in a high valley in terms of the weather. We live in the southern part of the Mojave Desert, so you would expect it to be warm and dry. But living in between two mountain peaks brings quite a bit you would not expect.
For one thing it is totally awesome to see snow on the mountain tops to either side, and yet have none on the ground where you are. We also get a tremendous amount of rain. We live in the middle of a very dry desert, and yet we seem to get rain at least once a week and often times for more then one day at a time. A bit strange for the average number of days of sunlight for the state of Arizona being over 300.
When it kicks up, the wind seems to be funneled in along the mountain walls, and it feels like the entire valley becomes a wind tunnel. You can sit and watch the trees bending low as if to kiss the earth. You hear the wind find every crack in your house and whistle its' way in. Open the window about half an inch and you can recreate the sound of an old freight train whistle. If you ever hear that haunting whistle at night, when everything is dark, it is enough to make you think of a lonely train streaming across a deserted space, just crying its' lonliness out to the world. The sound cuts straight through you.
That is the wind we have had the last couple of days. The wind has been strong enough to just blow the cell signal away from the cell phone, strong enough to blow the phone lines right off the telephone poles.. Just last night it kicked up even stronger and created such a ruckus of vents flapping howling noises that it sounded like wild animals desparate to get in.
And now as the light of day is slowly growing stronger, the wind's howling doesn't seem quite as scary. And as I glance out my window, and see that all of our outdoor toys are still securely tucked in around the house, I give thanks for making it through the night. I am grateful to still be here with all of my belongings still intact.
I post here an shortened, edited version of this post. You can find it in all its descriptive glory, and full length at http://www.lifelearningjourney.com/2010/04/howl-of-wind.html. And I am grateful to have the option to do that!
For one thing it is totally awesome to see snow on the mountain tops to either side, and yet have none on the ground where you are. We also get a tremendous amount of rain. We live in the middle of a very dry desert, and yet we seem to get rain at least once a week and often times for more then one day at a time. A bit strange for the average number of days of sunlight for the state of Arizona being over 300.
When it kicks up, the wind seems to be funneled in along the mountain walls, and it feels like the entire valley becomes a wind tunnel. You can sit and watch the trees bending low as if to kiss the earth. You hear the wind find every crack in your house and whistle its' way in. Open the window about half an inch and you can recreate the sound of an old freight train whistle. If you ever hear that haunting whistle at night, when everything is dark, it is enough to make you think of a lonely train streaming across a deserted space, just crying its' lonliness out to the world. The sound cuts straight through you.
That is the wind we have had the last couple of days. The wind has been strong enough to just blow the cell signal away from the cell phone, strong enough to blow the phone lines right off the telephone poles.. Just last night it kicked up even stronger and created such a ruckus of vents flapping howling noises that it sounded like wild animals desparate to get in.
And now as the light of day is slowly growing stronger, the wind's howling doesn't seem quite as scary. And as I glance out my window, and see that all of our outdoor toys are still securely tucked in around the house, I give thanks for making it through the night. I am grateful to still be here with all of my belongings still intact.
I post here an shortened, edited version of this post. You can find it in all its descriptive glory, and full length at http://www.lifelearningjourney.com/2010/04/howl-of-wind.html. And I am grateful to have the option to do that!
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