Thank You

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

In life, there are cycles of good and bad. There are times when our lives seem joyful and easy, and times when we're struggling through what seem like endless series of difficulties.  These past few days, weeks, in fact, have been quite discouraging with the loss of my backyard critters, being intimidated by an unstable client, so many appliances breaking down; Watch the news and people are killing and robbing each other.  Unemployment is high.  Prices in the stores and rents keep going up, but salaries remain the same. it's been so easy to become discouraged.  Sometimes we tend to forget about thankfulness...about gratitude.

I've been feeling sorry for myself lately, and sadly, a sense of  gratitude was the furthest thing from my mind recently. I'd forgotten to count my blessings.  I've a loving husband and two wonderful sons...a decent job that pays the rent and puts food on the table. Being grateful for what we have, what we see, what we taste and experience...what we are and what we possess...there are blessings all around us if we take the time to notice them. When I first started blogging a little over a year ago, I didn't know anything about it.  I didn't know what to expect. I'd always been a Yahoo group person and just assumed that was the ultimate end, but, I have found so much more here. Today I am blessed to have met so many wonderful people...people I have never met personally...and may never meet personally, but individuals I, nonetheless, consider my friends.

First there was the surprise package from Spirit Pheonix   which was waiting for me when I arrived home last night. If I recall, her blog was one of the first I began following when I discovered what following meant. Yes, I was a total blog nerd and still am in many ways. Recently, I was blessed to be the recipient of her surprise blog birthday giveaway of an Ideal Afternoon.  In the the package was the Nora Roberts Key Trilogy and four different kinds of hot chocolate. Now, I can't wait for the cooler weather to finally arrive so I can truly enjoy such a thoughtful gift.

And, wow, on the same day to discover that I've been blessed with still another giveaway...this one from Faerwillow at Serendipity.    Oh, such a wonderful person with a beautiful blog that always leaves you with a feeling of peace and comfort when you visit there.  

And to top it all off, this magnificent award from Debra at She Who Seeks.   It is truly an honor.  There are a few rules attached.  I've already linked to my dear blog friend, Debra who always make my morning brighter.  Now, I link to the person who created this award. Hazra at Advance Booking   The third and final rule is to choose 7 of my favorite bloggers who always have at least one new post to read all the time.  Sorry, can't do it.  You're all so wonderful.  This award belongs to each and every one of you.

Please, do check out their blogs if you haven't already.  All are special in their own unique ways.  I love them all. Each has a special place in my heart.  Thanks, ladies, for reminding me of what I have to be grateful for.  Last night I went through my journal and found a few little things that I would like to share with you. Journal keeping is something I have done for so many years that I have given up counting.  Some journals are my thoughts, my feelings...others are little quotes, poems, and other little goodies I found throughout the years.

Whenever I come home tired from work or complain about paying m bills, it is time to think of others who lost their jobs and homes in these poor economic times.  I will be patient and be grateful that I still have my work.

I will be grateful for my mistakes for they are the lessons I am meant to learn in life.

I will embrace the fact that I am tired and drained because that means I am still alive and that I have made a difference. 

Happiness is a choice, so I choose to see the goodness in others and the things that surround me. 

And, I would like to add, today is Blog Action Day 2010, a day to honor water, a day to post anything about water that touches our spirit, so in honor of the day I offer the following:

Break, break, break
On thy cold grey stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.

O well for the fisherman's boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!

And the stately ships go on
To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of a vanished hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!

Break, break, break
At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.

--By Alfred Tennyson--