As much as yesterday was a pristine beach day, today was a beautiful rain day. I spent the afternoon upstairs painting closet doors in the girls room. The room, newly painted and decorated, lent an organized calm to my workspace. Both windows were open and a gentle rain was falling. The smell of mingled rain and paint kept my senses keenly aware. The TV played The Talk, then Dr.Phil, and then Oprah in the background. I felt serenely alone from my bedroom tower that gazed out on the neighborhood far below. I had objects left over from my recent garage sale set out under the tree by the road with a “free” sign pointing to them. Every once in awhile a car would stop and rifle through the pile. I was excited that they took the old computer. That would be hard to dispose of. Time passed as my paintbrush thwacked thwacked back and forth as I watched the dark wood turn white. Inside my head my thoughts wandered and didn’t stick in any particular vein. A quiet sense of gratitude for where I am and who I am settled in my chest.
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…
It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melody Beattie
Sometimes we have to hang out with ourselves, drink in and absorb our surroundings, not think – but just let who we are bubble to the surface. It is in these moments, gratitude surfaces and life quietly smoothes out its wrinkles.
And so, as another day goes by, sun and rain work back to back to show me that I am enough, and I have written.
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