Today I feel thankful for:
- Unbirthday Parties! My husband and I came up with the idea to celebrate everyone on the same day at a time of year when not much is going on holiday wise. When my children were little, we lived across the street from the elementary school. On the selected, surprise day, they would walk through the front door overwhelmed by the Beatles’ song “Birthday” blasting all through the house, a big banner across the front hallway, and a big chocolate cake. Everyone in the whole family gets one unbirthday present. It is a celebration of our family and I love it. Jeff just went to get our kids and should be back in about 15 minutes. I have the Beatles prepped and ready to blast off. Woo Hoo! “You say it’s your birthday!”
- Pumpkins. My daughter picked out two beautiful pumpkins for our front porch this afternoon. They make this 90 degree weather feel like Hot Chocolate time. Beautiful.
- Stop Lights. Seriously. Several years ago after I read Don Postema’s book on Sabbath, I had a new appreciation for traffic lights. He talked about how the church bells in his little community were a signal in his day to remind him to say a little prayer, scripture, or just take a breath. He found that stop-lights could represent the same idea when he was traveling in bigger cities. This is especially helpful to remind me to take a breath in Houston! I recently learned a new acrostic that will be a wonderful traffic light, traffic, or stop sign practice. (Zylowska, 2012).
- STOP
- S – Stop or pause.
- T – Take a breath and relax
- O – Observe in the present moment. What sounds do I notice? What is my breath like right now? How does my body feel right now? What am I grateful for in this moment?
- P – Proceed – Where was my attention before STOP, and did it match my intention? Do I want to continue or think about something else?
What are you thankful for today?
Gratitude 