Where do we begin with gratitude? With the things that gratify, provide instant pleasure, or enhance our ego? With the things in our immediate circle, perhaps, like family and friends? Yes that one I think.
The obvious things are faith, which gives direction and foundation of strength, and health, which enables me to build on that foundation in any meaningful way.
Garth Brooks famously gave thanks “For Unanswered Prayers.” I think he was on to something. So this weekend I find myself giving thanks for things that didn’t go as I planned, for losses I didn’t expect, and for directions I wasn’t able to take. Why? Because without them, I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am, and that would be a pity. God’s ways, as I have innumerable reasons to know, are not our ways. Best to let go, give thanks even when we do it in the dark,
and just let life roll.
That’s true in writing as well. The characters in my work in progress have taken me places I didn’t expect both literally (Cairo anyone?) and emotionally. I can’t wait to see where we go next. But first, coffee.