Driving along today, I found myself almost in tears... but these were not the tears I have gotten used to dealing with; those are the ones that come from sneak attacks of grief and loneliness... Today's tears were from the most profound feeling of thankfulness!!
I was driving along, running an errand and all of a sudden I felt something familiar, tears, welling up-- but there was something different going on inside of me, it wasn't the sadness that is usually there when this happens, it was a different feeling. I was literally shocked to realize why the tears were welling up, they were coming from, for a lack of a better way to describe it, an overwhelming sense of deep thankfulness within.
I have tried to make thankfulness a big part of my life, but recently I decided to begin a journal that has one purpose-- recording the things in my life I am thankful for. The decision to do this had come after one of those other moments of tears, I decided that I was going quit allowing myself to wallow in my loss and to start changing my focus, I chose to go back to the time of losing Glenn to cancer, and start journaling those things that the Lord has done since I started this chapter of my life... and there are many!! (I may share more on that in the future.)
I know the reality, I will still have those other tears, but I am making an effort to take a life of thankfulness to the next level. I want more of those overwhelming moments of thankfulness to hit me.
My encouragement to anyone, no matter what is happening, no matter how dark the moment, there is always something to be thankful for, it may be something very small-- maybe just the fact there is coffee for the coffee pot, or it could be something very big... but there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for!
Blessings!!
Mary
A.K.A - Prairiemouse
Great thoughts, Dear Mary. I have found choosing to be thankful starts a chain of events in my soul that can turn those "other" tears away as well. But both are a part of life!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree... being thankful has made the last 5 and a half years so much easier to walk. Lately my awareness of so much has just blown me away.
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