Thank you in no particular order

Today is a day when we all reflect on those things for which we’re thankful and count our blessings (stuffing ourselves senseless, notwithstanding). And reflecting on your blessings is never a bad thing. In fact, whole industries have been built around gratitude. And lots of people keep gratitude journals or meditate daily on the things for which they are grateful.

I was never able to do a gratitude journal – not because there weren’t things to be grateful for or that my life lacked blessings – there were. I think it was something about the wording I was using, “I am grateful for…” To me, it felt egocentric (or something). Anyway…the other day I started my day with a thank you list. It was simple, I just wrote thank you for (fill in the blank) and the list was a long one.

And I realized that saying thank you, instead of I am grateful changed things for me. Because I believe that there is a force greater than myself in the world – you can call it God, the spirit in the sky, the Universe, Mother Nature or whatever you like but it’s something outside myself. Something bigger, smarter, wiser, kinder and more loving than I am. Some source from which (I believe) all things good comes from.

So, today I say thank you in no particular order…

• Thank you for coffee
• Thank you for this beautiful, cold, crisp day
• Thank you for Amazon and KDP and the new opportunities it has created for writers and readers
• Thank you for writers like Hugh Howey, Anne R. Allen and Joe Konrath who have forged a path that other writers may follow
• Thank you for my quick mind
• Thank you for laughter
• Thank you for puppies, kittens, babies and all things innocent and pure
• Thank you for words, ideas, thoughts, characters that magically appear in my head
• Thank you for books and eyes to read them
• Thank you for computers, pens, paper, pencils, recorders, smart phones and tablets – all the tools through which we can communicate
• Thank you for the creativity that I take for granted every single day
• Thank you for the kindness of strangers
• Thank you for colors, smells, tastes and sounds
• Thank you for the pain that has driven me to learn where I went wrong
• Thank you for the will to continue when conventional wisdom says otherwise
• Thank you for everything I am and am not and the joy of discovering which is which
• Thank you for the new day and another chance to do better

 

Enjoy your day and thank you for reading, you are a blessing.

Annie