Grounded in Gratitude
I recently got to spend a week in Atlanta with my sister and her family, including the three funnest kids on the planet. They recently came into possession of a karaoke machine, and had all kinds of Disney tracks loaded and ready to be sung. When they invited me to join them (read: when I went downstairs to get something from my bag and asked if I could sing a song), I obviously chose to unabashedly belt out “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid and “Be A Man” from Mulan.
There’s a line in “Be A Man” that always sticks with me, and randomly plays in my head sometimes. Apologies in advance for the early morning awakenings as the chorus thunders in your ears because you read this post. Thanks for being here.
The line is: “once you find your center, you are sure to win.”
I woke up with that in my mind the other day, and I was thinking, I think my center is gratitude.
It started with a day near the end of the week where it was just too daunting to get up because I wanted to sleep some more… a lot more. And I thought about breakfast, and that made it a snap to hop right up, grill some bread and slather it with homemade guac from the night before. Once I had my breakfast, I was sure to win the day.
I thought about other things that are opportunities for gratitude in my day to day.
My morning commute is an opportunity to listen to an audiobook (insane domestic thrillers, mostly, with twists you don’t see coming), or to sing some show tunes, so if a production of Evita, or Les Mis ever goes amateur theater around here, I’ll be ready.
My afternoon commute is a chance to get even farther along in my audiobook.
Forgetting my lunch is an opportunity to get a grilled cheese sandwich in the dining room, which comes with chips that I like to dip in mustard. I dip the grilled cheese in ketchup for a full lunch experience, not just a break.
And hot days are a reminder to check on my little garden and water my plants.
Coming home to Reesee the Cat is a chance to practice patience, and a full fridge and a meal plan for the week means we are nourished.
Gratitude, even the tiniest things we can find to be grateful for in the ordinary living of live offers an extraordinary shift in perspective, offering hope and resilience to face the more difficult days.
My most important gratitude of all is recognizing that the basic necessities I often take for granted like food and shelter, plumbing and clean water, meaningful work, are things that I might not have if even a few things in my life had played out differently; including the very color of my skin. Acknowledging my privilege keeps me grateful, but never lets me stop there.
It reminds me to be kind, generous, and considerate as I engage the world around me. When kindness, generosity toward others, and compassion in each encounter with another person are my center, I’m sure to win, at least in how I experience my day.
A resident at work said it best, as I was walking in to work today: “when you get to be my age, and you wake up and you’re looking at your ceiling, you know it’s gonna be a good day.”
What are you grateful for today?