Welcome, Fall! You Made It! Whoo-hoo!
September 22nd was the first day of fall. I let it slip up on me and pass me by. Maybe it did for you, too! Fall evokes so many sensual pleasures – the yummy pumpkin spice coffee and aromas that abound from aromatics and cooking. More than the sensual pleasures, what I love most about this season is it seems to come holding hands with “gratitude”.
This quote explains it well: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”
I’ve kicked gratitude up a notch — I’m happy to say it’s become a daily habit for me. Here’s what that looks like. I walk into my garage, see my sweet 2010 Buick Enclave ride, with almost 140,000 miles on it and I raise a hallelujah in gratitude. Every day that I drive it, I thank God for it. I toss another load of wash into the 25-year-old washing machine and dryer and I thank God that they are running well. I boast on God’s goodness to me.
After having had food poisoning or tummy bug last week, every day since I recovered, I thank God for good health. After many chiropractic appointments for pain in my leg – the pain didn’t go away. I was sent to my primary care doctor who ordered a CT scan to see what was going on with possible physical therapy involved in treatment. In the meantime, I decided to start back on swimming again since our pool is finally back open. Six days of swimming laps has resulted in no more pain. It was the therapy I needed. I have not stopped giving thanks.
Yes, the attitude of gratitude accompanies fall, but, for me – it’s become a habit. A habit I hope to never lose. I’m practicing my habit even more as I type this blog today. If we put in place some habits to produce the attitude, we can start telling gratitude to come to us rather than waiting for it to show up out of the sky or in our feelings or in our moods.
An attitude of gratitude can’t be conjured up, soaked up, injected or downloaded. It is a purposeful act of seeing, feeling, tasting, breathing, touching, hearing with a grateful heart. Gratitude is that mental tool we use to remind ourselves of the good stuff – that is all around us. I’m looking around me at my desk — the cell phone at my side, my computer, hands that can type, the pen, the pad, the Caladryl (for the mosquito bites), my daily promises box, the mug of water. It’s a lens that helps us see the things that don’t make it onto our lists of problems to be solved. It’s a spotlight that we shine on the people we love. It’s a pointer to unnoticed blessings like having enough food to eat or clean streets or plumbing.
I hope this blog today kickstarts this beautiful fall season and the attitude of gratitude for you. But, more importantly, I pray that it stimulates your spirit to crave the habit of gratitude. I promise you – it drives out the blues, the whines, the complaining, and everything else that steals God’s blessings from you.
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus!” 1 Thessalonians 5:18