Category: Gratitude - A Cottage by the Sea

Life is good--Wheaties, Vermont and books

8/5/2018

      Oh, the lazy days of summer. A slow pace for this blog. Here’s a little catch up.
     Most important is Wheaties. Thank you thank you to the several friends who have bought me a box or two. For now, the shelves have been replenished, although with the old design. I have not idea what to expect when these are consumed. And, how long will that take? Which gets me wondering how long those little wheat flakes sit in a box—months? Years?
     Last week my husband and I spent two night in Vermont, and this weekend we return for a family reunion. Thankfully the three and a half hour drive is primarily along winding roads through idyllic New England towns.
     Some friends just sent me long lists of books they are reading, so tonight, as I listen to the Red Sox beat the Yankees for the fourth time in a row, I will go on line and see what books I can get from inter-library loan.
     Life is good and for that, I am very grateful.

Child abuse at our borders

6/14/2018

     Here are this morning’s gratitudes:
• I’m grateful I had the freedom to nurse my two children.
• I’m grateful that I am sooooo angry that nursing children are being taken (grabbed) from their mother’s     breast at our Mexican border.
       I can’t believe that my gratitude has to do with anger. As I’ve written before, every morning my husband and I start the day saying what we’re grateful for. Those ought to be positive, right? And they usually are because isn’t that the nature of gratitude? Isn’t that how we want to live?
     But this is a totally new concept for me (and I’m sure I’m not alone), this separating nursing mothers and children. Separating is bad enough, but taking a baby from the breast? Child abuse is hardly a strong enough term. Is there any argument that says it’s not child abuse? I’m not saying abusive in some general, vague term. I’m using the full term: CHILD ABUSE.
     Who are these people who physically carry out this child abuse? Border guards, men and women. I assume that more of them are men, because that’s the kind of job men have. A few may be women, but I can’t imagine any woman would grab a child from a mother’s breast. More likely the women border guards are probably in the detention centers comforting children and mothers.
     I assume that these border guards are citizens of this democracy called the United States of America. How can these men and women stand by and be complicit in this child abuse? They need the job to support their families and they are powerless—the two go together; I get that. I also get that that is what German citizens said as they unwittingly participated in Hitler’s cult, which let to the Nazi state. And now, our the United States government, via the president, is requiring its citizens to participate in immoral and unethical acts against fellow human beings.
      I’m angry but refuse to admit I’m powerless. I have to believe that I am a citizen of a democracy. I can speak out against this child abuse, but is there something more to do?

Very grateful to have choices

5/8/2018

     Today is my mom’s birthday. She would have been 108, but good for her and lucky for me, she lived to over 101. As many of you know, Mom’s last words, thirteen days before she died, were, ‘Very Grateful.’ Although I lived with her daily demonstrations of gratitude, I became more conscious of the gratitudes in my life as I wrote about our last two years together in Very Grateful: The Story of My Hundred Year Old Mother and Me.
     Truth be told, it is easy for me to wake up every morning and list all the gratitudes in my life. But as I look at the lot of many, I am challenged for the world and for individuals.
     Choice comes to mind. I have so many that I can sum them up by saying, “I am grateful for all the choices in my life,” and get on with my day.You know what I’m talking about because most of you reading this blog have myriad choices, too: food, clothing, shelter. I’m not talking minimum, I’m taking about choices as in excess. I’m not talking minimum, I’m talking about big life choices.
      Separating migrant families at our Mexican border expunges the word choice from the vocabulary of those literally starving for a better life… and, I imagine for some of the border patrollers carrying out such a mandate. I have to stay hopeful about this. Hope is a choice, and a grateful one, to be sure.

Renewing silence, solitude and simplicity~

1/2/2018

Thank you Betsy Thompson.

     Gratitude is the best way to start anything, be it the day or the year and everything in between. Gratitude is a theological principle and the only way to lead a satisfying, joyful, meaningful life.
     As 2918 begins it is especially important that I renew my commitment to silence, solitude and simplicity. Why? Because we have no running water in the downstairs, which means we have to run upstairs to use the toilet, get a glass of water and wash the dishes. The frozen washing machine isn’t a big problem since we don’t seem to be working up a sweat!
     Silence, solitude and simplicity are never contingent on circumstances, but on one’s state of mind. Silence comes from not complaining about the situation; I’m grateful that I have a home, and, if the heat goes off, we have friends who will take us in. Solitude is available throughout the day, throughout the house, no matter what the temperature or water availability. Simplicity is accessible through our attitude, and by the practical fact that there just two of us here to manage.
betsythompsonstudio.com/

Thankful for the present moment~

11/25/2017

I’m thankful for the present moment. That’s what I’m working with. Just Be with whatever I’m doing. For example, making up the beds after company. Not a favorite task of mine; it takes time. But what if I remain conscious each time I smooth the sheets and tuck in the blankets? Staying present to the entire undertaking may become a way to express gratitude for the company who slept in the beds. Nothing like have a grown son asleep under the roof of the family homestead!

Today's gratitudes~

11/3/2017

Here’s what’s on my Top Ten Gratitude List this morning-- in no particular order.
I am grateful that:
• I do not want the new iPhone X.
• I am going to visit my granddaughter at college tomorrow.
• I am not Angelina Jolie.
• I am a member of an awesome church.
• I do not have a dog.
• I am married to a caring man.
• I live in a country where democracy will prevail.
• I belong to a family that communicates well and often.
• I had a clear mammogram yesterday.

A few things to note:
• All of these gratitudes begin with “I.”
• Even the gratitudes that seem humorous and trivial have profound meaning behind them.
• Every day I am reminded of the gratitudes that my mom offered ever day: her health, her friends and family, her life, and her faith.

Cup is always half full~

6/23/2017

Sometimes I wonder about keeping up this blog—like right now, and especially during the past two weeks since my return from Scotland. While on my trips, I feel I have something to share about solitary travel, as well as pictures of far away place to delight my armchair traveling readers. But when I get home, a writing lull sets in; I don’t need the socializing that writing offers me when I’m alone.
And then, what do I have to say that is new, interesting, or worthwhile? Here are some quick answers that just came to mind as I wrote that question. Writing helps me figure out what I’m doing and why; posting gives me meaning and purpose. If that’s true for me, it must be true for you who read the blog (over 100 a day). You must be gleaning something from my thoughts about silence, solitude, and simplicity. I knows some of you, but not many. I like to believe that this blog joins us together mysteriously in positive ways, if for no other reason that I am committed to write from a seat of gratitude with a cup half full always by my side.

No morning headlines for me~

3/6/2017

My first post in March. This reading for compassion is taking my time. All good. I can’t express in words the satisfaction and peace that comes over me as I read, even the dark, tragic stories. I’m not talking about reading the news, however. The less of that, the more time I have for compassionate reading.
I’ve added a tiny tweak to my morning routine as a way to keep positive and hopeful throughout the day. It is simple: I don’t read the newspaper headlines until after my morning meditation time. Thus, I don’t start the day thinking about the news, much less commenting on it to my husband as I bring him the paper. It is a lot easier starting the day voicing gratitude if I don’t have the lasted headline whirling around in my head.

Be positive--read and be grateful

1/26/2017

These days I am concerned about the current negative energy generated from all political perspectives. How can we as individuals shift it? Mine is to return to my Reading for Compassion project, and to express gratitude.
Every morning let me not forget to name a few things for which I’m grateful. In that way I can start my day with an loving heart, not a heart with violence. The following from Br. David Steindl-Rast, founder of www.gratefulness.org leads me forward with positive energy.

“Violence has roots in every heart. It is within my own heart that I must recognize fear, agitation, coldness, alienation, blind anger and the impulse to retaliation. Here in my heart I can turn fear into courageous trust, agitation into stillness, confusion into clarity, isolation into a sense of belonging, alienation into love, and irrational reaction into Common Sense. The creative intelligence of gratefulness will suggest to each one of us how to go about this task.” Br. Steindl-Rast, in www.gratefulness.org

Time for reading~

12/30/2016

     My reading list is growing, mainly through Face Book friends. I suggested GRATITUDE, by Oliver Sacks. Here’s a quote that has resonated with me and helped me find the time for more reading.

     “I feel a sudden clear focus and perspective. There is no time for anything inessential. I must focus on myself, my work, and my friends. I shall no longer look at the NewsHour every night. I shall no longer pay any attention to politics or arguments about global warming.
     “This is not indifference but detachment—I still care deeply about the Middle East, about global warming, about growing inequality, but these are no longer my business; they belong to the future. I rejoice when I meet gifted young people—even the one who biopsied and diagnosed my metastases. I feel the future is in good hands.”

     What do we choose to do with our time—chronos (sequential time) and kairos (spiritual—the opportune or supreme moment)? Sacks wrote this after being diagnosed with cancer. I am healthy, but the message speaks to me.