Gratitude - Not An Easy Discipline, But Worth It
This whole year, the word at the top of my vision board has been gratitude. I haven’t shared much about this yet, but for the past five years or so, gratitude hadn’t come easily for me.
I was stiff-arming my way through life, pushing and striving, trying to carve out safety and security for my husband and three tiny children as we faced financial frustrations, small business growing pains, and severe, debilitating illness of both the mental and physical varieties.
In years past, Thanksgiving was an unwelcome interruption, a reminder that I was suppose to feel thankful, I wanted to feel thankful, but instead I felt tired, lonely, numb.
This year, everything feels different. I’ve been practicing gratitude all along.
Through the early months, when it felt forced and uncomfortable, through the spring when gratitude was the missing ingredient that could save my marriage, through the summer of full time parenting and putting my business on the back-burner, and through this fall, when things feel full and right and peaceful again.
This year I’m excited to experience Thanksgiving, because I’ve been practicing it all year. It’s not an easy discipline, but boy is it worth it.
Now, I’m thankful for the struggle and uncertainty of the last few years. It makes these crisp days, surrounded by my family, seem even sweeter.
