Gratitude for Things



Today was gratitude day.   For the first moment where I take in that deep breath and say "I'm on a vacation."  The breath is a slow inhale and exhale.  None of the hurriedness that forces me to jump from one minute to the next without thinking or seeing.  Today I try to count, though slowly, the things that bless me and on top is the delightful moment of eating french toast at the UCC cafe without worrying how many emails had I not read or if I was running late for a meeting. 


Today was gratitude for seeing a sweet enchanting swirl on the creamy caramel froth of coffee that was warm on my lips and just about right for the morning. Sipping while quietly reading through words of encouragement from women who knew their way and found moments of grace in every single thing they saw.  I thought to myself, I want to be like them someday.  


Today was gratitude for the time I was free to roam around my favorite bookstore without thinking that I only had an hour for lunch & this breathing space was just a stolen moment in the middle of the day.  It was gratitude for finding this book that now helps me confirm the prodding and the urging to move forward & answer the call for a beautiful adventure that is His. 


And as the day ends I still remain grateful for people who have found the time to share what they were grateful about.  How they found the enlightenment to see beyond everyday challenges and discover that there is this thing called grace that turns every mess into a miracle and every pain into purpose.  I am grateful for these moments because of how scarce they have been & now I know that they're such a treasure to have.  





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Art and Business

Letting myself unwind for the past couple of hours after an intense dialogue with executives on business strategy and leadership philosophies.  I ran into this video.  Aside from faith, what motivates me is my passion for art or any related artistic experience.  Finding a relationship between deepening my faith and learning about how artistic experiences can help this deepening process has been an ongoing pursuit for me since I graduated from business school.   I've realized how art can help me become more grounded and reflective in anything I do which translates to almost a prayerful experience.  This helps me understand why faith is needed in pursuing any experience and in understanding the aspects that strengthen faith, I am able to keep up with my perseverance of pursuing any experience.  An elective I took up in business school called "Self-Mastery and the Arts" has convinced me how important the impact of art is in one's life.  In that study, I...
Read more

Anxious No More

Image
There are many interesting things that have been happening to me these past 3 weeks. It's been a journey out of and into another chapter of my life.  And this chapter is the chapter that makes me face that thing I want to do the most.   Write.   The stories on this page have been slow because I've been trying to discover what it is that I want to really write about and when I ask myself this question, I begin to ask myself the most important question: what am I really about?  It doesn't feel so difficult to ask now compared to before.  I'd squirm and I'd let my gaze wander off into a blank wall or I'd stiffen up and change the subject because I don't really want to dig in too deep and ask myself that because I fear the answer to that question.  I fear having to say it out loud.  I fear having to type it out here.   What am I really about?  I don't really know.   I don't really have it all figured out just yet.  It'...
Read more

Lectio Divina | A Reflection on Yehuda Amichai's "The Amen Stone"

Image
It took me a week to finally choose a poem I resonated with among the six poems I was assigned to reflect on through the ancient practice of sacred reading called  lectio divina .  The experience of being in a writing course (albeit online) has given me the liberation to explore the power of words and unearth the gift I know I've long locked within.  The gift of realizing I have the same power as well. My writing process was a painful unraveling.  I could not write immediately.  I could not catch the thought and pin it down on paper.  I tried reading other books that would get the flow of creativity going and to no avail the anxiety caught on and forced me to take a break.  So I did.  And went back on it again this weekend.  I had to recalibrate my mind for 2 hours.  Removing the residue of the business mind that forces me to constrict my definitions of life in a less human sounding voice.  I began my  meditatio  o...
Read more