Christmas Day

Many ways in which to be grateful!

1. Friends near and far help to make life endurable.  A good friend who is ever ready to lend you a hand is the best gift anyone can know.

2. Health is foremost in my mid now that I am aging so rapidly. I accidentally stumbled to fall on my front steps last night while staring at the new moon, and fortunately, was a short fall so that it did not tear the skin but I went down to cry out and blame that full moon.  Good health is key to good living.

3. Family is naturally our closest long term friends and allies.  At my age, my family is now far away and some have passed into the great beyond.

4. Faith in our friends, family, neighbors,  and yes, even enemies keeps us on a solid foundation of wellbeing.  We can always hope to change an enemy into a friend through negotiation or acts of love from one to the other.  I am not being too optimistic about turning ISIS into a friend at all, but both Germany and Japan did change to become friends after WWII.

5. Pets are both friends and family when we are fortunate enough to own any, no matter whether cat, dog, turtle, fish, birds, or neighborhood wandering alone seeking food or friendship.

6. Books, which enrich our lives, both fiction and nonfiction, are the most solitary voice we have when alone with our thoughts.  Books can become our friends, sources of knowledge, entertainment, amusement, fantasy, anything that we want since they come in so many varieties.  An author may be able to awaken something inside yourself to learn a new lesson or make a new friend.

7. Recreation whether actively involved in sports or just riding a bike, bowling, skating, skiing,  playing board games, using fitness center programs, exercising, dancing, or skateboarding.

8. Creative arts: hobbies, arts and crafts, musical talents exploited, painting, sculpting, reading, writing a novel, a short story, a poem, making videos, photography, knitting, crocheting, and all types of skills in quilting and sewing.

9. Knowledge found through schooling, education in college and university, online tutoring, local library, and self teaching.

10.  Finally, meditation, or the art of listening to one's inner self, to explore one's own inner being, and being able to share with trusted friends your feelings and intuition as well as listen to theirs.


Much to think about, and certainly many more reasons to be grateful!  Just a reminder that life can be good when you try to make it good for others and for yourself.