Gratitude

Caryn Stone

Gratitude

I am grateful that my dog Arlo needs a walk. He gets me out even when I don’t feel like it. Even when my head is spinning with to dos, worries, things I am afraid I will forget, things that have yet to be said. And while we are out and my mind is so busy I forget where I am and what I am doing, I notice it. I stop, and choose to focus on that which I am grateful. It grounds me and brings me back to my body, to the present moment. 

As I reflect back, I realize with joyful surprise that focusing on gratitude has become a habit. I remember to take a breath. Take in the beauty around me. Focus on engaging my core when I walk. Guiding Arlo so he remembers to heel and mind his own beeswax. Yes, I am the one chatting away to and/or bossing my dog as we walk through our neighborhood, admiring front yards, gardens, birds, mini libraries and more. 

Naming what I am grateful for - on paper, in my head, out loud to Arlo - takes me out of the anxieties in my head, reminds me of all that is wonderful in my life. It helps me see my daughters, myself, for our gifts rather than our failings.

After my morning meditation, if I don’t know what to write in my journal I start listing my gratefuls, even if it is the same every day. And it takes me from feeling gray like the sky to enamored with the morning light. I am grateful for the morning fog that cools us when it is hot, that there isn't smoke in the sky.

I am grateful that every day is a new start. I am grateful that I can turn down the noise of negative thoughts. I am grateful that I remember to be grateful every day.