Saying “Thank You”

 Make a habit out of celebrating the small moments in healing, gratitude, and growth.   Alex Elle

Everyone has them—those moments of “Ah!” The times when we just feel comfortable in the present, at peace with what is, when we have a sense of all being well. It may be fleeting, but there’s something there which cannot be denied. Those are the moments I want to be aware of, to notice in real time rather than in retrospect.

I think it takes practice to notice them. I also find that it’s a very worthwhile practice. We are bombarded with so much which can cause confusion, anger, discontent. It I were to only pay attention to those things, I’d be a sorry combination of anger and hopelessness. I choose a different way.

I make a practice of saying “Thank you” many times throughout my days. Thank you for a working vehicle. Thank you for the close parking place when I need one. Thank you for the clouds and their wispy beauty, thank you for the clear sky, thank you for the rain. Thank you for food in my pantry, and thank you for the grocery gift bags I can purchase with most visits to the store. Thank you for all the easy ways I can be an agent of kindness, even when I don’t know the recipient. Thank you for my morning coffee and the fresh breeze through the balcony door while I enjoy it.

All the things, all the time. The lessons in the discomfort, the fact that ‘this too shall pass’. The lessons in setting boundaries for myself and honoring those of others. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

It’s just a simple little phrase, but it’s one with great power. Thank you for that.