Day 2 – Gratitude for the Present Moment

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.”

It is terrific that once a year we can set aside busy work schedules, commitments we’ve made to social groups, and time commitments to schools or sports outings.  We make time to focus on what is really important.  Is it your mental sanity, your family, your religion, or maybe it is all of the above?

Many people wait for something big before they feel grateful: a promotion, a success, a reunion, a holiday.  But the most meaningful form of gratitude is available right now—in the ordinary moment you are living.  This includes the months and days that have led up to Thanksgiving, and will exist long after Thanksgiving is here and gone.
 Look around:

• The air you breathe is a blessing.
• The ability to read is a privilege.
• The abundance of food is a gift.
• The body holding you upright is a miracle of design.

The present moment is always filled with gifts, but the mind must be still long enough to see them.  We often live in tomorrow—planning, worrying, projecting; or in yesterday—regretting, remembering, replaying.  Meanwhile, today passes unrecognized.

Gratitude is the anchor that pulls us back to now.

Today, try a simple practice:

• Sit for one minute without speaking.
• Go for a walk without your phone, without any distractions, and notice the world around you.  Notice the trees as they sleep for the winter.  Once full of life, but now silent.
• Notice five things you can see, four you can feel, three you can hear, two you can smell, and one you can taste.
• Feel the moment instead of thinking about it.
  
  

Life is not lived in grand memories or future dreams—it is lived in the breath you are taking right now.  And right now is enough to be grateful for.