CURRENT THOUGHTS...ABOUT THE PRESENT!

Just a few days till Easter, and I’m prompted to remember the importance  and the significance it holds for many.  I must confess that I'm probably more Spiritual than Religious, and yet I honor the beliefs of all people.  Too often there seems to be an over emphasis on the difference between "I and you..Me and them...Our Country and yours!"  I prefer to look at other people and see the likeness and kinship we share..not our differences!  I believe that all the Worlds People are closely interconnected with one another by our collective humanity...we all belong to the Human Race!    

At this time of year, I also like to call to mind all the things I am grateful for on this April 2nd..Good Friday.  Like all years, it has had its up and downs…. happy and not so happy times, disappointments and triumphs, abundance and loss, laughter and tears, great health and physical challenges, and peace and conflicts in the World.

But through it all, I recognize that each new day is magnificent, miraculous, unique, and awe-inspiring, because I am alive and privileged to experience another day of Life!  

My Personal List of gratitude is short..but sweet.

I’m grateful that I am blessed with a wonderful wife!

I’m grateful that my overall state of health is good!

I’m grateful for my happy relationships with family and friends!

I’m grateful that we live an abundant & balanced life!

I’m grateful that each day I am experiencing Spiritual Peace!

This “short list” only hits the main categories of my personal gratitude. Everyday I experience and value unique moments of happiness: Waking up in a warm bed and hearing the sound of the wind and rain; seeing the sunrise; hearing the tinkle of the wind chimes; the aroma of my first cup of green tea; looking out on a backyard alive with birds and their sounds; breathing in the morning chill; having a conversation with my wife; an early walk in the neighborhood; the smell of oatmeal cooking; sitting in the back patio viewing a nearby mountain; writing and researching in my office; and 

day dreaming in the Now!

My "little world" is relatively simple and peaceful....and for that I am eternally grateful! Our nation and the world is a different story. Both continue to have some significant challenges, and it will take some time and personal effort before we see any improvement. Here in the United States we are still experiencing the worst recession in decades; economic instability continues throughout the world; our political parties can't work together; we are mired in two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; there's no resolution in sight for the Israeli/Palestinian conflict; and the world can't agree on what to do about climate change...just to mention a few!

So....what's to be grateful for? At first "blush" the answer seems to be "not much!" But if you will consider the meaning of the word attitude....frame of mind, outlook, point of view, perspective,etc....it may help you to see another answer.

While the current recession is severe, we have recovered in the past and moved on to periods of prosperity! World economies are always in flux, and yet world trade continues to improve. The Democrats and Republicans have worked for good in a bipartisan way in the past. Wars end, usually without a clear winner, because there are none! The Mideast conflict will end when new, young regional leaders assume leadership. Climate change will only begin to be resolved when citizens of the world take a stand for their own survival!

So...what am I grateful for Now?  I'm grateful that I live in a country that has faced greater challenges in the past (World War II, Communism, The Great Depression), and triumphed over all of them! I'm thankful that I'm a citizen of the United States. Our politics are often messy and corrupt, but I hold the "trump card"....I can vote!  And, unlike a lot of places on this planet, I can damn well say what I want.  It's call the First Amendment!  

Public pressure has curtailed wars in the past, and that type of citizen action can prevail again!   I'm proud to be a "card-carrying" Progressive/Liberal who definitely prefers Peace over war.  (I'm a lover not a fighter!)  I'm hopeful that "new" national and world leaders will listen to our demands, and act to end wars! When even the dullest of men understand that their survival is threatened by climate change, they will wake up and take action!

Therefore, depending on your point of view....which is hopefully positive....you and I have a great deal to be thankful for as 2010 moves along. The best way I know to insure that the "good" continues, is to take a "moment of thanks" and verbally express gratitude every day for all the wonderful things you and I experience in our lives!