The Joy of Gratitude

Dear friends,

I’m sitting on the couch in my living room as the sun goes down. We’ve reached that time of night when the shadows start crowding out the light and everything looks murky. I’ve been feeling a lack of sunlight recently which, being a native Washingtonian, isn’t unusual. Winters tend to be wet and cold here, but the sun did make an appearance for a few hours today which provided a much-needed dose of vitamin D.

I drove home this afternoon, thoroughly enjoying the sun shining against the blue sky and admiring the puffy white clouds floating lazily along. There’s something inspiring about sunshine, particularly when you haven’t seen it in weeks. I decided that I would take advantage of the day and go on a walk with my dog.

Exercise isn’t my favorite thing (and I think a lot of people can relate) but I know that I always feel better after I get out and move. So around 3 o’clock I found myself with my three-year-old shepherd/lab mix, on a walk by the river. We meandered along the trail, listening to the river rush by and greeting our fellow trail-walkers with a smile and a tail wag. Harper enjoyed sniffing the ground every few feet while I enjoyed the solitude and opportunity to reintroduce my face to the sun.

The sun itself isn’t unique to Washington since it’s shared by the whole planet, but today it did offer me a unique perspective into the gratitude that comes from noticing simple things. Is it easy to remember to be grateful when life is hard and complicated? No. In fact, part of the reason I’m writing this is to remind myself that gratitude is important and to give myself a reason to record the things I’m grateful for. I’m grateful for the sun. Somehow saying things makes them seem more official, but the benefits of writing is a story (and previous post) for another time.

Anyway, I thought about the sun as I walked along the river and it reminded me that sometimes little things are the best things to be grateful for or excited about. We each have so many more little things happen to us each day than we do big, grand events. If we’re only grateful for the big things, we’re going to have a lot less opportunities to be grateful. If we’re grateful for the little things, like the sun coming out, then we’ll have a lot more opportunities to be grateful, to think about these good things in life, and to notice more good things as gratitude becomes a more primary focus in our minds.

This is just a thought I’ve had recently. It isn’t anything big, but then again, sometimes the best things in life aren’t. Value and joy do seem to lie in the little things we sometimes overlook. Thanks for letting me share this with you and I hope the sun makes a visit to your neck of the woods soon!

Sincerely,

Kayla