{"id":9088,"date":"2014-08-26T14:24:40","date_gmt":"2014-08-26T18:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/?p=9088"},"modified":"2014-08-26T14:24:40","modified_gmt":"2014-08-26T18:24:40","slug":"facebook-memes-and-gratitude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2014\/08\/facebook-memes-and-gratitude.html","title":{"rendered":"FaceBook memes and gratitude"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Right now on FB, my youngest sister has tagged the three of us other sisters to do the ‘gratitude challenge.’ In which for five days, you have to come up w\/ three things a day for which you’re grateful.<\/p>\n

Just three, I said? Because I started a gratitude journal<\/a> years ago, so I’ve been practicing. And as I noted elsewhere<\/a>, it becomes the best of habits.<\/p>\n

Today, because FB is a large audience, I wanted to hit the basics fast: my husband, my sons & grandson, my ‘daughters’ — the DIL and nieces I have on lend from their wonderful mothers. But most days, what goes in to my gratitude journal is everyday life. I’m grateful for the woodpeckers on the seed & suet feeders, the hummers on theirs. I’m grateful for a day w\/ cooler than normal temps. And there’s always when I cook, or if we go out to eat — I’m always<\/em>\u00a0 grateful for good food!<\/p>\n

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Thinking about gratitude is a humbling exercise, if you do it both seriously & frequently. I’m grateful at night for soft sheets on a comfortable bed, in a safe house w\/ air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter. One cold winter night only a few years ago, a homeless man froze to death only 6 blocks from my house. Believe me, I thought about my comforts that entire week… And still do.<\/p>\n

I’m grateful for a life that enabled me to write when I was laid off quickly from my job. That’s a privilege most people will never know, and I really get that.<\/p>\n

I’m grateful, too, for (as the Mary Chapin Carpenter song goes), Pens that won’t run out of ink\/ And cool quiet and time to think<\/em>. Not to mention a Moleskine to put it all in.<\/p>\n

Just looking at my daily life — my cute little car, my desk, my books & my pans to cook in & my cell phone & all these many many 1st world pleasures — I’m grateful.<\/p>\n

I’m not saying this to be a total Pollyanna. I’m trying to remind us all that many of our everyday pleasures & privileges we take for granted. And that’s too bad, because often? Just everyday life is enough. Really.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right now on FB, my youngest sister has tagged the three of us other sisters to do the ‘gratitude challenge.’ In which for five days, you have to come up w\/ three things a day for which you’re grateful. Just three, I said? Because I started a gratitude journal years ago, so I’ve been practicing.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[576,270],"tags":[11,1181,1187,262,1308,1250],"class_list":["post-9088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-everyday-living","category-gratitude","tag-beginners-heart","tag-britton-gildersleeve","tag-buddhism","tag-buddhist-blogs","tag-everyday-living","tag-gratitude"],"yoast_head":"\nFaceBook memes and gratitude - Beginner's Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Right now on FB, my youngest sister has tagged the three of us other sisters to do the 'gratitude challenge.' 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