Gratitude
I woke up this morning with rays of sunshine entering my room, shining on my face, waking me up gently, smoothly even. Helping me transition from the state of unconsciousness my body had been in in the past seven hours into consciousness. I woke up to familiar surroundings, to curtains that I hadn’t fully closed the night before, to Lala lifting her head from her father’s chest and smiling at me. That smile really does wonders for the soul, for my soul. Before even a word was spoken there was warmth in the room and the sun completed it. One word that came to my mind was gratitude.
I have had many mornings where I woke up irritated, where even the gentle chirping of birds which was my alarm clock didn’t ease me into the day, where even before I opened my eyes I could tell the day was going to be cloudy and my mood would adapt to the grey skies outside. Days where getting out of bed just wasn’t an option I wanted to consider, because well how do I put it? Life just wasn’t going as smoothly as I wanted it to go. Not to confuse you; life is not going a walk on the beach with the gentle breeze of the sea stroking my face either. I mean, have you read and seen the news? Let’s not forget (I mean how could we) about the pandemic we have been living through over the past two years. I recently saw a post that said: this week two years ago was the last ‘normal’ week we had before everything went down the drain and covid took over our lives, crazy right? Don’t even let me get started on current events… on top of everything: there are issues that we face right within in our homes, petty fights, big fights, arguments, bills, job problems, stress, the constant threats to our mental stability and so on and so forth. Whether you’re in your late teens, early, mid, late twenties or thirties, every stage seems to bring new hurdles, impossible hurdles that seem more like an athletic competition at the olympics than walking through life.
What are you grateful for?
It is so easy to look at all the things that are going sideways, things that are falling apart because they are obvious, constant lit up billboards that advertise everything that is going wrong. Reminding us at every turn that things are not okay. But sometimes we have to look beyond the signs and posters and look for the hidden gems, the joys of life that are at times hidden in plain sight. Things like the sun shining through our rooms. Simple yet significant things like the crazy good breakfast you just made; things that we overlook and sometimes even take for granted like the friends and family we have.
I have learned that being grateful does not erase our problems, but it shines light on the brighter things of life. And I think we could all use a lot more light in our lives, don’t you?
Love,
Maame.
