Sunday Snapshot: Gratitude

“The things you think about, focus on, and surround yourself with ultimately shape who you become.  Choose to live with gratitude for the love that fills your heart, the peace that rests deep within your spirit, and the voice of hope that whispers, “All things are possible.”  

The above quote is from the blog Marc and Angel Hack Life, and it does a fantastic of job summing up what I believe is one of the keys to happiness.  For the past decade, there have been some pretty dark times in my life.  There have been struggles related to my journey to become a mom and there have been other struggles that I choose not to blog about.  Every time I’ve had to dry my eyes, blow my nose and force myself to stop repeating, “This is NOT FAIR,” I’ve been able to do so because I am truly and deeply grateful for what I do have.  I choose to focus on the good stuff, what makes life worth living, instead on what I don’t have.

 I start each day with a spirit of gratitude.  When I was still waiting to become a mom, I was always grateful for a supportive family, friends who truly love me, a career that makes a difference, a husband who is also my best friend, a warm and safe place to live, the food on the table, the clothes on my back, all of the love in my life.  I have found that my morning commute works well for this. It is a block of time I have to myself, uninterrupted, before what the day will bring distracts me.  I’ve done this for at least a decade and it helps me to be happy.  There will always be things that are beyond the grasp of our control that will be unfair.  There are times when circumstances sweep the rug out from under our feet and we are left feeling alone and unable to trust that life is good.  But, if we can start over again with just a grain of gratitude, that grain has the potential to grow, blossom and flourish into a life well-lived.

This year, as we head into the week of Thanksgiving, I am tending to a full-blown garden of gratitude (that grain has not only flourished but multiplied many times over).  November is National Adoption Awareness month and this seems to be the perfect time to share with you my gratitude for some of the things that adoption has given me.

It’s hard to put my heartfelt gratitude into words, so I’ll share with you some images from my cell phone that I am grateful to have, more “Golden Ticket Moments,” if you will.

I am grateful for these gorgeous eyes.  One of the ways that Rocky, his birth mom and I look similar is in the eyes.  His happen to be particularly amazing.

I am grateful that my laundry has multiplied and that I have a little man who makes the funniest facial expressions who is responsible for this.

I am grateful to for my step-daughter and how she has become smitten (and the amazing natural light in my living room!).

I am grateful for these shoes.  I’ve always have a thing for shoes.  I’ve been longing for this pair for so, so long.

As always, I could go on, but I’ll continue at another time.

I’d like to hear from you.  What are you especially grateful for this year?  If you are having a difficult time heading into this holiday season, what grain of gratitude or hope can you tuck into your pocket that might help you through the time ahead?