It's Thankful Thursday.
Gratitude. Appreciation. Praise.
Please join me in a weekly pause
to appreciate people, places & things.

Gratitude is missing.

Some days the sky is gray, the mood gloomy and it's a fight to bring thankful and me together in a heartfelt hug.

Before you throw platitudes (or tomatoes) my way, please know I am grateful. I've got work, a house, good health. I love and am loved. I take none of this lightly.

But gratitude has a shiny appeal; you expect it from the new and unusual. It's more difficult, or perhaps less exciting, to express gratitude for the everyday routine. And, of course, this is exactly when and why gratitude is needed — to jolt us from expectation.

Things I'd like to feel thankful for:

Thrashing wind and heavy rain
(I'm not thankful, just weary and worn).

Cheery encouragements on Facebook
(In my grumbled state, cheer is annoying).

The lifting of self-awareness. I'd like to leave myself behind
(Note: I realize the irony in this statement).

Knowing proper use of the word irony
(I don't. Thanks a lot Alanis Morissette).

Things I'm actually thankful for:

The smooth glide of pen across page.

The sound of the ocean, like a bathtub filling.

A well-written horoscope.

The gift of a book.

Tom Waits
("a voice that sounds like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon").

Peanut butter.

The realization that gratitude is not complicated.
It's just one word, said true: thanks.

Enough about me. What are you thankful for today?