All of our children, minus one, are here as are my wife's Mom, brother and his daughter. It's been a nice break and a good time. A good way to realize how busy you are is to get away and take a break.
I love Thanksgiving. It's becoming my favorite holiday. It's easy to grouse about the origins of this national holiday. In reality, isn't it nice to set aside a day to give thanks? However you observed that day, I hope you took time, as Pope Leo suggested, to thank someone. It's probably something we should all try to do everyday- say "Thank you" whenever we feel gratitude.
As Brother David Steindl-Rast noted his wonderful book on gratitude: "Look closely and will find that people are happy because they are grateful. The opposite of gratefulness is just taking everything for granted." Or, even worse, focusing on that bad things, which, as human beings, we are predisposed to do.
Me at the end of today's trail in Kolob Canyon
I readily admit that gratitude doesn't come easily to me. This despite the fact there are a lot of people for whom I should be deeply grateful. Also, a lot in my life over 60 years now for which I should be far more grateful. It's much easier to focus what I will just call other stuff.
A big focus of mine right now is living with less fear. I am not gripped by fear, but I tend to worry too much. Even if you live to 100, life is too short to worry a lot. There is always something to worry about, for sure. Some things are worth worrying about. Most things are not, especially when you realize most of what you worry about is nonsense.
I had a great time driving down with my two middle sons. We listened to so much music. Some of it new to me. "Punkrocker" by the Teddybears, featuring Iggy Pop, is one such song. It is our traditio:
No comments:
Post a Comment