When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude. ~~ G. K. Chesterton
For the rest of November, I’m going to take with gratitude some of those things I often take for granted — an entire alphabet’s worth! Since today is the eighteenth day of this surge of gratitude, I am giving thanks for “R” things.
I am especially grateful for:
Rest, relaxation, recreation, relief, restoration, refreshment, renewal. There are a host of “r” words that speak of rejuvenation after hard work or stressful times. I am truly grateful and blessed that I have been able to find respite — if only for a few hours at a time — from my cares. I’m also grateful for the resiliency that enabled me to continue going 
after the death of my life mate/soul mate and which is enabling me to find some sort of renewal on new paths.
Reminiscences. More and more now, I’m remembering the good times with my life mate/soul mate, not just the end times where he was slowly wasting away. I’m grateful there were good memories, though I am careful not to wallow in the past. He is gone, and though I cannot be grateful for that, I am very grateful he is no longer suffering.
Red. What would the world be like without red? Much of our world is steeped in blues and green and tan, and red seems like an exclamation point that reminds us of wonder and joy and passion and warmth. Even though red is not abundant in nature, we still take it for granted, but today, for once, I will take with gratitude all the red in my life.
Reading, of course. I don’t remember a time when I couldn’t read, so it’s easy to take the ability for granted, and yet I am very grateful for being able to read. It was my life for decades — until recently, all I ever really wanted was to read.
So, what “R” things are you taking for gratitude today?
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See also:
Taking “A” Things With Gratitude, Taking “B” Things With Gratitude, Taking “C” Things With Gratitude,Taking “D” Things With Gratitude, Taking “E” Things With Gratitude, Taking “F” Things With Gratitude, Taking “G” Things With Gratitude, Taking “H” Things With Gratitude, Taking “I” Things With Gratitude, Taking “J” Things With Gratitude,Taking “K” Things With Gratitude, Taking “L” Things With Gratitude, Taking “M” Things With Gratitude, Taking “N” Things With Gratitude, Taking “O” Things With Gratitude, Taking “Q” Things With Gratitude
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Pat Bertram is the author of the suspense novels Light Bringer, More Deaths Than One, A Spark of Heavenly Fire, and Daughter Am I. Bertram is also the author of Grief: The Great Yearning, “an exquisite book, wrenching to read, and at the same time full of profound truths.” Connect with Pat on Google+. Like Pat on Facebook.
November 22, 2013 at 6:57 pm
I’m going to go with all those, plus rabbis. Both my parents are rabbis, and if either of them had taken a different path in life, I wouldn’t be around.
November 22, 2013 at 11:39 pm
I like red. Back when I was a kid there was Snoopy Vs the Red Baron. Maybe the song as well as the Peanuts strips got me into history at an early age. That we’ll never know.
Remembrance isn’t a bad R word. Today I found a photo album I thought I had lost a long time ago. They’re holiday snaps from when I was young and I had a plastic camera not much more sophisticated than the legendary box brownie. I used to love going on holidays with my family.
November 24, 2013 at 1:08 pm
How wonderful to have found that photo album! Truely something to be grateful for.