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 for gratitude some of those things I often take for granted — an entire alphabet’s worth! Since today is the seventh day of this surge of gratitude, I am giving thanks for “G” things.
I am especially grateful for grief and the gifts that grief brings.
Grief seems a strange thing for which to be grateful, but I am truly grateful that I experienced such deep grief after the death of my life mate/soul mate. He was a special man, someone who knew how to appreciate even the littlest thing, and I am grateful I was able to show the world how much he would be missed by writing about the grief he left behind. My grief was a way of appreciating him, honoring him, proving that even though he lived a private life, his life had worth to others.
I am grateful, of course, that the pain is gone, leaving only an underlying sorrow, but more than that, I am grateful for all I learned from the process. I have been able to sense the workings of my lizard brain — my body’s mind as opposed to “my” mind. I have experienced the miracle of body memory, where my body remembers a special date and mourns it even though I had forgotten it. I have learned patience, have experienced the incredible mystery of life, have touched eternity. Because the pain of grief over his death was so profound that I never even knew there could be such pain, I have come to realize that there is way more to us than we ever imagined. As Marianne Williamson wrote, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.”
Grief has also taught me to be grateful for life’s gifts — the friendships that sail into our life, the mystical moments and connections, the chance to experience the world through our senses, the capacity for appreciation, the ability to think and the power to feel thoughts too deep to put into words.
So, what “G” 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
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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.
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