Gratitude

Yes it's the month of November and everyone's on the gratitude bandwagon. I'm not here to knock anyone because I'm definitely very grateful. Having spent the past week in bed and unable to perform, I'm grateful to be on the mend (say a prayer as I have a couple of shows this week). I've been a lifelong asthmatic and severe allergy sufferer; but there's nothing like a particularly bad episode to make you appreciate the simply complex gift of just breathing normally. I mean, we do it everyday without thinking until it's compromised in some way. I'm quite guilty and you'd think I'd know better.

While I lay in bed this past week trying to find relief for my lungs, I thought about how many other things am I taking for granted. Am I really seeing,hearing, smelling, tasting, touching life? What if I lost my ability to do these things?  My eyes have been bothering me lately and I've started wearing glasses for reading and computer work (the things that are probably aggravating my sight). Let me be candid and say: I HATE IT! I think, wow, I need to use my eyes to do my work and yet, the very work can hamper my ability to continue to do the work in the future. Messed up, if I say so myself. Sometimes, paranoia takes over and I wonder if I'll have my sight in 20 years. I can't imagine not being able to see and yet, I find too often that I don't stop long enough and enjoy the beauty around me or look deep into a friends eyes connecting us on a level beyond consciousness. What about not being able to hear? Music, which is brings me joy, peace, comfort and counsel is so vital in my life. And while I love to say that music is felt and not just heard, I know I'd truly be devastated if I couldn't "hear" it. 

Well, all of that to say that I'm grateful! Too much to name here; but I'm grateful and I'm determined to find a way to slow down and appreciate and acknowledge the many gifts I've been given in this life. That includes you! 

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