Appreciation

Appreciation - understanding the meaning or quality or magnitude of something
Gratitude - a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation




I have begun training for the Brookline Symphony Orchestra 5K in September. I am so excited to be training again. I am being mindful this time aware of not getting into the pitfalls of forcing my body to move and pushing myself. I'm going slow and steady working to be aware of those thoughts of I have something to prove and using restraint in my actions.

Yesterday morning it was raining. I checked the hour by hour forecast and it said that by 11 it should be mostly cloudy. Awesome! But as I posted on my Facebook status, "It may be raining but I'll be walking on sunshine."

When I first got out to the Reservoir it was dark and drizzling

I appreciated being able to be outside no matter the weather and doing a power walk. I felt my heart swell with a sense of appreciation for the work I have and continue to do to heal my life.

The skies began to brighten

and by the end of my walk, the sun had come out.

I spent the afternoon outside working at my table feeling so blessed and grateful for the day.

When Tom got home from work, we did a bbq using the grill we had won in the Silent Auction on Marathon Monday


and I took a moment to appreciate how blessed we were to get to safety after the bombings.

As Tom and I relished our dinner, we breathed and we sighed appreciating how hard we worked to arrive in that moment. Our hearts overflowed with gratitude for all that was good and right in our lives and in the world. Sure there's pain and heartache without a doubt but what helps me to bear the pain, the heartache, the violence and evil in the world is to appreciate all that is right in the world.

Happy To Be Alive from Seasons of the Soul now available on Amazon
Face to face with death at knife point
cold darkened eyes stare into mine
unflinching I stare back
afraid to move a muscle
already dead.
Life force safely tucked away
unknowing the outcome of this untimely encounter with death
at the hands of a madman
reasoning destroyed by gin and vermouth.
Angels intervene
he finds peace in death
I am left to put the pieces of my life back together again.
As numbness gives way to pain
pain gives way to gratitude
appreciation for this wondrous wonder filled life
where nothing makes sense and everything makes sense
purpose out of pain
grace in ungodly moments
surrounded by love
happy so happy to be alive
to tell the tale of one who almost died.

From my heart to yours
With total love and deepest gratitude,
Mary

MAY ALL BEINGS BE HAPPY AND FREE!