Here we are at Saturday Gratitude post number seven already. These posts really help me slow down and connect to myself, and I hope they trigger good stuff for you, too. (Please share in the comments if you’d like!)
So, here are three things I’m grateful for this week:
1) The robins have arrived, signaling that it really and truly IS spring.
And they are everywhere. There is something moving to me about the way they are completely absent from the landscape during the winter, but they always return when the weather warms up and claim their territory as if they never left. Seeing them again reminds me of the mama robin who built a nest on our front porch a few years ago. She protected this nest so fiercely that I had to tell the mailman to leave the mail in the back, because the robin would fly at the head of anyone who ventured up on the porch. We left the porch to her until her babies grew up enough to leave the nest. I was tempted to call her mean, but what looked like meanness was actually excellent parenting.
2) Anger. And recognizing I needed to act on it.
Anger and I have not always had a very, shall we say, friendly relationship. My tendency has been to press it down or pretend it’s not there. But actually, anger is a friend — and a good one, if I listen to its message and make a conscious choice about whether or not to act on that message. Karla McLaren calls our healthy anger “the honorable sentry.” She says it helps us protect what needs to be protected, and restore what needs to be restored. Yes. I’m grateful I was able to honor my honorable sentry this week.
3) Four fluffy little dogs moved in across the street.
They move as a chaotic little group, each wearing a different colored harness, pulling their owner all over the sidewalk. It’s a delight to watch and I look forward to seeing it frequently.
What are you grateful for this week? I’d love to hear, and I wish you plenty of moments to be grateful for in the week ahead.
Image is “First Flower” © Tomas Stasiulaitis | Dreamstime Stock Photos
the artist's nest 
Love these posts Jill:-) I’m grateful for the directness and nowness of children, who have reminded/taught me this week what it is to just be me, moment by moment. I’m grateful for appreciative colleagues, who have made a point of naming and honouring those qualities they have seen and valued in me recently. I am grateful for what my recent retreat has embedded in me – a solid, daily, dependable meditation practice which is grounding me through a very busy and chaotic time where I seem to be surrounded by illness and overwhelm, but not being directly affected. Oh, and I’m grateful for coffee and chocolate who, as a skilled team, have gotten me safely and joyfully through the last three afternoons:-) Blessings on your week my friend, Harula xxxx
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Wow, that is great stuff, Harula! I love especially what you said about the children teaching you what it is to just be you, moment by moment! Beautifully said. And I laughed at the “skilled team” of coffee and chocolate getting you through. I hear that. 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing and have a wonderful week!
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