Gratefulness

As I celebrated Thanksgiving with my family this weekend, I thought about gratefulness. Is it the same as being thankful? Not exactly. At least not in my mind. Thankfulness is a good thing, it encourages us to appreciate not just material things, but family, friendship, beauty, and more.

For me, gratitude includes thankfulness but goes beyond it. When I googled the word, I really liked the 2nd part of definition that popped up: readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. I can be thankful without extending kindness. And for me, kindness is at the heart of a life well lived.

It’s certainly true that I’m not always kind. I think some pretty awful thoughts, and all too often say things that aren’t helpful. But I try. I try to do better. I think about it often enough that I’m sure I do better than I did 20 years ago. I hope I can continue to say that as the years go by.

Spending time with my adult children, my son-in-law, and my grandson this weekend was a true joy. We cooked, we ate, we laughed, we sat around and simply enjoyed each other’s company. On Sunday we helped decorate the outside of my daughter & son-in-law’s house. We were all quite surprised when the inflatable polar bear she bought on deep discount at the end of the season last year turned out not to be 6.7 feet tall, as we each read on the box, but 14 feet tall! The 6.7 feet is his width, not his height! Holy smokes, that’s ONE BIG BEAR!

After I came home I finished assembling the green creature you’ve seen in bits and pieces. I’m really happy with him; he exceeded my expectations. Did you guess it’s a dragon? Here he is in all his glory, from the top and the front.

To give you some idea of his size, I’ve consistently photographed him on top of my Mac laptop.

Want to make one of your own? You can get the directions from Lucy Ravenscar – she’s graciously provided them for free!