Gratitude

Last week Everyday Woman announced her intention to include a gratitude post each week which she calls Thankful Thursday. Inspired by the poetic prose of her entry, I have decided to make a change to my own gratitude post. I plan to introduce a gratitude word of the week, which I hope to reflect on throughout my week so that not only am I aware of how I have been blessed by life but so that I practice being mindful of what is most important to me.

This week I have chosen the word “forgive” to inspire my gratitude post. I thought about how I interact with the word “forgive” on a personal level and having held those thoughts for several days have decided that what craves forgiveness on my behalf is actually myself. And so I forgive and am grateful for it . . .

I forgive myself for raising my voice with my daughter. . .

I thank the universe for her everyday. My daughter is my precious love.

I forgive myself for making promises that I wish I had not made . . .

I am grateful for the opportunities presented so that I might flex my soul and try new things.

I forgive myself for quitting . . .

I now know that it’s okay to fail and move on from it.

I forgive myself for worrying . . .

The world is beyond my control and sometimes terrible events turn out to be wonderful blessings.

I forgive myself for holding grudges . . .

I shudder to think how many good times I have missed out on for staying angry over petty things.

I forgive myself for guzzling a gallon of gasoline each week . . .

may my children forgive me too.

I forgive myself for being a perfectionist . . .

the world is perfect in its imperfections, and yet, time and time again, I find myself straightening up a clean room or tidying up the yard when I should be spending time with my family.

I forgive my impatience . . .

everything will happen in its own time and life is sweeter when I am not rushing out the door.

I forgive myself for having impossible standards . . .

my true friends don’t care whether my house is clean, my hair is combed, or whether I am mother or wife of the year. I suspect that some of the qualities that I loathe about myself are what others like about me anyway.

And last, I forgive myself for manging at 10 p.m. when I really should just drink a glass of water . . .

snacking is so yummy though!