Thursday, November 26, 2015

Nature of Gratitude

A  L  O  H  A !


 'Any fool can be happy.
 It takes real heart to
 make beauty out of 
the stuff that 
makes us weep.' 
                     Clive Barker

Linking to
Good Fences











Open Road

“Carpe every damn diem.” 

Justine Musk














"There are years
 that ask questions
 and years that 
answer." 
             Zora Neale Hurston






[''']


In the USA, today is
a holiday dedicated
to gratitude.

The earliest Europeans
on these shores
would likely have
perished if not for
the generosity of the
First Nations 
already here.
The settlers were grateful
to their God, and to
their neighbors.
[one hopes]


Lately, 
I have given thought
to gratitude. One starts
by noticing things to be
grateful for, noticing,
and expressing it.

It became a habit with me,
and a nice one that
certainly improved my life.

But is gratitude a feeling?

My habit of feeling grateful got
somewhat pushed out of the way
in all the folderol of moving.

I was preoccupied with finding
new ways, places clothes, routines.
How could I be grateful for
what was still overwhelming?

So I started to wonder if
it is valid to express gratitude
when you are just not feeling it?

Is that insincere and false,
or is it lovely and powerful?
Saying 'Thank You'
to the universe, to God,
to your subconscious, is a
powerful and insidious thing!

Saying 'Thank You' for arising,
even though I was just
going through the moves
caused chemical reactions
and soon I FELT
grateful again!

Feelings are valuable guides,
but I think we make them
too important. Carry on.
Don't wait till you feel like it.

And who knows?
Maybe soon you 
WILL-








Thank YOU!
              warmly, cloudia

16 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

Sometimes going through the motions forces us to look, to see, to think, to feel.
Thank you for the beauty and the wisdom you share each day.

TexWisGirl said...

cool light and color in that top shot. happy day to you!

eileeninmd said...

Hello Cloudia, lovely words and images. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

Betty Manousos said...

very nice!
happy thanksgiving!!
hope your thanksgiving is filled with blessings and joy and great food.

warm aloha~xoxo

Fireblossom said...

I love that first quote. I have it saved to my quotes at goodreads.com

Teresa said...

Great shot of the sun through the gate!! And I think that gratitude is a habit to be practiced, just like good manners. I am grateful every day for the beauty of your blog!!

FOREST SNAPPER said...

the people who live next to me are out in Hawaii this week.

peter

Merlesworld said...

It's settling in always very time consuming.
Merle...........

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING Lovely images and quotes

Su-sieee! Mac said...

A wonderful giving-of-thanks day to ye, Cloudia. :-)

eViL pOp TaRt said...

That's a great idea, Cloudia! Have a happy day!

genie said...

Thank you for sharing such a meaningful post today. The light hiding behind the fence and then up in the sky is just beautiful. You did a grand job of shooting this one.

William Kendall said...

Carpe every damn diem... that one appeals to me!

Cloudia said...

Thanks for these wise comments!

GreenComotion said...

Gratitude and believing that 'good' things will happen is what keeps me going.
One step in front of the other and chugging along...
Nice words from you and I also love the fence photo - glowing in the sun, very nice.
Have a Beautiful Day!
Peace :)

Ida said...

Sorry to be late commenting. We had company over the holiday and then I got sick so I'm just now getting around to commenting on GF - What a lovely post. I enjoyed that first shot with your fence, it's so pretty. I also enjoyed your thoughts on gratitude very much.