Day 364, Another Glass of Lemonade

What is gratitude? What does gratitude mean? Of course the easy answer can be found on www.dictionary.com. But the real question here is what does gratitude mean to me? Why am I grateful for what my life has introduced me to, offered me, and allowed me to experience?

And I wonder whether my current definition of gratitude will change, evolve, over the next 364 days? To explore my question I must first begin by defining gratitude. What does gratitude mean to me? Hum ... (time passes)…

I define Gratitude as an internal feeling of appreciation for an experience that has enhanced my life. It is a sense of knowing that my life has been made better because of the experience of meeting someone, something, or living in a particular moment.

Kirk Van Allyn, better known as Kirkos, plans to carve a labyrinth like this one at Stone Steps beach in Encinitas on Friday. (Courtesy Photo Printed in NCTimes.com)

This blogs is about the people, the things, the sounds, the sights, and the moments—including the silly and seemingly mundane—experiences that enhance my life; those experiences that remind me that each of us is a miracle and each day is special. We are, after all, immortal, transitory, and our lives are short.

We must then live fully, even when life is hard and throwing lemons at us. We must make lemonade out of life’s lemons.  

I’ve decided to try Themes for a Day. Why? Because each day should have a theme—things we are grateful for. Otherwise, I may just repeat the same list over and over again: amazing husband, incredible dog….

So today the theme is Simple Things That Make Me Smile:
Five things I am grateful today are:

1)      Pandora Radio.com. I know this may sound silly, but I am grateful for Pandora Radio and the people who made it. Why? Because music makes me happy. Music makes me smile, be energized, remember a moment, or—I am embarrassed to say—it can make me cry. Music brings feelings to life. So thank you Pandora for bringing music to my life and for introducing me to artist I may never have heard otherwise.

2)      New York Times Book Review. Every Sunday I look forward to my book review. I read it cover to cover. I love reading about the new authors, what their books are about, learning about their topics. I even read the advertisements for new or rare books. It my weekly tradition.

3)      The morning TV shows. Okay I know this one sounds ridiculous but I mean this. I truly enjoy waking up, enjoying a cup of coffee and watching the morning shows before starting my day. Some people wake up quickly, but unless required, I do not. The morning shows help with this transition.

4)      An evening walk with my husband and dog. There is sense of peacefulness that comes from taking an evening stroll around the neighborhood together. We talk, the dogs does its business. It is our time together as a family. We’ve meet some of our best friends while taking our evening walk.

5)      A drive down the pacific coast. Driving down the 101, seeing the vast ocean, seeing all the people out exercising at any time of day, provides a reminder that life is so much bigger than us. We play a small role, contribute what we can, but ultimately we play a small role. And because of this we must remind ourselves to live fully, to smell the roses—the ocean air—and embrace what is around us. We only live one, we must embrace life now.

If anyone is out there reading this blog, what are you grateful for?
How would you define gratitude? What simple things make you smile?

Websites for simple things that make me smile:
Pandora Radio
New York Times Book Review
Dictionary.com
North County Times