Thanks so much!…….

Merry Meet my friends!  The heat continues here in Ohio…probably the hottest summer I can remember in a long time.  However, we have one more day of it then more seasonable weather comes in FINALLY!  We will be right around 80 for a few days with very low humidity..that makes me one happy happy witch! 🙂 Maybe we can actually go outside and do something fun LOL!  I will be happy just to sit on my porch in the cooler morning with a cup of coffee..or to go on a picnic or to a park. My grandkids might even be able to be outside, to swim, to play on the swing set.  How wonderful!

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”

 ~Thornton Wilder

I am writing to THANK YOU all so so much for following my blog, for reading it, for giving me feedback and commenting,  and for sharing the link on your facebook walls.  I now have 110 followers and almost 21,000 hits!  I am most grateful for your friendship as well for those I feel I’ve gotten to know.  I never dreamed that my blog would be read by anybody at all.  I really just did it for myself, so I’m very pleased and feel in my own mind that it has been worth my time and effort…for others as well  as myself.  Thank you again so much. 

Having said that, I was thinking about Gratitude as I was looking up some quotes and pics to post here. I have talked about it here before.  I am a true believer that living a life in Gratitude gives us a happier, better life.  The benefits to our lives is enormous when we feel thankful for the Blessings in our life.  It is up to each of us to decide what the Blessings are!  Some people only feel thankful for the BIG things..you know…like our loved ones being safe and healthy, that the tornado missed us, that the house didnt’ catch on fire, that we weren’t killed in the shooting that happened somewhere else, that it’s not our dog laying dead at the side of the road.  Those things are so easy to be thankful for aren’t they?  I think though, it’s being grateful for the small, everyday things that helps us to live with a grateful heart.  Be thankful for the waitress who smiles at you and gets her job done well, be thankful for seeing a deer at the side of the road, be thankful for someone holding the door for you or for the cool breeze that cools you when you’re hot.  Keep a list in a journal or beside your favorite chair…think back over your day….what did you see, do, feel that made you feel happy and thankful today???  Write it down…you will find yourself looking for things to be thankful for.  Remember, the opposite of Gratitude, is Ingratitude!  Nobody wants to be un-grateful.  Taking things for granted is a bad way to live.  Especially for a witch or a pagan who wants to live a life of joy.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words,

 but to live by them.”

– John F. Kennedy

Now, to take my own advice.  I have done a lot of griping here lately about the HOT steamy weather.  It has made me grumpy, lazy, tired and I just want the days to pass until we have cooler weather.  When I think about this, I feel pretty bad about it actually.  I have so much going on to be happy about and I’m letting the WEATHER color my day black???  That really is ridiculous when I think about it.  Yes, I want the Hot weather to go..but I should be grateful for each day no matter what!  I have a lovely family I’m blessed to have in my life, daughters who bring me great joy every day.  The sweetest, most adorable grandchildren, a loving son-in-law,  a husband who is hard working and cares for his family, an extended family who is there when needed always.  I have my path, a beautiful home I love, two magickal cats who give unconditional love.  I have food and clothes and books and things I love to do, buy, see.  I am blessed beyond measure.  I should thank the Goddess that I have air conditioning in this heat and quit griping about the heat!   I have friends out there who are not as blessed as me and I know it. I should never take for granted the things I have that other’s do not!

I think of what is going on in the world too.  The economy and so many out of work. The war and the deaths of 20 American Navy Seals. 😦  Riots in London, mothers who kill their children, the cost of living, politicians who can’t work together.  The news everyday seems so depressing and sad and can make me feel helpless and distraught about what’s going on in the world. Makes me want to quit watching the news completely!  But if you have a grateful heart, you can still find the good things in your life and be happy with what you have..the Blessings. 

Now I’m using the weather as a simple illustration of what I’m talking about.  Think about the words that come out of your mouth and creep into your mind.  Are they positive and thankful or are they negative and un-grateful.  Which would make you feel better?  🙂  This is not an easy thing….trust me! I struggle with it too ..as you can see by my sample.  But it’s worthwhile to focus on it and work on finding the things in your life that fill you with Gratitude.  Even if it’s just one thing…it’s a start!

Thank you again for being a reader and a friend.  My heart is grateful for it 🙂

“As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. 

The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world.” 

 ~Terri Guillemets

Much love and light, Autumn