These are the waning days of my 70th trip around the sun as I celebrate my birth Sunday April 14

April 11, 2019…Hour of Gold Reflected on a Gerbera Daisy

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart,

it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”

– A. A. Milne (Winnie-The-Pooh)

Sometimes I have a difficult time being grateful. That always makes me feel shame, but I am, after all, just a tired and retired old lady and I have seen a lot of ugliness in my time here on the planet.

Sure, I have seen a lot of beauty and met some amazing people and had some personal satisfactions, but I am not one of those people who say they have no regrets. I have lots of regrets, and not as much for the things I haven’t done as for the thoughtless decisions and actions that dot the landscape of my life. It isn’t always easy to like the person you see in the mirror as you brush your teeth, but if you don’t find a way to do so those regrets will simple make you bitter and unhappy and unable to find your joy.

So, my prayer today is to find a way to embrace personal responsibility and acceptance for myself and to recognize those moments as special when I see clearly the gifts I have been given and my heart grows large with gratitude and though they will not be lasting they will return. I pray that I might remember that the dance of life is not a measured forward march in a straight line, but a series of sometimes delightful and sometimes awkward movements, places where the road grows dark and treacherous and it is a challenge just to keep the beat.

I must not be stopped by the shame of being unappreciative, for shame too has a place. I read once that the only shame is to have none. It is all in how we take the shame and turn it into something forward propelling and positive. I guess I could say I am grateful for the shame, and oh so happy to let it go.

— Love, Light and Laughter,

Zahn