Thanks to Dawn Landau for making Gratitude a New Year’s Tradition. I’m happy to be taking part once more.
“For the fourth year in a row, this is an opportunity to hit pause and focus on all the good things that each of us has in our lives. The holiday season has a way of rushing in, every year, and making it hard to remember that throughout the year, there are blessings. There are so many things that bring joy, so many happy things; yet it’s easy to find to lose sight of this fact, as we manage busy lives.”
To take part, set your timer for ten minutes and write 50 things you are grateful for. Once I started it was hard to stop.
- My home – just celebrated our tenth year in our dream home.
- My husband – 46 years of marriage.
- My 3 sons who have all grown to be men I’m proud of.
- My granddaughter Olive
- Her new sister Elsie born on my dad’s birthday, 12 November 2017
- Olive’s adorable dog, Poppy
- Friday Fictioneers – I’ve made so many friends through sharing stories, learning how similar we are in our hopes and dreams no matter where we’re from.
- What Pegman Saw…I took part in it this past year. Nice to have a different prompt and 50 extra words to play with.
- My health
- A nearby place to swim
- The joy of swimming a mile, flip turning at each end of the pool
- Counting backwards in Hebrew and Spanish to keep track of my pool lengths
- My elliptical trainer for those times it’s too cold to get out of the house
- A good hot shower after a hearty workout
- A warm cozy room that serves as office and studio
- Strong, hot black coffee in the wee morning hours when it’s still dark outside
- My G-d who speaks in a still small voice during those quiet times
- Abundance of healthy foods
- A sense of humor, the ability to laugh at myself
- My friends and family who’ll laugh at me if I don’t.
- My synagogue
- My dancing friends on our synagogue dance team
- My rabbi, who knows the value of a good pun
- My blogging friends
- The internet and Skype friends around the globe
- The ability to make people happy with my writing and art – I say this with gratitude for the feedback from others
- My 6-speed Chevy Cruz that’s paid for
- No longer having to punch a clock and the privilege of doing what I dreamed of doing as a child, ie being a professional artist
- Some successful book signings and art fairs.
- A growing number of art commissions.
- Books to read and lose myself in
- Music, all kinds (I won’t deny it, I love classical…particularly Chopin).
- Being able to read and write Hebrew (more or less)
- Taking time to enjoy the quiet
- Good paintbrushes
- My computers: desktop and laptop
- Legs that still work
- Smelling fragrances and odors, it means my olfactories works
- The color PURPLE
- Other colors beside purple 😉
- The fresh smell after a rainstorm
- Flowers, Daffodils being my favorite
- My muse who tells me stories when I least expect it
- My spinning mind that decides to go into overdrive when I want to sleep.
- A good Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc
- Gluten free pasta so I don’t feel deprived
- Ozarks Writers League – OWL
- All of my Wisoff cousins I never knew I had until we discovered each other online
- Friends I’ve known since early childhood. It’s a rare blessing to share pictures of grandchildren with the same ‘kids’ I used to play hopscotch with
- I can still turn a cartwheel.