Gratitude to be alive

I have been guided by my parents to practice gratitude since I was a child.

But as a child, you are grateful for simple things. The toys, the pencils and pens you were given or the shiny shoes that grandpa brought back from his trip. Material things.

Being grateful for more complex things such as life, time, health, family and friends was beyond my intellectual capacity at that time.

Life and time taught me to be grateful for more tangible things.

Don’t be surprised by the use of the word tangible. Health or family are substantively more tangible once you realize their importance.

Today, I am grateful that I woke up. It need not have been that way. I am grateful that when I do, I possess physical and cognitive capacity. I am grateful that I could learn something and share it with society at large.

I am grateful that I could develop a few skills along the way to make it beneficial for those that I share it with.

Learning gratitude has been one of the pillars of my growth.

But what of the unkind and unpleasant experiences of which we all have many.

Strangely, even that taught me gratitude. Grateful for the opportunity to grow amidst adversity. To test and hone my skills. To still be standing after.

To find friendship, laughter and support from unexpected quarters.

To understand the value of gratitude.

So as another year passes by and I celebrate the gift of life, I am thankful. Just being alive is enough reason to be.

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