We entered the frigid month of February, and I’m still plugging away at my 2022 blogging challenge. It took me a while to come up with an idea, but I decided what I needed most in the coming year was to adopt an attitude of gratitude. The world suddenly got filled with so much tragedy and conflict I found it hard to appreciate the blessings in my life. Thus, I started my 365 days of thankfulness challenge. I start my day searching for some way to express appreciation for life, even if it is a small and insignificant element. Many small things can add up to a big blessing. During month one, I cover most of the major stuff. I’m starting to wonder if I can keep going in month two. I’ve never attempted to express gratitude as the primary subject of my writing. I’m finding it to be more difficult than I first thought. This post covers day fifty-six of my 365 days of thankfulness.
Day Fifty-Six of my 365 Days of Thankfulness
On day fifty-six of my 365 days of thankfulness, I discover I am grateful for being the master of my time these days. I don’t have to fill out a timesheet to get paid. If I want to hang around the house in my pajamas the entire, no one can tell me I need to get dressed. I can spend a couple of hours walking in circles at the gym, and it is nobody’s business but my own. There are days when I write for eight hours straight. There are still other days when I don’t type a word.
I know I already wrote about being grateful for retirement, but this is slightly different. Time is our most valuable asset. Humans are only allotted so much time during their life. It is a shame to squander it on tasks with no value or meaning. William Ernest Henley wrote in his poem Invictus, “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.” This statement sums up my current feelings about time, and I am blessed to be the master of the time I have left. I am the captain of how my life is spent.
The old lady speaks….
This old lady’s opinion is thanksgiving is a matter of choice. Even in the darkness, we can choose to seek the light. My blessings may not be the same as yours because I’m old. We all share this planet and breath the same air. We are blessed to have contact with one another. I believe we can all relate to the blessings in life, even during a pandemic. Covid-19 is a tragic landmark in our human experience., but thankfulness is an adventure we can all take together. Would you please leave a comment and share with me some of the things you are thankful for today.
Who is Molly Shea?
Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh. To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.
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Time has been viewed, measured, and related to in very different ways around the world, from the seven unbelievably intricate calendars of the Maya to the entirely cyclic time perception of the Pacific Islanders. There’s a “13/11” movement among us today which believes that if we moved from a solar-based, day-identical calendar to the more natural flow of a lunar-based time measurement it would result in great spiritual benefit to ourselves and a rebalancing of our culture’s relationship to its home planet. Interesting to conjecture ~ I myself find our modern corporate calendar dehumanizing.
You’re so right, Molly. 💯 It’s important to remain thankful even in these turbulent times. I’m thankful for my family- my mom, my children and grandchildren, siblings, my closest friends- I’m thankful for all the wonderful people in my life. God has truly blessed me. 🙌 💖💐
I meant to add this: there’s so much more I’m grateful for, but the list would be too long. 🙂