Grateful to be able to breathe in and out on my own. . .

I have been journaling for over a decade and somewhere in each journal you will find “I am grateful for being able to breathe in and out on my own, walk and talk on my own and the ability to see, hear and feel”.

My level of gratitude for the seemingly simple things, things we take for granted, after surviving what seems like a nightmare, was deep and wide.

It’s not uncommon that we need to have something huge happen in our lives that reminds us how fortunate we really are.  For instance, when I made that first entry mentioned above I had just survived an incredibly abusive relationship.  I was grateful to my soul to have survived and not been maimed or even killed.  Yes, it was that bad.

It can also be small things that remind us.

Today a friend posted the question “What are you grateful for”, simple and straight forward.  The last couple of months have been taxing with shifting my focus from my comfort zone and creating a new brand.  Quite frankly, I hadn’t thought about gratitude in a while.

Then my sweet little angel voice in my head said “of course you are grateful”.  “You are grateful that you can breathe in and out on your own, and so on”.  And as I typed these words, the stress of the last few weeks welled up in my eyes, and I was able to truly exhale and put things in true perspective.

What came next was even more amazing.  A man who had been in a terrible accident and lucky to be alive, posted after me and said “I am thankful for those things too”.  He posted a picture of a mangled van that he had been in “by the grace of God, I survived this horrendous catastrophe.” his posting read.  I also saw pictures of him celebrating his life dressed to the nines with a cane supporting his weight and raising his video camera high in the air as if claiming his triumph.

I thanked him for reaffirming my gratitude and said a little prayer to always remember what truly matters and remember “I am grateful for being able to breathe in and out on my own, walk and talk on my own and the ability to see, hear and feel”.

What are you grateful for?   What really matters at the end of the day?

When life gets to you and it does – if only for a moment.  Anchor yourself in gratitude.  Get clear about what matters most and hold it to your heart to call on in those times.

– Teresa Rodden, Certified Life Coach