Four Seasons Of Gratitude

‘Tis the season for gratitude. This year I’m grateful for a vaccine that enabled me and many others to survive the pandemic and return to the life I love – traveling on the road. It’s not all moonlight and roses, mind you. My truck was hit two different times while sitting in my apartment complex parking lot! I lost my awning to the winds on the high plains of Amarillo, TX. I had a tooth die, got emergency root canal, and found out my 2 month old crown was bad. But I’m here to tell you these things. I got to see friends and family from around the country this year. I got to spend 12 months (7 this year) in the same city as my brother and his family including my great niece and nephews. I spent a lot of time on zoom! AND, I published my first novel. It really has been a wonderful year.

I choose to be grateful and present to my gratitude all year long. Sometimes I lose sight of that. Other times, I am much better at the practice of being present to it. Gratitude makes me happy, it fills me with confidence, and makes my life enjoyable. At the end of the year, I like to review and reflect on my abundance. I live in 200 square feet on a retirement income and I’m far richer today than at any time in my life. Not richer in houses, cars, salaries, or prestigious positions, but in the life I have created. And creation is available to all of us. Life can be good and the richer you make your life, the more likely you will be able to get through the tough times like illness, repairs, depression, loss, and change. I deal with all of those too.

Be happy, be grateful, and be alive. Sat, chit, ananda. That’s my message to all of you in 2021. I look forward to 2022, even with the challenges that are coming – environmentally, politically, and health-wise. I will continue to be grateful every day and steel myself for the challenges ahead. See you down the road in 2022 if not before!

Enjoy this 2021 highlight reel of me, Inky, my friends and family, Chicagoland, and nature – the star of the show. My apologies to my Chicago cousins for not including them because we did not take a pic during my visit. Rest in power my dear departed cousin, Nancy who was with us for one last visit.