Last night watching TV while waiting to feel drowsy enough to lie down I had a sudden realization…I was smiling. This sounds common enough but I wasn’t watching a comedy or talking to someone entertaining; I was just sitting alone in the room with Honey and hounds tucked in bed and found myself smiling. I wondered what all that was about but only after I said a quick prayer of thanks for it regardless of why. Then it hit me…..I say a lot pf prayers of thanks every day. That’s the key.
Our home is a humble abode and we are always waiting to finish one project or ten others but we are thankful for it. We live a very modest lifestyle without most of the ‘toys’ grown-ups tend to think they need to have, yet we are content and thankful for our life together. There are health issues to deal with but they do not consume our time or dictate our day to day life. Once and a while, I physically can not do what I want but I use the down time in other ways. Stress does raise its ugly head but we recognize it and try to eliminate it. Money…yes, we could use more but we always eat and have a roof over our heads and never once has my Honey gone to work naked. We are blessed and we know it! We do not take those blessings for granted and we are diligent about giving thanks.
I believe it is that thankful attitude that opens our hearts to appreciate the simple things and find joy everywhere we look. For instance, this morning I was out harvesting turnip and mustard greens from my little veggie garden. If you read my stuff you know I love my little garden. I had to come in for something and looking back outside I saw my copper colander filled with the harvested cilantro sitting in the sun, sparkling like a jewel. The glowing copper and vivid bright green of the fresh cilantro moving in the morning breeze warmed my heart! I paid a whopping $2.50 for that copper colander at a thrift store years ago. It gives me joy every time I look at it. It lives on the kitchen island to hold onions, garlic or fresh fruit. Best $2.50 I’ve ever spent! Happiness and joy do not come in proportion to the price tag of things but in the appreciation of and thankfulness for them.
So, in retrospect, smiling as I sat in my cozy living room should not have surprised me. I was surrounded by things I love and appreciate in a peaceful home. Simply surrounding yourself with things is not the key; it is the thankfulness that makes the difference. Giving thanks to God, for any and everything, changes your attitude. The joy comes from God not the things. The joy comes from God not your circumstances. The joy comes from God because of your thankfulness.
Take it from me, one that spent the larger part of my life not living in a peaceful home or surrounded by things for which I constantly gave thanks to God, if it can change for me it can change for you! The peace came after and only after I stopped looking to external objects, people or circumstances to give me happiness. Joy comes from God. Blessings come from God. Peace comes from God. Thanks be to God all the time!!
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