The Gift of Gratitude

Redbud tree outside my Indian Hill office

"Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude."

~A.A. Milne

The Choice

It is so easy to feel grateful today, the first day of May. The trees and flowers are busting with blooms. The days are longer and the nights are shorter. The Universe is a buzz with creative energy!

I learned through my concussion journey that choosing to be grateful, although not always easy, is very healing. A little over three months after my head injury, when despair and hopelessness were trying to take over my mindset, the notion to begin a gratitude journal came to me. It’s been over three years, and I still have my journal by my bedside. I am now in the habit of jotting down five things I am grateful for at the end of each day. This exercise in gratitude helps me maintain a positive attitude – a very important piece of the healing puzzle.

The Gift

There was a time not too long ago that I could not enjoy being in a restaurant because all the background noise was overwhelming. A concussed brain’s filter is often broken. Similar to a person with autism, we hear all the music and multiple conversations all at once and it is paralyzing. Just last month I was sitting at Jason’s Deli enjoying a bowl of soup. Janis Joplin was singing in the background and the people sitting across from me were immersed in a rather loud conversation. I was doing my daily crossword puzzle while enjoying my soup and I was suddenly struck with an overwhelming sense of gratitude as I realized my brain was working! It was filtering out the music and conversations and I could concentrate with ease on the crossword puzzle. What a gift!

Breathing in Gratitude

Even our darkest challenges can be a gift if we remain open. Don’t choose bitterness, choose gratefulness. It is so much sweeter!

Peace,

Sharon