The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.   Dalai Lama

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness. Dalai Lama

DECEMBER 14 – APPRECIATE

What’s the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it?

(Author: Victoria Klein)

I read this as gratitude.

I appreciate my husband and daughter. We’ve had a lot to adapt to with me going back to work full time and then hurting my leg. I appreciate how very supportive and loving (in his own inimitable grumpy way) J is. I know he wants me to be happy in a really selfless way. The Bean is a small bundle of fierce light, love and hilarity. She brightens any room she walks into and has a deeply kind heart. I appreciate so much that she will still cuddle with me, even if I can snarfle her toes anymore (Mommy, I’m too old for that!)

I appreciate the friends that have stuck by me—whether they are far away or close by. My friends who are spread out, in Illinois , San Francisco, New York, Dallas, Missouri  prove that distance doesn’t have to cause loss. My friends close by who have stayed with me as I traverse some hard times and serious sea change are role models in many and varied ways. Some show me strength of character, others courage, still others remind me to laugh and keep me from getting old too fast .  I’m always amazed that these incredible people actually want to be around me.

I appreciate where I work. I work in one of the best school systems anywhere (seriously, it’s in all the magazines) with some really great people at some really great schools. Every day I get to see in action and learn from some amazing teachers. Every day I get to interact with some really great kids. Right now, even when the work load is heavy, and oh boy does it get that way and even when I feel pulled in several too many directions, I still know that I can’t have it much better than I do. I appreciate that I get to do meaningful work and that I get to do it with some great people and some pretty excellent tools.

I appreciate living in Fayetteville. It’s a good liberal town with a great mix of folks. I love all the music (even if most of it isn’t my kind of music) the art and the just general creativity. I like that there’s still a hippy vibe here, however fancypants the place gets. I like the manners and I love the library. It’s weird that I love my home town as much as I loathed it as a teenager.

i appreciate my kitties. Yes I really do. They love me when I’m down. They stick beside me when I’m injured or sick. They are weird little furry folk and I can’t imagine my life without them.

Well, when you look at it this way, what else do I need?