Monday, January 07, 2008

Monday Mission: Thank You....


This is my first time trying a Monday Mission. Fortunately, it is a "roll your own" process, with everyone choosing how to use a general theme. This week, it is a "thank you" letter.

This is truly freeform for me. I will start typing and see where it goes. :)

~*

My letter to Life Itself:

Thank you for the beautiful surroundings in which I am able to live this incarnation. The trees, the plants, the sky, the ocean, lakes and rivers, the mountains and, yes, even the desert,

Thank you for being flexible enough to allow me to come out of the desert with a soul still capable of love and forgiveness,

Thank you for the fact that I am not bitter and brittle, unable to recognize the beauty in my fellow human beings,

Thank you for my growing ability to trust.

Thank you for the sound of rain on my roof,

Thank you for the freedom to make choices,

Thank you for the people who surround me, who sustain me and who make this life feel worth living after all,

Thank you for always providing everything I need, even when I don't get everything I want,

Thank you for this incarnation, one that has been incredibly difficult but ultimately so satisfying and full,

Thank you for the animals who surround me. My little dog. The neighbor's cat. The birds that make a home in my garden. They remind me that nature is, in the final analysis, kind and reliable,

Thank you for my Homeland that consistently envelopes me in its splendor and makes me smile from the core of my being,

Thank you for everything.

I love being alive on this plane ~ and I'd even be willing to do it again.

~*

21 comments:

painted maypole said...

OH Chani. I am so glad you "played along" this is gorgeous and life affirming and wonderful in so many ways - just like its author. Thank YOU.

Anonymous said...
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painted maypole said...

oh. i just noticed your picture when your post showed up in my reader - i hadn't looked at it closely when I clicked over from the link on my blog. oh. your beautiful letter in such start contrast to the horrifying photo.

Sai Hijara - Ferraris said...

Very nice! Im reading it out loud...and it feels good!

Girlplustwo said...

chani, that picture. i can barely look at it...and yet the letter is so lovely. the contrast is almost too much.

hele said...

"Thank you for being flexible enough to allow me to come out of the desert with a soul still capable of love and forgiveness,"

This one is so true and so beautiful.

I too give thanks for this every day.

A most wonderful list.

Anonymous said...

I've noticed that when I'm depressed I feel like I should walk around telling everyone, "I'm sorry." When I'm happy, I feel like I should walk around telling everyone, "Thank you."

anne said...

Beautiful and genuine.

Anonymous said...

A very inspiring post, Chani. So wonderful...

Anonymous said...

There is much for which to be thankful. You are excellent at keeping your focus on that side of things.

QT said...

I love this post, Chani, and I have to assume you have changed the photo because what I see looks absolutely lovely.

meno said...

If jen could barely look at the picture, i'm glad you changed it.

That's a beautiful letter.

Julie Pippert said...

Beautiful.

And how interesting, I wrote to life too, but not as poetically. :)

flutter said...

this made my heart shake, Chani

heartinsanfrancisco said...

I love this letter. It's so beautiful, as are you, Chani.

We seem to be on the same thought wave as last night, when I went to bed, I also gave thanks for my life, and realized as I did so that it is good.

Your letter of thanks is so complete and so full of life and all its goodness that I will read it many times.

Thank you for YOU.

Jen said...

What a beautiful post, Chani. And what an absolutely stunning photo!

Anonymous said...

Rain on the roof. Even after two winters in London, I love that sound.

molly said...

And thank YOU for articulating things I am also thankful for but could never say so poetically.....
Happy New Year Chani!

Carla said...

This is lovely. For quite awhile, I kept a gratitude diary where everyday I would list what I was thankful for that day. It's fallen by the wayside, but perhaps I should pull it out again. It was a good way to keep me focused on the positive when life at times looked bleak.

Rima said...

You have such a wonderful, and beautifully articulated perspective on life, Chani. This post was a pleasure to read!

Christine said...

and thank you Life, for Chani.

Running on empty