"The Grateful Heart" reflects the thoughts that I've been having - thoughts of thankfulness, of acceptance and the full-heart feeling of knowing how fortunate I am. There are days when it can be difficult to feel grateful - life has a way of throwing things at us that are sometimes very difficult to accept. But being grateful is often the only way to get through those times -- after all, how can I be upset when I truly think about what I have, the love and laughter that fills my life. A quick list while I'm walking in the morning puts so many things into perspective.
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."
-Melody Beattie
You're so right. People have the wrong idea about privilege, too - thinking it means being wealthy. Privilege is just being born healthy into a loving family. All the rest is just stuff!
ReplyDeleteHi Penny:
ReplyDeleteI sometimes drift away from positive thinking. In those moments I find I am less happy and rather depressed. Starting the day with a grateful thought...conscienciously listing blessings brings me right back to reality.
I like your grateful heart.
Penny, this is so beautiful! Your talent with creating original punch-needle art has evolved to a level I'm sure few are able to achieve. I agree with your sentiments that went into creating this piece. Concerning your thoughts as you created, I agree so much. I don't want to be a "Pollyanna" because negative things in our lives do often need our attention. However, I recently learned something from my daughter (how backwards is that?!) that has been of value to me. She suggests "re-framing" negative thoughts. Whenever I find myself thinking negatively, I've learned to "re-frame" the thought and look for something positive in the situation instead. I've found I can always do that, but it takes a conscious effort. Then things are able to go forward with a whole new feeling!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of 're-framing'. Its so easy to get caught up in negative thoughts - sometimes we need to reframe into the positive and good.
ReplyDeleteeveryone has said everything l wanted to say..so all l am adding is....beautiful heartxxlynda
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work and thoughts.
ReplyDelete