Recipes, For Perspective
A practice of gratitude is not about dismissing sadness, anger, fear, or confusion. Rather, it offers us the opportunity to see that we often experience multiple feelings at once; to welcome joy into the same places where we hold grief; to turn our attention to what is quietly growing and breathing day by day, which, to our possible surprise, includes ourselves.
-Kristin Lin-
Experiencing multiple feelings at once. Keeping perspective. That is what living gratefully allows. It doesn’t only look for the sunshine. It understands that clouds will sometimes get in the way, but that they also make way for learning and growing that can’t happen in the fullness of a clear blue, sunny day. Without the joy of love, how can we really feel the grief of loss? Without frustration and disappointment, how can we really lean into the exhilaration of progress and success when they come?
Healthy perspective. It is attainable, with effort, discipline, practice, and a variety of recipes. Here are a few of my recent recipes:
*Listening to recovery friends talk about their jam and jelly recipes, realizing that we each have our own recipes for recovery, but we share many ingredients.
*Letting the technology of weather radar provide me with the right recipe to time my run this morning. The radar showed a window of lighter precipitation and out the door I went. I got wet, but not drenched.
*Sitting at a stoplight yesterday, reminded of how effective a recipe that our system of stoplights is at keeping traffic moving safely and efficiently. (As long as we are all paying attention and not in too big of a hurry.)
*The recipe of time of day, sunshine streaming in, and where I was standing in my house; leading me to find these pieces of our dog Oliver’s food, hidden from view after a spill back in February. We said goodbye to Oliver on February 23. We miss him and his presence. He was always good at bringing me perspective. Oliver’s recipe included naps, laying in the sun, being happy to see his humans, regular walks, and eyes that could warm my heart when it had gotten chilly.
*The lines on my hands are love and loss, joy and pain, gratefulness and confusion. The lines are my life, and from my perspective today, I like what I see. I know how far I have come. I am present for the day ahead. Onward!
