Gratitude 12 … Family
Today I am grateful for family, in all its splendid forms …
*I am thankful, of course, for my immediate family: for my mother who nurtured me from my true Beginning (both via her caring deeds, as well as her occasional lack thereof), for my father who inspired me along the way (both via his gentle guidance, as well as his occasional lack thereof), for my brother who remains the truest of Friends (even after his death; even to this day), for my grandparents who — each in his/her own way — instilled within me the Virtues of selfless service & social justice, and for my son who will forever a source of profound inspiration and paternal pride.
*And I am equally thankful for the members of my “extended” family: for all my aunts & uncles & cousins & relatives “more distant”; as well as all my life’s past teachers & coaches, mentors & bosses, guides & gurus.
my Aunt Sandy with all her grandchildren
*I am thankful for my friends — both those close and far; as well as all past lovers – both actual & those unrequited.
my dear Friend, Rebecca Jean Nelson
*And I am especially thankful for my enemies — both those real & those I merely imagine, for it is they who make my life truly Meaning-full, by giving me constant opportunities to enliven a Love unconditional; for allowing my True Self to bloom anew.
*I am thankful for all those other facets of the Earth that the unenlightened deem to be “less than”: all members of kingdoms animal (bird and beast), plant (tree and grass) and mineral (earth and stone); all the manifestations of the elements (wind, rain, lightning, sunbeam, cloud, mist, fog & fire); as well as all the citizens mysterious or unseen that inhabit the realms both “above” the Earth and those “below” her.
my dog companion, Nooka
*And finally, I am thankful for all my many Families within — both the relatives of my ego (all the fears I try to avoid & all the desires I strive to attain), as well as those facets of Me more close to my Soul (my Callings to serve others & my Knowings of all that which is Moral — and thereby True).
And so it is that I climb to my proverbial mountaintop, take a deep breath filled with profound reverence, and let loose with a long & loud –
Thank Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
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