enlightened horsemanship through touch

Once again, It’s Thankful Thursday, and I’m taking a moment to consider all the things I have to be grateful for. Part of mindful awareness is living gratitude every moment of every day, and not just while writing Thankful Thursday’s post.

As Simrat at Akal Ranch says,

Gratitude creates its own attitude.

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What a year it has been since last Thanksgiving day. I don’t like roller coasters. Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you. County fairs and amusement parks will see Kim on the midway shooting paper ducks and throwing rings at bowling pins instead of riding crazy hills and valleys. Ups and downs, crazy curls and straightaways, near-stalls and sudden accelerations. My life provides enough of those, thank you.

This time last year I was in a personal turmoil I don’t actually care to remember. I was awaiting surgery for my damaged disks, which were torturing my spinal cord with a skill that rivaled even the worst pain of labor and childbirth. And I was juggling the varied and pressing needs of my daughter at the same time. Yet there was a tiny ray of light–my job, which was to provide me with the key to my present day freedom and contentment.

I did not use the word, joy, you will notice. Things seem to have leveled off at the moment, and I’m taking it one day at a time. I’m not going to create a roller coaster of an opportunity to rise and then fall precipitously. A steady state of contentment will not only do nicely but is my ultimate goal.

For today, I have found it in the following:

My daughter’s delightful reveling in her freedom to live her own life, unhindered by constraints of mom. Her new apartment is a study in modern cool: the browns, blacks and oranges a reflection of her desire to remain grounded. The deep greens reveal her hope for growth. In our phone conversations, she has shared with me her reconnections with friends form high school, her activities with friends of the family, and all about the new friends she is making. It appears there is never a dull moment. I am incredibly proud of her, and full to bursting with gratitude on her behalf. She is 21 years old. She is healthy. She is living life.

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Take a few minutes today to create your own Thankful Thursday. If you don’t have a blog of your own, you are welcome to post your thoughts here. If you have a blog, post what you are grateful for there, and please link back here. Feel free to tag other bloggers. We are trying to get a mindful movement of gratitude going.

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For more thankfulness try out Akal Ranch, From the Horse’s Back, Tired Dog Ranch, Earth Dancer Spanish Mustangs or the Pony Expression

© 2009 enlightened horsemanship through touch and Kim Cox Carneal