Sunday, December 30, 2007

Ending the Year with a Thank You

I think the best way to celebrate the end of another year is with gratitude. I am grateful to have survived another year; it's nice to be 66 years old and in good health. So for the next several days I will be giving thanks on my blog for all of my blessings in 2007.

Today I give thanks for my family. And I will begin by being grateful for my husband of 43 years. Although we have had many stormy times over the past year (make that years), there is probably no one else that would have put up with me for so long. And vice versa. I am grateful for the strengths I have developed from being his wife. He encouraged me to get my Masters degree and to pursue a career, in the days when husbands didn't want their wives to work. My perspectives have been broadened just because he looks at life so differently from the way I do. Thanks to him, I finally learned how to smile more and take life a bit less seriously. And thanks to him, I developed my patience to the level of a saint! But most of all I thank him for our three children, without whom we would not have our six grandchildren. More about them tomorrow.

Here's another hint. Whenever you feel blue or depressed, start giving thanks for your blessings. It really works!

2 comments:

Maryellen said...

Great Post, El
You are so right to give thanks. It really whittles down the negative feelings that so easily overtake us.

I like the many ways you are grateful for your husband. As irritating as they can be, husbands do indeed broaden our perspectives because they see life through a different lens. (Opposites attract, right?)

After many years of acting as adversaries, my husband and I have finally become friends. We've dealt with most of the issues that needed resolution.

I'm happy for you that you can view your husband with eyes of appreciation for his unique person.
Stay on that path, it will bring you much inner peace

Happy New Year

Inner Elder said...

Thank you for your kind words and affirmation, Maryellen. Your story also inspires me. Have a great 2008!

Eleanor