Time to Break for Gratitude

Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Gratitude. A word that needs to have a permanent place in my life. All too many times, the complaining button gets stuck, and on and on I go. Wah, wah, whine, whine. Sometimes, I make myself sick from hearing it!

In her Emerging Writers blog and The Prosperous Writer newsletter, author Christina Katz has been doing a series entitled, ’52 Qualities of Prosperous Writers’. The quality highlighted for September is number 37: gratitude. Christina encouraged readers to seek out little things to be grateful for, the ones we tend to disregard as insignificant or forget altogether, not worthy of our attention. Doing so allows you to see the blessings that exist in your life, including your writing.

I received the news that a dear friend’s mother suddenly passed Sunday. My heart aches for B and her family. We’ve been friends since college, and she’s seen me through so much since then, right through the present.

When it comes to my writing, B is only one of many supporters I’ve been blessed with. She’s provided ideas for blog posts and stories, and suggested resources for me to check out. She’s encouraged my budding interest in food writing and when time permits, accompanied me to various restaurants, in the name of research, of course. And she’s always ready to hear my latest conference experience.

Does it matter that B’s a counselor and works in clinical psychology? Nope. What matters is during times when I’ve been ready to dump the dream and walk away from writing, she’s there cheering me on. Thank you, B for making my life richer for knowing you!

Gratitude. In the writing life, there’s always something to be grateful for, someone to show some gratitude towards. All you have to do is look for it. It's a worthy break to take!

By Jill Earl

4 comments:

Unknown said...

What a timely reminder!
There is something about the changing colors, harvesting the orange and yellow fruits and vegetables, and peeling the first red apple from this year's crop that makes me extra thankful.
The blessings are all around us! Thanks for writing this post!
Patricia
http://pmpoetwriter.blogspot.com/

Jill said...

I agree with you, Patricia, I adore this time of year too! Thanks for your comments!

Step Parenting with Grace said...

What a good reminder because I think we have to make a conscious decision to be thankful. Today I'm thankful for answered prayers I see all around me.

Jill said...

So true. It's a conscious decision to be made every day. At least that's something I aspire to. :-)

Thanks for your comments, Grace.

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