An Attitude of Gratitude

An Attitude of Gratitude

An Attitude of Gratitude

It's hard to believe we're almost finished making another spin around the sun. Where does the time go? I used to hear people I considered to be "old" say those words. Now I get it--even though I'm sure I haven't gotten to "old" yet.

This time last year, I was volunteering at an orphanage in Ghana for Thanksgiving through Compassionate Journeys. Ghanaians, of course, do not celebrate the American holiday of turkey, football, gluttony and thankfulness that we do here in the States, but it was, hands down, the most meaningful Thanksgiving I have ever had. Surrounded by about 100 orphans and impoverished children, the magnitude of all I had to be thankful for was overwhelming.

I bought enough cassava to make fufu, the national dish of Ghana, and pepper stew for everyone. As it cooked over a coal fire, though, the pot tipped over, sending a hot stream of stew pouring out onto the concrete ground of the orphanage courtyard. Children quickly grabbed spoons and ladled the precious food back into the pot, along with muddy dust from the ground. Good food is hard to come by in Ghana, and nothing could be wasted.

The children sat at long tables outside eating their fufu in shifts: first the youngest children ate, then the older children got what was left over. No one complained, and everyone enjoyed the feast. I know the children did not know exactly what they were celebrating, but I sure did.

For the first time in my life, it wasn't just my close family and friends and the things I had that I was grateful for. It was the beauty of lifethis opportunity I have received to live here on earth and experience true joy, true sorrow and true love for others.

We are allyou, me, everyone we know and everyone we don't knowsharing this life, at this time, together. I am so blessed to be having the most amazing experience in this life.

So this last spin around the sun, I have counted my blessings and found them to be in abundance. Wonderful things have happened, and terribly tragic things have happened, too, but I am happy to be living life out loud and embracing all it has to give.

And I am so thankful for every one of you who has shared part of this journey with me, either by spending time with orphans, the sick or the poor, or by simply caring that we do. We are all making a difference in our own capacity, and perhaps the ability to express compassion is the greatest gift of all.

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