At This Thanksgiving

Thank you

is likely the most common phrase that Mum uses on her letterboard. The following is one of the many poems that has been significant for Isabel during these last 26 months.

With heartfelt gratitude for all of you who wing your care to all of us in so many ways.

Gratitude

To be grateful for what is,

instead of underscoring what is not.

To find good amidst the unwanted aspects of life,

without denying the presence of the unwanted.

To focus on beauty in the little things of life,

as well as being deliberate about the great beauties

of art, literature, music, and nature.

To be present to one's own small space of life,

while stretching to the wide world beyond it.

To find something to laugh about in every day,

even when there seems nothing to laugh about.

To search for and to see the good in others,

rather than remembering their faults and weaknesses.

To be thankful for each loving deed done by another,

no matter how insignificant it might appear.

To taste life to the fullest,

and not take any part of it for granted.

To seek to forgive others for their wrongdoings,

even immense ones, and to put the past behind.

To find ways to reach out and help the disenfranchised,

while also preserving their dignity and self-worth.

To be as loving and caring as possible,

in a culture that consistently challenges these virtues.

To remember to say or send "thank you"

for whatever comes as a gift from another.

To be at peace

with what cannot be changed.

- Joyce Rupp from The Circle of Life