In Gratitude
“Gratitude goes beyond the ‘mine’ and ‘thine’ and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.”
– Henri J. M. Nouwen
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notes from a dog walker 
Love this xx
Very true. I know I need to cultivate a daily practice of gratitude. It’s so easy to get lost in all the minutiae of dreary life but every day we are alive really is a gift.
I’m working on that too. It was helpful for me to start thinking of mindfulness and gratitude (which go hand in hand for me) as a *practice* – not a state to arrive at, but something to work with every day of my life.
I say that having my dog is like living full time with a Zen master. He greets every moment, no matter how ‘mundane,’ with such joy. Love the photo and the quote, thank you.
Yes! Animals are the best at teaching us to stay present and enjoy the moment. Have you read ‘Guardians of Being”? One of my favorites.
Lovely.
I am grateful for all that I have and with the enjoyment of life. I’m also grateful that I have a wonderful dog with whom to share my life.