Alive

Degas.

 This blog is writing daily gratitude for the month of November. I think I'll give it a shot. I don't know if I'll do it every day, but I think it's a good practice nonetheless.

So what am I thankful for today?

To be alive.

It may sound crazy, but today that's what I feel.
I won't go into any specifics. I'm just grateful for a beating heart. Grateful that my lungs function, bringing in air and exhaling, softly, slowly, bringing peace to a tempestuous soul.

I've felt tempestuous today, but despite it all, I'm grateful I'm alive.

Grateful I have senses. I can smell the Domino's pizza we had for dinner. I can taste the leftover Halloween candy that I guiltily continue to pop into my mouth. I can feel the tips of my fingers tap away at the hard plastic of my new MacBook (of which I'm also grateful, but that's not the topic today). I can hear my husband breathing in bed next to me  as I fall asleep at night. I can see the words to the books I'm reading (and writing) and the art I admire.

I'm grateful I have a functioning body that hasn't fallen prey to the past pain and difficulties that I've faced.

I realize that's a lot to be grateful for, but it all falls under one category, which I've already stated and still mean.

I'm grateful I am alive.

Estoy agradecida estar viva.

How grateful am I?

So... I'm just sitting here thinking...

It's been a long time since I felt this way.

What way is that? I'm still trying to decide.

Gratitude, yes.

Happy, maybe.

Contentment, perhaps.

It's been a long time since I felt this way.

Too long.

Thank you, God.

That is all.