Gratitude 2018

Sunrise January 1st 2018

 As the sun rises on a new year, the moon says good-bye to 2017. It's time to reflect. It's time to look forward. It's time to be grateful.

Moon setting January 1st 2018

2017 was a rough year for family health. I'm so grateful everyone is healing and moving forward. I'm so grateful for the doctors, nurses and many other health care professionals who were there to help my family on their road to recovery.

2017 was also a rough year for America. It seemed there was more bad news than a person of my political beliefs could bare. But I survived, and so did my like-minded friends. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have Marched for Science last spring. I'm grateful others were able to March for Women last winter in Washington, D.C. I'm grateful for the journalists and news organizations who keep us all informed. How would we know what causes need our voices without them?

I also find my self taking a longer view back, feeling the joys of long-term delayed gratification. The years of childhood spent in school, when all you really want to do is play, listen to music, and go to the beach, give way to the gratification of knowledge, skill, and financial independence. The years of working at someone else's assigned task and schedule, give way to the gratification of retirement - a time when you can choose your own tasks, your own schedule, and make choices about the people you want to keep in your life and spend time with.

I'm so grateful for the time I spent in nature this year. Both calming and energizing, I've discovered the benefits of forest bathing, and sauntering. Waterfalls, coastline boardwalks, sunrises and sunsets - Beauty exists all around us.

I'm so grateful for the time spent meeting new neighbors, and getting to know long time neighbors better. There's not a bad apple in the bunch! I'm grateful for the opportunity to live among this caring and compassionate group.

I'm grateful for the wise words of others. Here are a few of my favorites:

On Emotional Health:
"Don't take things personally." Marilyn Vos Savant

On Physical Health:
"Eat a rainbow every day." Dr. Jeffrey Fuhrman
"Think of exercise as play. Play every day." Unknown

On Mental And Social Health:
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." Eleanor Roosevelt
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle
"Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't." Bill Nye

On Enjoying Nature:
"Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not 'hike' through them." John Muir

On Responsibility:
"I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend?" Robert Redford

On Choice:
"I have chosen to be happy because it is good for my health." Voltaire  

Finally, I'm grateful for a new year. My heart is filled with hope once again, as I refuse to carry the dysfunction of the past forward. In the long run things always have a way of working out for the best. 2018 is a new opportunity for lessons learned, positive change, and the motivation to move forward toward a more enlightened future.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Laura S. Pringle is the author of The Pringle Plan, a series of educational guides. 

 See books by Laura S. Pringle on Amazon

 ©2017 Laura S. Pringle. All Rights Reserved.