Day 226, August 14

Today is our grandson Brigham's seventh birthday. Brigham came to our family by way of adoption. He is a delight, full of questions, energy, and more questions. He loves Legos, transformers, Star Wars, and all things that make up a little boy.

His smile is infectious, inviting all who see him to share in his sheer joy in life. Gaps where his baby teeth once resided give him an especially mischievous look, a contrast to his sleeping self where he looks like a slightly grubby angel.

My husband and I had the opportunity to look after Brigham and his brother this past spring. They gave us a run for our money. I admit that I couldn't run fast enough to keep up with them. Which is all right. Grandmas aren't supposed to keep up with grandchildren; they are only supposed to love them. That, I can do.

I've written before about my grandchildren. They remind me of all that is good and right in life. While some look about the world and see despair, I look at my grandchildren and see hope.

So, for today, I am grateful for Brigham.

Day 225, August 13

In typing this, I cognized that I have been blogging for 225 days. (Well, 226 if you count New Year's Eve where I began with a preface.) Who would have figured that I could have kept this up for 225 (or 226) days?

As I've confided in earlier posts, I wasn't at all sure I could or would continue. Yet here I am, still writing about the things that go on in my life, still trying to find the wisdom and the energy to continue looking for things for which to be grateful.

Do you know what? It isn't easy. I am surrounded by blessings, but it isn't always easy identifying them or writing about them.

In talking with my niece, I told her that the right things in life are usually not the easy ones. They take time. They take effort. They take discipline and commitment and persistence and all those other virtues that slip through my fingers like water.

Rarely do I possess those virtues. I take the easy way out and let things slide. I let exercising slide. I let my writing slide. I let volunteering write. Sometimes, it seems like I'm just one big slippery slope.

So, for today, I am grateful for the times when I don't let things slide.

Day 224, August 12

Life marches by, and, sometimes, I find myself wanting to call a halt and say, "Wait for me."

Technological advances, in everything from phones to refrigerators, computers to cars, frequently leave me feeling left behind. My eight-year-old grandson routinely uses power-point in school presentations. His eleven-year-old sister helps me find glitches on my computer.

Neither of my grandmothers ever learned to drive a car. At the time, I didn't understand why. Now, I do. Cars intimidated them. Just as today's technology intimidates. I have an i-phone. After eight months, it still surprises me, doing things I didn't know it could do. Why haven't I learned how to use all those apps?

I realize I am still a child in all things technological. It occurred to me that I am also a child in all things eternal. I picture the Father, looking down from heaven, shaking His head, wondering, "Why hasn't Jane figured things out yet? Why is she still struggling to get things right?"

Fortunately, for me, and for all of us, He possesses infinite patience. He knows that I am trying ... sometimes. He knows that I want Him on my side. More, He has given me a way to talk with Him through prayer.

So, for today, I am grateful for technology that makes life easier. I am always grateful for the Father Who makes life eternal.

Day 223, August 11

We are in the "dog days" of summer when the temperature tries even the most mild of persons. My own gentle soul (picture my husband rolling his eyes at this) does not tolerate the heat well. And then I remember that I live in the comfort of an air-conditioned home, travel in the luxury of an air-conditioned car, and shop in air-conditioned stores.

Air-conditioning is a boon to those of us who melt in the heat and those who live with those of us who melt in the heat. I've noticed that when temperatures rise, frequently tempers do as well. When the Father created our human natures, He expected us to learn control.

Too often, I witness individuals (myself included) who fail to exercise control of their tempers. Road rage, a fairly recent term, has been coined to describe those who allow their anger at other drivers to escalate to unreasonable proportions.

When did we, as a society, decide that it was acceptable to take our anger to such extremes? In earlier posts, I've written about poor manners. Is not the expression of such anger just an extension of bad manners? Yet such behavior is not only tolerated but rewarded when celebrities and other public figures exhibit it.

Thankfully, there are still those who treat others with kindness and respect.

So, for today, I am grateful for air-conditioning. I am always grateful for people who return rudeness with civility.

Day 222, August 10

Yesterday, I started the blog by writing of a man who spoke plainly and directly. I realize I did not give this subject due attention.

Plain speaking is a commodity in short supply today. The media bombards us with sound bytes of politicians, movie stars, and other celebrities, each of whom seems to have a preponderance of fancy words delivered in a fancy manner.

These words rarely, if ever, touch me. More often than not, they are written by someone else and are given with supposedly heartfelt emotion. That is probably why they so often fall flat. Words written by someone else and presented with psuedo-feeling will fail to touch souls. Conversely, words written from the heart and delivered with heart reach in and squeeze my heart every time.

So, for today, I am grateful for plain speaking.

Day 221, August 9

This past Sunday, a man spoke in our church services, bearing his testimony of Christ. He was "plain of speech," his words simple, direct, and to the point. They touched my heart, perhaps because they were simple and direct.

I, too, am plain of speech. I have no fancy words and, occasionally, yearn for the gift of lyrical prose that some writers achieve seemingly effortlessly.

As I pondered this yearning, I realized that I am being ungrateful to my Heavenly Father when I wish I were different from what I am. Why can't I appreciate the gifts I have been given and stop coveting those of others? The answer is, of course, that I am weak and all too human. I want what I don't have and fail to appreciate what I do.

That, among other things, is the reason I started "The Gratitude Project," to remind myself of the blessings I have been given. Could I find things in myself to appreciate? The short answer is, "It depends on the day."

On any given day, I can believe that I have something to contribute. By the following day, I am equally convinced that I have nothing whatsoever to share. What makes the difference? Could it be that on the first day, I am looking outside myself, searching for ways to help others?

Maybe. Probably.

So, for today, I am grateful for those days when I remember to look beyond myself.

Day 220, August 8

"Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable."--Coco Chanel.

I love this quote. I love the optimism, the in-your-face defiance it exudes. I've always admired Coco Chanel, a woman who defied the odds of a woman succeeding in business at a time when the role of women was narrowly defined. When I heard this quote, I gained a greater appreciation for her.

How many times have I stopped myself from doing something because I knew I wouldn't succeed? Far too many. And what if I hadn't succeeded? Would the world have come to a stop? Would life as we know it have ended because I tried something and failed?

No.

But I stopped myself because I didn't want to add another failure to an already long list. How sad is that? As I enter a new decade in my years, I am determined to try new things and, inevitably, to add new failures. There. I've said it aloud.

Perhaps in a later post, I can share some of those with you.

So, for today, I am grateful for people who succeed when failure is inevitable.