Written by Ordinary Extra – May 27-29, 2023. A Quiet Thank You.
While sitting in my backyard during the early morning hours this weekend while sipping hot coffee, I took time to pray, to ponder, and to slow down. I slowed down in order to embrace the quality of life I am fortunate to have.
I slowed down to make sure that I consciously thought about so many things that I am thankful for. One of those things was simply the ability to do exactly what I was doing. I slowed down, sitting in my yard, still and quiet, while remembering how it is that every day I have the freedom to do such things.
A quiet thank you to the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
“For the love of country they accepted death, and thus renounced all debts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.” – James A. Garfield
As I sat and took in the silence found in my own freedom to start my morning early and take in the sun’s climb higher into the sky, I looked around at the beauty all around me.
I noticed a pair of blue jays scratching in the soil looking for a morning snack. Their beautiful blue feathers stood out against the backdrop like they had their own spotlight shining on their every move. I heard other birds hidden behind countless leaves, singing their songs and sounding their calls.
A lump crept into my throat as I thought of the lives given to a cause much greater than their own. A cause that allowed me to enjoy these quiet mornings without interruption. I thought of those families and the endless ripples of effect from brave acts of sacrifice. I bowed my head. I slowed down. I uttered a quiet thank you.
We live in an age where comparisons are being made 24/7 whether we know it or not. Social media, TV, Internet ads, and many more outlets bombard us all with image. Image as in, this is how the perfect product, or the perfect moment, or even any product in the perfect setting, can make life, well, pretty near perfect.
You know what I am talking about. Pictures of how awesome other people’s life is, at least that is how it is made to look. At some level we all get caught up in the “keeping up with the Joneses” mentality. And we think out loud or to ourselves, “Well, my yard, my vacation, my this, or our that doesn’t like nearly as good as theirs”.
So, I am here to spread some ordinary extra moments. These are things that happen in an average day in my little world. Some might resonate, some may not. But the point is, be happy and thankful for what you do have. And sometimes that might just be the ability to think, to breathe, to work, to love, to feel, and so on. There is beauty all around us.
Just an ordinary day with an ordinary extra moment mixed in.
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My view while drinking coffee by an early morning fire. So very blessed and thankful. A quiet thank you in the morning, thinking and praying.