Gratitude

It started with my husband. Over an anniversary lunch, he set his plate aside with a delicious bite of his meal left conspicuously in the center of his place. We were both raised with the clean-your-plate mentality and it gave me pause.

He set his fork down and shared something that had been on his mind - the constant need to consume. By deliberately leaving that bite uneaten, he left the meal with a heart full of gratitude instead of an empty plate.

I've thought about this a lot since that meal in December. I think that's part of why I haven't blogged much this year. I'm working to find that place of gratitude instead of the constant striving and pushing and consuming.

It's in the way we order our coffee - a venti only costs a little more than a tall, but it's so much MORE. It's in the size of cars and the size of our data plans and amount of media we consume. More, more, MORE.

I don't want more. I'm tired of more. I want less. I want simple. I want gratitude.

All of these thoughts have made me change the way I think about social media. Am I consuming or am I adding value? Am I speaking good or ill into being? Am I complaining and arguing and focusing on the negative? Or am I reflecting the richness of the blessings in my life?

I am learning to be content. To work hard at the tasks before me, but not to strive. To dream and hope, but not at the cost of today. To make sure I leave more than I take. It's a lofty goal, but one worth pursuing. One I hope will not only change the way I see the world, but will in some small way change the world too.