Gratitude Sunday: What Do You Expect?

Gratitude * Sunday
Sunday’s heartfelt tradition.
A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.
A list of gratitudes, our gratefulness feeds one another.
Quoted from Taryn Wilson
Joining the Gratitude Sunday Tradition at Wooly Moss Roots.

Sunday Haiku
Early winter light
bends around the curve of earth,
ricochets through trees.

Sunday Musings
Away on vacation this weekend, so my musing will be brief enough to say how grateful I am for learning my abundance has nothing to do with money. I am rich with breath and body and life, wealthy with stuff, and radiant with love inside. And if I could figure out how to be a better family member and friend, I’d be overwhelmed with abundance.

A yoga teacher once told me, “Lower your expectations.” I try to remember this when I want people to perform to my standards. Mine aren’t very high so I don’t feel like I am expecting too much from other people. What I forget is they aren’t me. The way I want others to behave really can be more than they can give. Really all I ask for is respect, because that’s what I’m giving out.

If I don’t expect anything from people in the way of behavior or manners or considerations I am often surprised how they will perform in the manner of respect I give them. People do not have to earn my respect; I will treat you with love and respect until you prove yourself otherwise, and then some. People of alternative or unique appearance and lifestyle are usually so shocked to be treated with respect they are happy to show your their very respectful selves. I give out respect and it comes shining right back at me.

This is not easy, it is a learned skill for me. I have a cranky sounding voice and a stern visage. Often I am mistaken for being grumpy when I am just tired or focused. Don’t look at my face or listen to my gruff sounding voice. Listen to the soothing words and tone I have cultivated. Look at my heart, not my appearance. Feel the abundance of lowering your expectations about me as I have learned to do toward you. And thank you.

Color Watch – colorful attractions in my neighborhoods this week – a many shades of brown burl resting on a bench, cozied up to a throw of bronze, brown, and yellow leaves; pale red rose hips against faded brown bark dust; my gray and brown heart shaped puddle, frozen white and broken; an offering of colorful windfalls I place in the center of the labyrinth I use.

Current View – Finished The Guardian (CBS TV series 2001-2004) starring Simon Baker and Dabney Coleman, about a lawyer arrested for drug use and his relationship with his lawyer father and father’s law firm. None too soon, it was getting boring; ending tie up was mediocre. First episode, first season Magic City, late 1950s Miami, graft, corruption, etc., no compelling or outstanding characters, ambiguous plot, not terribly interesting, maybe I just wasn’t in the mood, might try again later. The Age of Adaline (2015, PG) with Blake Lively and Harrison Ford about a young woman who experiences a phenomenon of nature and then doesn’t age. Lovely movie, sweet, fascinating, beautifully filmed. Atlantis (2015, BBC, not rated) season two, part two, just sheer fun playing with myths.

Currently Reading – A Roomful of Bones (2012, fiction) by Elly Griffiths; Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight (2010, health) by Linda Bacon; Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter (2015, biography) by Kate Clifford Larson. Yes, concurrently.

Winter Solstice is just around the corner. Have you chosen your Winter Classic yet? I haven’t. So many choices!

This week I have been grateful for:

• The big bright frost moon did its job.
• My two guys to share my Thanksgiving meal with.
• Some time away from my place of work.
• The guys staying out of the kitchen while I cooked so I was able to clean as I went after many years of them cooking the meal and me cleaning their mess. Somehow they always managed to use every dish and pan and utensil we own.
• Trying a crock pot turkey breast this year that turned out juicy and tender. Will spice differently if I do it again.
• Dijon maple bacon Brussels sprouts.
• Extra thinly sliced Swiss cheese.
• Leftovers.
• Skipping the bread and going straight to the turkey and mayo.
• Pie for breakfast.
• Pumpkin technically being a vegetable full of fiber and vitamins.
• Vegetables for breakfast.
• The hubster fixing the “dead” car battery without having to replace it.
• Water.

Hoping you have a lovely week.

Namaste. Peace. Blessings.

Floral ribbon border by Laurel Burch