A humorous lead in, but also a reminder that being human probably is something to be grateful for. Being a well-loved cat might be the best if you are into being petted, fed, and fully accepted even if aloof, cranky, or spitting mad. A dog might do better for some. As a child I wanted to be a deer living quietly in the forest.
In the long run, however, I am grateful I am human, and grateful for all I have been given. Some have so little gratitude is hard come by.
I am mostly grateful for having a loving family and that means a family that knows the power of forgiveness and that it lies in the small gestures.
I had to shop a bit this morning, I am bringing a vegetable dish to the Thanksgiving Dinner another grandmother is cooking and needed to buy carrots.
As always I was bantering with the cashier. She was dressed up a bit under her required Safeway jacket, so I assumed she was heading out to a festive dinner when she got off work. Wrong.
“Only my mother lives near here,” she said, ” and we don’t get along, we barely talk for which I am grateful.”
Broke my heart. And as I have been told by some, I probably was feeling more pain then she felt. She seemed at peace. But I wish I could have invited her to a Thanksgiving dinner with me.
Saddens me when I see family not talking to each other, not able to spend some time together. Saddens me more when I see how common that has become.
So I am grateful my kids and I have managed to keep our love going through some very tough times.
parent advice
You are the one who teaches a child forgiveness as a tool for keeping the love flowing. But if you watch your children, most are born with the ability to forgive. A two or three year old released from time out, rushing to his punisher’s arms for a hug. Gradually, unless parents take care the easy ability to forgive fades.
Keeping up a relationship means practicing lots of forgiveness. Two of the Daily Twelve Emotional Fitness Exercises are about forgiveness. Exercise Ten is forgiving another; Exercise Eleven is forgiving yourself. Forgiveness lies in realizing we are all flawed, all human, all doing our best with what we have been given, all needing forgiveness.
Forgiveness also means acting in the small ways described by Buscaglia. The small things keep love alive.
Stay strong
Life can be hurtful, and those we love often fail and hurt us the most. When we can forgive, we will find we have much to be grateful for. For those of you who are enjoying dinner with family, you are blessed, be very grateful. I am.
As always thank you for following me. If you know someone else who will benefit from my thoughts, forward this to them. Liking, commenting, and sharing are other ways you can help me stay strong and spread some ideas others might find helpful.
Katherine
DISCLAIMER: FORGIVE MY GRAMMATICAL ERRORS FOR I HAVE DYSGRAPHIA. If you need perfect posts, you will not find them here. I have dysgraphia which means that sometimes my sentence structure is not that easy to follow or I make other errors. Still, most people understand me. All of my books are professionally edited, but not all of my blog posts are. Thanks for your understanding and reading my work.
Parents Are People Too 
Reblogged this on Emotional Fitness and commented:
This is from my Parents Are People Blog. Rushed and this says what I want to say this day. Be grateful for all you have been given as well as all you have been spared.