Living in Gratitude Even When Life is Hard

Living in Gratitude Even When Life is Hard

I had an entirely different theme in mind for this Thanksgiving newsletter, but life stepped in and gave me and all of the 70+ residents of my condo building a bit of a curveball recently.

Five nights ago, a bit after 7 pm, the fire alarm in our building went off. In the past, this has been because of a cooking fire in someone’s unit that had been easily addressed without the fire department. Upon leaving my unit to assess the situation, however, I was met by a policewoman directing everyone to evacuate the building via the staircase. 

A few neighbors said they heard what sounded like an explosion and felt the building shake just before the alarm went off. Obviously, this was not just a cooking fire but something much worse. 

Once outside, my fellow residents and I were directed away from the building while the many firemen and women entered. (Fire departments and ambulances from over 15 surrounding towns were arriving, creating quite a dramatic scene. The Red Cross even showed up with blankets and water! Gratitude.)

We were outside for over 4 hours waiting for the all-clear – some of us were in pajamas, some had coats, and some didn’t, but we were all VERY grateful that everyone got out without injury. Gratitude. 

(A personal note of admiration for the fire departments getting the many in wheelchairs and on walkers out safely.) We were also very grateful it wasn’t raining as it had been all day or that it wasn’t January.) Gratitude. 

Many of us took the time to call family to advise them we were okay. We had the opportunity to meet several neighbors who had moved in in previous months, and jokes were being made that this was our version of a summer block party – but next time, someone needed to be in charge of bringing snacks! Gratitude.

We pulled together to give solace to those who would find themselves displaced for a time and offered help for whatever they needed as we all wondered what we would find in our own homes if and when we could go back in. 

Just before midnight, those on my floor were allowed to go back to our units. I arrived to find some furniture moved and all of my windows open. The campfire smell was powerful but not eye-watering or headache-inducing, so I chose to sleep in my own bed. Gratitude.

The next morning, I awoke to the sunlight, revealing a fine layer of black soot covering almost everything I owned, but everything was intact. Gratitude. 

So what if these past few days have had me filling the dishwasher many times over each day and washing every article of clothing I have?  By having to clear out each cabinet to wash every knick-knack and picture frame, I’ve created a nice pile for Goodwill and purged much of what I don’t truly need anymore. I’ve been reminded of wonderful memories from my past in finding items that haven’t been seen in years. Gratitude. 

As I write this, I’m watching snow blow horizontally out my window, grateful for things like heat, my fridge full of food, and, lest I forget, Mister Clean pads! 

There are many within our human tribe out there with none of these things. Those who have been displaced by events beyond their control, those who get out of bed each day to work hard for only enough food to survive.  Those people who are going through a deep depression or who find themselves in a dark night of the soul period – all of these beautiful souls may find it very difficult to think of anything to be grateful for.

These are the people I was thinking about last week before the fire when I recorded one of my latest videos, Living in Gratitude Even When Life is Hard. 

Check out another of my videos, Gratitdue Diddy and Working With Your Spiritual Team.

Please watch and share with anyone you know who may be going through a tough time right now. We as a human collective can help each other and the entire planet by staying in a grateful mindset. Not easy some days as we all know. Life throws us curve balls every once in a while but it’s how we respond to those curve balls that makes all the difference to the world.

Thank you!