On Being Grateful

I recently read a statement our pastor, Father Jack, used in the church bulletin. Unfortunately, the original voice of this quote in unknown to me, but it's inspiring.

"Gratitude is a blessing. It enriches our lives and protects us from two self-inflicted scourges: envy of those greater than ourselves, and arrogance toward those lesser than we."

If we can find time to be grateful in our everyday lives, I think we will find the tides of fortune changing to our advantage. It's possible that our luck will worsen. But how we internalize these challenges and how we act in the face of adversity and "bad luck" and "bad people" is the key component. If we substitute forgiveness for revenge, what would the world be like? How would we be different?

This is my current resolution: to constantly find reasons to be grateful and then find ways to inspire others to seek gratitude in their own lives. I encourage you to take a moment and post something for which your grateful in my comments. Read other comments and feel the change in your perspective.

Chicago Fun Times

First, an apology to my cousins in Chicago and its environs: I wasn't sure what our schedule would be for the NAEYC conference, so I didn't tell you I'd be in town. I am somewhat glad we didn't plan anything because we were pretty much booked all day. Second, I love this city. You can tell from the 42 photos I've loaded. The weather was perfect, and from our walks to the McCormick Place Conference Center from the Palmer House Hilton, to our tour of a downtown condo open house (a little out of my price range) and boat tour from Navy Pier, the visuals were stunning. I promised Chicago I'd come back to visit her soon. In the meantime, I'll sing along with my "Wicked" soundtrack, show off my photos, and hopefully put the early childhood education lessons learned into practice as we launch ourselves into the last weeks of 2007.