As some of you know, each year I start a gratitude board. It’s just a bulletin board (one at the office and one at home) where I put up things I am grateful for through out the year. By December 31, the boards are overflowing with notes, letters, printouts, and cards. This year I even had a feather on one of them.
Today, I took everything down from my office board, and saved it in a folder called gratitude 2010. The board is now clear and open for all the blessings of the new year. Every year I also pick a random Zen card as the first item on the board. Today, when I took down everything, I found the Zen card that started 2010 for me.
It said: “What happens to you does not matter what you become through those experiences is all that is significant. This is the true meaning of life.”
When I started 2010, I had no idea all that would happen in the year. I didn’t know that almost everyone I love would be hurting, either through health issues, emotional issues or financial issues. Although a tough year, I have learned a lot about the resilience of the people I love, and in that way I feel confident that they and I can handle the challenges that we will encounter. What a blessing it is to know that people I love are stronger than I thought, wiser than their years, and more loving than before.
Here’s the random Zen card I picked today to start my gratitude board for 2011:
“Find the courage to hold on to your beliefs, even if the world around you chooses to believe differently. Have the courage to change those beliefs that no longer fit the person you have become. In doing so you truly become yourself.”
I wish you all a year full of love, joy, healing and gratitude. Happy New Year everyone.