47 Days of Thanks and/or Gratitude, Week 2

The round-up from the second week of this grand experiment (go here to see what this is or here for Week 1):

‎47 Days of Thanks, Day 8: I'm grateful that our dump (uh, landfill) recycles paint! We got rid of a lot of old stuff and are ready to start fresh in the spring.

‎47 Days of Thanks, Day 9: I'm grateful that the round of chemo my brother Pete starts today is his last and that his bloodwork keeps giving such good results. Thanks, medicine! Go, Pete!

‎47 Days of Thanks, Day 10: I am inexpressibly grateful to have about 38 hours when I can work from home and just BE here without any need to go to meetings in town. First extended time at home since last Monday (including weekends). Ahh.

‎47 Days of Thanks, Day 11: I'm grateful that my brother, Pete, is surrounded by such a loving and gifted family. I admire how his wife, Lois; his daughter, Elizabeth Agnew Cochran (her husband Mike keeps their home fires burning); and his son, the irrepressible Peter, work together to care for Pete and each other. Thanks, y'all!

‎47 Days of Thanks, Day 12: I'm grateful for two opportunities yesterday to contemplate happiness. One here in a FB discussion and one at Trinity United Church--part of a series of 8 (Weds at 7:30; 6 more times; all independent yet linked) led by Rev. Randy Boyd and linking research in positive psychology to faith. So thought-inspiring!

‎47 Days of Thanks, Day 13: I'm grateful for technology that connects me to extended family and friends. Through FB, I can stay in touch with cousins during a difficult time or have a "hi how are you?" moment with someone I knew well 30 years ago and still miss. Could I do this with old technology like pen/paper? Yes, but would I? Not sure.

47 Days of Thanks, Day 14: I'm grateful when my schedule allows me to sleep in and my body cooperates! It's great to feel rested.

Here's what I learned this week.

1. I haven't run out of gratitude! I am finding both cosmic and local things to be authentically grateful for. And here I thought I was more curmudgeonly than your average bear. Which leads me to #2.

2. It's possible to be grateful when I'm sad or blue or stressed or curmudgeonly or generally fretful. For example, this week is my brother's last chemo treatment, and I am conscious of his ordeal yet hopeful at his results. Also, my aunt lies in a health crisis, and my heart goes out to my uncle and cousins. I'm sad not only remembering my own family's passage through that valley but also because my vital, vivacious aunt's time with them seems near its end. Yet I can still be grateful for discussions of happiness and for the ability to stay in touch with them in their important time.

3. Feeling gratitude doesn't magically transform those other feelings. I didn't feel any less stressed or blue when I stopped to feel grateful. But the conscious exercise of gratitude does remind me that my life is a kaleidoscope of feelings. I am more than the quivering, nervous, martyred, unachieving creature I sometimes feel myself to be. I am also blessed, and grateful for it. Even if I feel it only for a moment.

I wonder what Week 3 will bring.