Feeling Gratitude Now

I have been feeling a lot of gratitude about my life lately.  And lucky too.

I have lived long enough to have learned a few lessons, to have become more patient, more grateful, more aware of both myself and of others, more accepting and generous towards both myself and others, and happier and more satisfied.  If I died today, I would feel that my life was complete enough.  Not that I feel I have reached any high plateau...just that I have nudged (or been nudged) towards some of these attributes, and feel appreciation for that.

And most of this without a lot of trying on my part.  Throughout my working life, most of my focus was on work, and I had little time (or gave little time) to  things like gratitude, acceptance, and so forth.  It was sort of head-down, keep on going each day.  Not there was no enjoyment or fun.  But not much vision or desire for something else, something different.  I did not know what retirement would be like for me, and at first, it was somewhat depressing.

I think that retirement gave me some needed time to start directing my attention to both my own inner self, and towards others.  It also gave me time for things like weekly meditation classes, and daily mediations at home.

So, I am feeling grateful to have lived this long, in relatively good health, and to have come to some realizations that I missed for most of my earlier life.