My New Year's Resolution: I CHOOSE GRATITUDE!

My new year's resolution is to CHOOSE GRATITUDE for everything, every single thing in my life: not just the joys and the wonderful moments, but for the pain and sorrow, the grief and the laughter. The generosity and kindness of others, the insults and accusations. I CHOOSE it all!

I have to write that in caps because I want to shout it from the housetops. I CHOOSE GRATITUDE! This morning I got up and as soon as my feet touched the floor, I thanked God for the new day. I said thank you for central heating as I turned up the thermostat to the daytime temp. I said thank you for my morning coffee and the quiet time to pray. I said thank you for my breakfast, leftovers from our trip out yesterday for Sunday brunch at the Wayside Inn. And how thankful I was to our waiter Justin and all the staff for making our morning so delightful. 

When I took my shower this morning I was thankful for hot water and the endless stream of electricity. While I changed the beds I said thank you for the clean sheets. Thank you, God, for all the inventors who gave us the technological marvels that make our lives easier. I don't have to go down to the creek to wash our clothes; I can shift the wash into the dryer and take it out 45 minutes later ready to fold. Thank you, Lord, for my coffee maker and the toaster, the microwave and the oven. I don't need to build a fire to cook the meals. Thank you for my freezer. Last night we had bean soup, made over a year ago, that tasted like it just came out of the crockpot.

Could I forget to say thank you for the wonderful homily we heard yesterday about God's Providence? Nothing "just happens" to us. Everything, ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING, is willed by God and is for our good. The joys, the sorrows, the peace, the pain, the laughs, the tears, our sickness, our health -- every single thing is willed by God. 

Even our sins play a part in His Providence, because He wills our free will and wants us to love Him, not like little robots or bobble head dolls, but freely. And once we truly love Him, we can "do what we please" as St. Alphonsus writes, because we will only want to do what pleases Him. O Lord, thank you for living in me through grace. Make me never do anything to break my relationship with You. 

Yes! I CHOOSE GRATITUDE for it all! 

Putting away the laundry this morning, I closed my hand in the drawer. Ouch! was my first word. My second was thank you and then I started to laugh. Thank you, Lord, for all the times I put away the laundry and didn't slam my hand in the drawer. How good You are! How wonderful life is! I've been going around the house singing. How can I not sing when God is so good to me!

St. Margaret of Costello comes to mind, the little deformed, blind child rejected by her parents and abandoned in a far off city. But God gave her a good priest to fill the gap as she grew and she was a willing little vessel soaking up his message of love and embracing her suffering as a gift. She represents an icon of joy, one who never blamed her parents, but accepted her infirmities without complaint and became a resource, not only for the beggars in her new home, but for all the townspeople. How can I complain about my little sufferings in the face of such courage and love? Blessed Margaret, pray for me!

What's your new year's resolution? I'm confident that this is one I can keep every day.  I may still be a chubby couch potato, but I will be a happy one.