The holiday season is upon us now and I’m always reminded about gratitude around this time of the year. I see many posts, messages and quotes about gratitude. There are gratitude challenges recommending that we keep a daily journal of gratitude and even post a picture of what we’re grateful for. I love these things. I love seeing what people are grateful for ~ it allows me to reflect on my own gratitude. But what I really want to strive for is figuring out how we can live a life of gratitude throughout the entire year. Some things I have personally tried to foster this is a daily meditation practice and journaling. In real life fashion though, I ebb and flow from these practices. I keep trying to include these practices in my daily routine, and that’s the best I can do. 🙏
This week I was presented with quite a dilemma that made me think long and hard about gratitude.
Be grateful for each new day.
Be grateful for your health.
Be grateful for the people in your life: family, friends, colleagues.
Be grateful for a roof over your head, clothes on your body and food on your table.
Basic tenets of gratitude, right?
I got in my car on Friday morning to drive to school. All the warning lights went off. This struck me as odd because my car is brand new. Brian suggested I call the Toyota Service place on my way to school and see if I can bring it in so they can look at it that day. Better be safe than sorry, he said.
Well thank goodness for that advice because an hour later I got a text from the service department to call them immediately. They put the car up on the lift, removed the drivers side tire and found that the main line for the brake system was cut. Cut. A clean cut.
When talking to the kind woman in the service department I said,
“What? Wait, what did you actually say?”
She proceeded to say, “Yes ma’am, the main line for the brake system in your car has been cut. It was a clean cut that could not have been done by a rodent or running over something in the street. Obviously it is not covered under warranty because it appears to be an intentional cut.
I have no words
I was shaking
I wanted to cry but nothing came out
Why? I kept asking why. Why would someone want to harm myself and my children? What sick bastard wanted us to die?
Because my friends, that is absolutely what would have happened. I wouldn’t have been able to stop my car. What if I had been driving on the highway?
I am completely traumatized by this. I feel sick, violated and unsafe in my own home. It doesn’t feel like my home. Who would do something like this?
Every time I drive since getting my car back, I think to myself, what would have happened if I couldn’t stop, and I start crying.
So gratitude, huh? You better believe how grateful I am for life. That’s it. I’m alive. They didn’t get me. This time.
I hugged and kissed my boys like crazy that day and everyday. We can’t predict how life if going to play out. We “should” feel grateful for each day and seize the opportunities in front of us. But what if you’re physically scared? How do you move on? One day at a time I suppose?
What are you grateful for?
Until next time friends,
💚 Jenny
