Gratitude

Gratitude is paying more attention to what is than what is not.  No one is better at articulating the spirit of gratitude than Mary Oliver.  She's worth a trip to the library to sample her work.  When you find one you like, buy it and keep it by your bed.

Why I Wake Early

By Mary Oliver

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety—

best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light—
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.