Good afternoon, Chaverim/Chaverot,
A short, simple, but powerful, quote from our 16th President who also lived through rather perilous times…
Here is today’s Gratitude Thought in the Midst of a Pandemic:
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
Abraham Lincoln
Maybe not so simple after all… This quote gets at the heart of one of the themes that has run through many of my gratitude posts these past 2+ years…that each of us has free will to choose how we view and deal with the adversity we will inevitably encounter in our lives (life’s “thorns” if you will). We have the freedom to choose whether we will “complain” about all that has gone, is going, and will go wrong (and there is surely plenty!) OR whether we will “rejoice” in all that has, is, and will go right. We can each create our attitude about it all…the good, the bad, and the ugly…and seek to see and find (and smell, of course!) the amazing, beautiful roses in those thorn bushes!
May we each have the strength to make the choice to look for the possibilities, the opportunities that are waiting for us amid the thorny bushes and to bring grateful and hopeful eyes and hearts to the party that is life…the only one we get, our one chance to make our mark upon, to contribute to, to send our very own special “goodness” out (there is that “ripple” theme again!) into this incredible world we have been given.
Wishing you all a sweet, hopeful and peaceful Shabbat and holiday weekend!
Marci
