With a Grateful Heart

I end this year, with a grateful heart...

I am grateful for what is - and for what is not...

I am grateful for what happened - and what didn't...

I am grateful for the challenges received, and for those endured, and transcended, and for the ones that still remain...

I am grateful for the persons that came into my life, and those that exited as well...

I am grateful for connections made, and for those severed...

I am grateful for the many blessings received - those that were obvious, and those that remain hidden...

I am grateful for my community, for the comfort of prayer and meditation and practice, and how it enriches my life...

I am grateful for loved ones, and for those who still harbor negativity towards me - for they come bearing lessons...

To all whom I encounter - may all negative intentions and feelings - only be met by undulating waves of love and compassion rippling at the very shores of my soul...

I am grateful for surgery this year - and what it both brought into my life - and what it enabled me to release... And, I am grateful for the skillful and sensitive surgeon, who chose a more time-consuming but less invasive route, that enabled me to heal more quickly...

I am grateful for the places I was able to travel to, and the experiences I had, most especially in Istanbul and Ephesus...

As this year ends, I review events and experiences of this year - I set my intention for the goals I have chosen for the coming year - ever mindful that a grateful heart will be the soil on which to cultivate greater humility, compassion, and simplicity...

I grateful to be here, at this point in time in our history - and to have the grace and opportunity to step into all that 2012 brings...