On greeting the day with gratitude

"When a woman has owned her passionate nature, allowing love to flood her heart, her thoughts grow wild and fierce and beautiful. Her juices flow. Her heart expands. She has thrown off crutch and compromise. She has glimpsed the enchanted kingdom, the vast and magical realms of the Goddess within her... a miracle occurs and life around her begins again."
-- M. Williamson

This morning, I am particularly grateful for having found the life and light of my essential Self. 

I am joyful that today, I choose not to live up to anyone's expectations or according to someone else's rules, and instead follow the enlightened lead of my divine Self. I cast aside a conventional career and life trajectory, the safety of a well-worn path, in exchange for creativity and freedom. I am completely free to choose the people I surround myself with, the ideas and information I feed my brain, the thoughts I entertain, the feelings I let linger or let go; my limitations, like my problems, are strictly of my own making and perception. I take care to feed my whole self -- mind, body, and spirit -- the nutrients it needs not just to survive, but to flourish, bloom bountifully and thrive. 

Today, I am grateful for my life and my sobriety, my good physical, emotional, and psychological health, my reliance on a Higher Self, the love and support of true friends and loved ones, a roof over my head and food to eat, and having more luxuries than needs. I have deep gratitude for all that I have instead of grasping feebly for what I have not. I am grateful for greeting this morning, like every morning, with fresh, new, eager eyes, and the pulse of positive energy that courses through my veins. I am grateful for a hot cup of coffee keeping my hands warm on the patio, and the cat purring in my lap. 

I find that each day I greet with thoughtful meditation and gratitude unfolds immeasurably greater than I could ever expect. These days are not just good, but sublime -- not because of what I do, or what happens to me, with me, or around me -- but because of who I am, the lens through which I choose to see the world. 

I am grateful for beginning again the miracle of life, and greet with open arms whatever today may bring.