Day 45 - Grateful for it all

After a weekend of travel, I feel really, really, really grateful.  I am grateful that I get to travel; that i have the financial abundance to do so.  I am grateful for the sunny skies that that shone on new experiences.  I am grateful for not slipping on the centuries-old uneven steps of granite rock that make the criss-crossed streets when the rain came down.  I am grateful that my interest always deepens beyond shops and tourist sites; I want to delve into the culture and history of each location in China I visit.  I am grateful to see and experience new food, new handicrafts, and the unique tribes of China (which are now known as “ethnic minorities”, kind of like our Native Americans: many different tribes and peoples from all over the continent, but classed by the dominant population of whites as “natives”).  I am grateful for my school and what a great teaching post I have.  I am grateful fro my co-teachers and how hard they work and how much they help me.  I am grateful we work together so well.  I am grateful for my sweet kids and I am especially grateful for all the love and hugs I get from them.  I am grateful for self-awareness and the desire to be a more patient, compassionate educator.  I am grateful for my friends here in CdU, and I am grateful those that are not my friends, for they reflect how I need to be different.  I am grateful for all the help I have received from all the different people here; from strangers to acquaintances to friends.  I am grateful for my health and the resilience of my body, even though I am not treating it so good lately.  I am grateful my stress level has diminished so much. I am grateful that I recognize that the circumstances that stress me out now can be fixed or not controlled.  I am grateful to realize I need to work on patience.  I am grateful that I am doing the best I can! 

My friend’s Dad had to have a emergency bypass surgery, after losing her Mom 3 years ago.  Her Dad is okay, but in thinking about circumstances, she used the word “orphan”... a big trigger word for me, because I have felt the intensity of that word since my Dad died in March.  Gratitude... where is the gratitude in this?  I am grateful for the family I have left that shows me care and love, even from afar.