Blessings and Gratitude

Thanksgiving here in the United States is a good day to reflect on all the blessings in our life and what we have to be grateful for. Sometimes we overlook the smaller blessings like being able to breathe and move and think. The gift of life itself is the greatest blessing. Other blessings include family, friends, our pets, uplifting music and the beauty of the world around us.

Often we aren’t aware of our blessings until hardship comes. We take the ability to breath for granted until we are sick and have difficulty breathing. When we open up our consciousness we have a greater awareness of these everyday blessings and then want to give back to the world around us.

One evening as I was driving down a dark highway I realized that I was going a little under the speed limit. I started to speed up when I saw a deer. I slowed as it darted right in front of my car and bound across the road. Then I noticed another deer on the shoulder of the road to my right. It was about to cross. I felt a split second of fear that it would leap in front of my car and then I passed it.

I thought little more about the incident, but later on I read a story about a bus driver. He was on his route when he saw someone on a bike who was about to fall into the street right in front of his bus. By some miracle the bike righted itself and the bus driver didn’t hit the biker. The bus drive was aware that this was a blessing in his life. The bike rider and he had both been protected. When I read the story I realized that I’d also been blessed and protected. I could have been in a serious accident if I’d hit the deer and the deer could have been injured. How often are we protected and we don’t even realize it?

I wanted to share a few things I’ve been blessed to see.

The photo at the top of the page I took recently at the conservatory at the Minnesota Zoo. It was one of those rare moments where I was able to capture a shot without any people in the room.

One of the things I enjoy about being up at my Mother’s cabin on the North Shore of Lake Superior is that you can see the sunrise across the water. Here is a photo I took this fall.

One spring day I saw a fawn that was hidden in my backyard. I was sitting at a table eating with my husband and a good friend when I spotted it bedded down in the hosta plants.

Last spring my husband and I went to Switzerland and visited a friend. I took this shot when we were hiking in the Swiss Alps.

This shot I took on the same trip. We went for a walk on Lake Geneva and came across these swans.

Thank you for reading my posts and being a part of my life. Do you have any stories of blessings you have received that you’d like to share? I always love to hear your stories.

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