Taking Notice

"And the days go by, and the years follow the years, and we walk sightless through miracles." -Jewish proverb

image via flickr

Meike, commenting at kristyk writes this:

. . . every single day we are surrounded by more miracles than we can count – from the air we breathe to the food we eat, the incredible complexity of our own bodies to the miracle of love that forges an indelible bond . . .Yet every day most of us walk sightless through the miracles that surround our every moment.

....Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “If Spring came but once in a century, imagine the wonder with which we would greet the unfolding of every flower.”

When I was a little girl my mom always used to say, "Count your blessings." I'm adult now (almost!) and my intention for this year is to practice gratitude by taking notice of the daily miracles in my life.  There's nothing like a brush with mortality or facing our own finitude to jar us out of complacency. Our time on earth is so short, and our lives  but "small bubbles on a moving stream", as the Tibetans say.

Rumi writes: "Wake up! Don't fall asleep!" Some days I am unaware, dozing off while all around me are miracles: my beating heart, my health, the colorful fruit market on the way to work, my students, this beautiful country, and caring friends who are there, just when I need them.

Today I will practice gratitude because I am alive. Because there is magic all around. Because I breathe. Because I am loved. Because I live in a place like this.