GRATITUDE by Ruth Calder Murphy

From time to time, I find it refreshing and uplifting to list the things for which I’m grateful…

Sometimes, I do it when I go for a run – I see whether, over the course of several miles’ running, I can keep the list growing and not run out of new things to add. It’s incredible, how many things there are. Even in the difficult times, even in the dark times, the list is long and sometimes startling.

On this occasion, I wrote part of my list into a poem…

“For healthy days

and strong days,

for days when I can touch the stars -

days that keep me from the brink on the other days...”

Yes; there are those “other days”; it’s not helpful or healthy to deny it, but I’m grateful that so far, the stars I’ve touched in the “strong times” are still there in the dark times - even when they’re obscured and I can’t see them, let alone reach them, for a while - reminding me that dawn is just over the horizon.

Gratitude
 by Ruth Calder Murphy

For the small things;

For smiles,

and sunbeams,

for the brightest crimson leaf

on the pavement,

for dewy cobwebs

and the sun-dappled woodland path.

For the sound of laughter

and the song of birds,

the velvet dark that cossets sleep

and the return of day to banish nightmares,

for fruit

and porridge oats,

water

and coffee,

for tea in my big, purple mug.

For healthy days

and strong days,

for days when I can touch the stars -

days that keep me from the brink on the other days...

For the warmth of love

and the cooling touch of acceptance.

For these things:

for hope,

for a future,

for the circle of life,

I am grateful.

~

Ruth Calder Murphy is a writer, artist, music teacher, wife and mother living in London, UK. Her life is wonderfully full of creativity and low-level chaos. She is the author of one published novel, “The Scream,” several books of poetry and one or two as-yet unpublished novels. She is passionate about celebrating the uniqueness of people, questioning the unquestionable and discovering new perspectives on old wonders. She is learning to ride the waves that come along—peaks and troughs—and is waking up to just how wonderful life really is. You can visit Ruth and view more of her art on her website here, or on her Facebook page. Her latest book is available on Amazon here, and here. 

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