RELENTLESS GRATITUDE by Bethanne Kapansky Wright

 I wrote this poem during a particularly difficult season in life...

While in it, I had to stretch a little harder, reach a little higher, breathe a little deeper in order to find the good in each day, the simple joys that open our heart and elicit a feeling of thankfulness for life.

There are times where the stars align and the season bursts into beautiful bloom, and our thank yous are easier to grab onto, easier to offer. And then there are times where the we can't quite see the sunshine through the clouds, where we wait in seasons of loss, transition and uncertainty- not knowing where life is taking us, not knowing how we'll get there. The thank yous are harder to come by, the fears and doubts greater. And it is these times especially that we have to be insistent upon finding the good in each day if we want to cultivate gratitude and find the good of day. 

I am learning, the more I become, that finding joy can be the easiest thing or the hardest thing. But is absolutely a necessary thing if we want to keep our hearts open to life. And why else are we here, if not to learn to keep our hearts so wide open, that we realize each breath is a reason for gratitude, each moment an invitation to the sacred, each season a new opportunity to learn about love.    

Relentless Gratitude

by Bethanne Kapansky Wright

Gratitude
is as elusive
as the breeze-
one moment here
next moment gone-
if you sit back
and wait
for it to make
its way
to you.  

Instead you
must learn to
pursue it
relentlessly
incessantly
tenaciously,
working hard
to hold it in
your grasp.

It is just
that hard
and that easy
to find joy
in this world:

Refuse to give
up on finding
what is good,
what is sacred,
what is lovely,
And you’ll begin
to see-

All of it is
a grace.
And worthy
of our thanks.

BethAnne Kapansky Wright: I am a Clinical Psychologist enjoying life from my tiny corner of Anchorage, Alaska. I love writing personal essays, composing quirky poetry, and creating whimsical art. I can often be found on top of the nearest mountain or running through the trails of my beloved woods with my little white dog who has the legs of a gazelle and mighty heart of a lion. My work has been published in The Elephant Journal and When Women Waken and used in collaboration with a local dance company to create performance art. I am also the author of the poetry chapbook The Art of Becoming. I am inspired by nature, rainbows, cake, hearts, the power of women, the thousand faces of love, and the beautiful journey of becoming more fully human. I can be found on Facebook or on my blog: Sunshine in Winter, here. 

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