“It’s so green,” I said, breaking the silence of our Sunday drive. Recent rains brought a lushness to the landscape of rolling hills and rural homesteads. No flooded fields. No drought withered crops. Just miles of gorgeous green.
Like many a sitting meditation, my moment of peaceful bliss is instantly disturbed by my mind leaving the now. Ashen images of the apocalyptic aftermath from wildfires appropriated my vision. “It makes me think of Maui,” I said.
My driver looked straight ahead without response. He continued on the unmapped route. The windshield wipers popped on periodically to accompany “Hey Jude” playing softly in the background. I returned to view.
A wave of gratitude washed over me. The simple sights of silos and tired barns suddenly felt precious. Priceless. Lucky me. I’m living in the perfect time.
Unlike the children born today, for me the sound of birds chirping was an everyday occurrence and “unprecedented” storms were not. I’d never even heard of a school shooting.
Unlike young adults today, I could see the end of the tunnel of student loan debt and arrive there within a decade. I had the means to buy a house in a city I loved. Lucky indeed.
My further fortune was not being born in the era of my ancestors. I would not have done well in my mother’s time when eight children and an eighth-grade education were the only options for a faithful Catholic wife. Surely I was born in the best time ever.
“There’s rain up ahead,” my fiancé chauffeur said. Clouds of all formations filled the baby blue sky stretching to the horizon. Some ominous. Some billowy. All wondrous in the now.
I craned my neck to look behind us, optimistic about a rainbow sighting. I saw none. I looked over at my navigator. His eyes looked straight ahead.
Hopeful for the future.
Mindful of the past.
Grateful for the present.
How do you find gratitude for present moments, regardless of the state of the world?
What privileges do you have living in these times?
What do you appreciate about what is right in front of you?
