A Year of Gratitude – July 11, 2024

I stepped outside into the heat this morning and felt the urge to complain. My gratitude is for seeing these gorgeous balloon flowers and deciding not to.

These purple flowers were at my feet a few steps away from the mudroom door. In spite of the heat and humidity we’ve had these last few weeks, they look beautiful. They seem to be unfazed.

It only took a moment to distract me from my want to complain. In that moment, the feeling passed. No, it wasn’t any cooler outside. It was still miserably hot and sticky. I had just decided that I didn’t need to.

There was no one to listen to me except the chickens. Their coop is nearby. If they did hear me, they wouldn’t be very sympathetic. They live in this heat during the summer. They don’t complain about it. They just go on with their day in spite of it. It’s not a bad way to approach it.

I’m not above complaining. I’ve done plenty of it. I’m trying to do less of it. There’s always something to complain about, but I can choose to try and look for things to celebrate instead.

Complaining won’t change things. It would still be hot out. I’d still rather be inside in the much cooler farmhouse. Chores have to be done no matter the weather. It won’t be long and I’ll be outside doing these same chores in knee deep snow and bitterly cold temperatures. So, there doesn’t seem to be much point to complaining about the heat.

Instead, I’ll be grateful for these deep purple blooms and the reminder they gave me that summer heat brings beautiful blooms and delicious bites from the garden. I’ll keep my complaining to myself. There’s a whole new day to greet and new possibilities ahead and I’m not about to let being upset about the weather get in the way of that!

This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.