A Year of Gratitude – June 5, 2024

I found this poppy waiting for me right outside the mudroom door this morning. I turned to my right, intent on going about my morning farm chores. And then I looked down and saw this. In an instant, I found my morning gratitude.

In that moment, I forgot about the chores I was attempting to hurry through.  I could only think about this beautiful flower. 

That was a gift of its own kind. My morning had already taken a turn that was unwelcome. When I walked outside that door, I was thinking about that turn. I was going through the motions.

I’m so fortunate that this flower was where it was, waiting to remind me that I needed to be present, to be aware of my surroundings so that I could appreciate the beauty contained in them.

A flower this beautiful jolted me out of my routine. I stopped what I was doing, pressed pause on the thoughts that I was drowning in, and just marveled at how splendorous nature can be. I felt myself take a deep breath and just a bit of the day’s stress fell away.

I hope that tomorrow will bring a morning when I don’t need nature to remind me to take a deep breath and let go of things that I can’t change. If it isn’t, I’ll look to my right and hope that something as beautiful as this will be waiting for me.

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.