There are many things that remind us that life renews itself, and if we are able to let it, it can be a renewal of our spirit, our feelings, and our attitudes. Last night my family celebrated the holiday of Passover, with its attendant reminders of renewal, and also with reminders of the past. This week, my Christian friends will celebrate renewal with the Easter holiday, and last week, I attended a Nourouz celebration, Persian New Year, with all of its attendant symbols of renewal. My favorites are the customs of jumping over fire, to leave behind the bad things of the old year which cannot follow you, and the breaking of noodles into the traditional soup while making a wish for the year ahead. I am quite sure that other cultures celebrate the coming a spring, with its newness, its green-ness, the flowering of plants and the promise of the fruit to come. The celebrations of Spring are the celebrations of Life renewed.
Keeping in mind my philosophy of appreciative living, and that all things are present at all times, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, and that what we choose to look at is what becomes our story, I was able to look around my table and not only note the absence of those I have loved who have now passed on, but also the smiling faces of those who I actively love and appreciate today and every day. I was and am grateful for the love I felt all my life from my parents and brother, who are now departed. Yes, I miss them, but I choose to remember all the good times we shared and let that make me happy.
I was able to appreciate the other people that they were responsible for bringing into my life, my sister-in-law, and my niece, and now her boyfriend.
This season of renewal reminds me that there are things for which to be grateful all around, all we have to do is to see them. So pull back the curtain, let in the light, see all that there is to be grateful for, and ENJOY.
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