Thank you for kisses from little Audrey (goldendoodle).

Thank you for dog communication—pawing, licking, jumping, wiggling….

Thank you for when forgetting one’s self, in a funny way, births bravery.

Thank you for the unaffected variety of daring after ego sees its place in the universe across time.

Thank you for the cuteness of a puppy hiking a leg to pee on a plant.

Thank you for the funkiness of pepitas (especially in pestos).

Thank you for a little happiness.

Thank you for meditation on impermanence.

Thank you always for letting go of cows. Thank you for the rolling hills, the full moon, the blue sky, the beach, the river…

Thank you many times over for unfortunate situations actually feeling that way, when the feeling prompts transformation.

Thank you for a therapist’s inquiry about core values leading me to a past journal entry. 

Thank you for how much easier it is to think about values when secluded in a mountaintop haven with a sweet pooch.

Thank you for when our values guide daily living. (I’m less aware lately, so recalling an ideal self is a great idea.)

Thank you again for sock searches and rescues in oceans of sheets. 

Thank you for the quiet of naked blinks and the swish of mascara-y ones.

Thank you for peaceful wordless sounds. 

Thank you for calm voices.

Thank you for living simply on homegrown pleasure. I used to outsource pleasure more. My brain got so accustomed to depending on externals that it cut back production of its own feel-good stuff. 

So maybe it took a while for my newly sober-ish brain (all those years ago) to accept that it no longer would have its “happiness” delivered like an Amazon package. Slowly, it did grow to accept the new normal. Domestic manufacturing ramped back up. The feels I’d been importing, my self began to produce on its own. Now, endogenous elixirs boost peaceful moods simply and naturally (at least more so than before). 

Thank you for secondhand goods’ worth being more than material. 

Thank you for energies that linger in the belongings of those who’ve crossed, etc.

Thank you for recent Goodwill magic. Like on the last thrifting run, a Peach song greeted me. This time, the first book I picked up—Blink—had a cookie fortune tucked inside: Your troubles will cease and good fortune will smile upon you. The tees were soft, and the people were kind.

Thank you if practicing wellness makes me better at practicing wellness. (And if it benefits more than me.)

Do you ever feel like you’re not really good at any one thing? I do. We all have gifts to offer. They needn’t be big-name items. Wellbeing invested in diligently counts. What’s unspoken or undervalued can be priceless: caring, forgiving, practicing kindness, staying mindful (intentional…present…), cultivating equanimity, creating safe environments, being honest, having tenacity, offering warmth.… 

Thank you for exploration of promise. 

Thank you for when we pursue our calling.

Thank you again for Dad having young me try a bite of his latest veggies from the garden. I didn’t like the healthier stuff then, and now I do.

Thank you for family jokes about Dr. Dad’s advice. It seemed whenever we struggled with a bodily ailment, a lump or rash or whatever, he’d say the same thing: “Put hot packs on it.” 

Thank you for the downfall of Louie (hematoma).

Thank you for neighbors to ride with and learn from.

Thank you for a winding, breathtaking backyard with countless paths.

Thank you for game-changing tips on technique.

Thank you for positive reinforcement building confidence.

Thank you for funny new ways to talk. I’m a masher—grinder?—aspiring to be less so. (Are you one too? Are you more of a spinner?)

Thank you for vegan pastries at the little coffee place at Calamigos Ranch, and for the sweet neighbor who works there.

Thank you for Brazil nuts as chewable supplements.

Thank you for SM’s loving guidance through the years.

Thank you for when I wasn’t talking to him a few years ago, and he kept calling and texting anyway. Finally, my stubbornness melted. Thank you for his forgiveness. Thank you for the ability to face him after that absence. Thank you for how easy he made it to reconcile—no questions; only acceptance. Thank you for his strength.

Thank you for the warmth of his daughter.

Thank you for courage to face what seems impossible, with grace.

Thank you for caregivers and healthcare providers.

Thank you many times over for “nothing is too wonderful to be true.” 

Thank you for all of us who send prayers and meditations to those fighting serious illness. Please join with wishes for well being!

Wishing you well, too <3