I woke up this morning thinking -- I am so grateful to be almost 68 years old - in December. I am so lucky to have had so many experiences in my life, both exciting and very challenging. The thought about being grateful was heightened a couple of weeks ago when I attended my 50th high school reunion. It felt like my classmates and I bonded with each other 50 years later in a way that never happened when we were in high school. Everyone came to the event in such a real and honest way. As we looked at the memorial wall that had been put together for us, I felt sad, but thankful that I am still here.
It was so great to meet the current principal of my high school - Grant Union High School. It is located in what used to be called Del Paso Heights, but has been incorporated into the city of Sacramento, California. When I grew up there, my family was very poor. As my friend, Dorothy and I drove around the neighborhood, we looked for the lot where my family home had been.
Both houses where my family lived in Del Paso Heights have long-since been demolished. I could only locate the lot where I spent most of my growing up years by the big old black walnut tree that still stood. It had signs of wear from the years. It had once provided an umbrella of shade over our house and had been the tree that had many limbs for me and my brothers to climb to see our neighborhood from that vantage point.
As I looked at it from our car I was saddened because the lower limbs had been cut so that the tree had an upright stance. It was no longer graceful, but stood as a tall, tired-looking sentry behind its current home. Seeing that tree reminded me of years gone by. It was the only visible landmark of my childhood, and that was probably appropriate. The tree heard the children screaming and crying and provided solace for our tears. It became our safe haven when we needed a nearby escape out of our home where there was so much tension and frustration. It was our strength and I was so grateful to see it still standing. From this vantage point in my life I could look at that old tree with such gratitude for its presence in my life. I believe trees hold much wisdom. We would be so fortunate if we could hear their messages of fortitude, strength, grace, love, etc.
Sarah Payne Naylor - Author; Life and Career Coach
Crossing Rough Waters - Journey From Fear to Freedom
Available from www.crossingroughwaters.com and from Amazon.com
e-mail: sarah@crossingroughwaters.com
This reminded me of a note I have on my desk:
ReplyDelete"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity... Live in gratitude and see how it will richly bless your life."
When I saw the black walnut tree without the house I had been raised in, the emotions raised in me were sadness and gratitude; sadness about what had happened in the past, and gratitude that I had survived it well. When I think about it, I guess gratitude did "unlock the fullness of life" -- the remembrances of life at that time. And, all that I had stuffed, or denied, I realized that with the writing of CROSSING ROUGH WATERS - JOURNEY FROM FEAR TO FREEDOM, I had become enabled to accept - to the point of seeing the positive that had come from all of the fear during those times. I am truly grateful. I realized how far I had come when I saw the tree. It's pretty funny.
ReplyDeleteTo LUXDIS - thank you for sharing the contents of the note on your desk. It is lovely.
ReplyDelete