Attitude of Gratitude

Today is the kind of spring day that I haven't experienced in years, if ever. Sunny, blue skies, almost eighty degrees! And it's April! My mind is blown. I wore flip  flops today to run errands, and it felt amazing! My toes love the fresh air. It made me feel so full of gratitude just to be able to walk around today and feel the warm sun on my face. April in Seattle is usually a very grey and rainy affair. Last year at this time I was still wearing a winter coat and knee high boots in the snow belt of PA. I'm pretty sure there were some days even in May where I had to wear a heavy coat. Shudder. I'm learning to have gratitude, and I'm learning how good it feels to feel grateful. There are times in my life where I've been so down and out that it's been hard to feel grateful for anything.  But I now see times in my life where I just simply refused to see the good things I did have.
I think of that quote "you hate your life while some people dream of having your life". This might sound crazy, but sometimes I get a burst of gratitude, and it feels like I'm on some kind of technicolor drug that's making everything so vivid, and it's giving me the warm and fuzzies. I'll be on the bus, and all of a sudden the view is nothing but mountain, and it's so gorgeous, and I live here! This is what I get to see when I'm just riding the bus!
This post is really more just to myself as a reminder that it feels better to be grateful. I hung around with someone yesterday who is a very negative person. Like emotionally draining negative. This person sees the negative in everything. I felt sad and drained after spending a few hours with this person, and it strengthened my resolve to continue to work on seeing the positive. It made me feel both sad for this person, but also a little angry. Since I am new to this whole positivity thing, I can be easily swayed back to the dark, negative side. I fell asleep like two hours earlier than usual last night, because I was so drained.  I don't ever want to be like that. So, this is a reminder to myself to have gratitude in your heart. Hold on dearly, it is too valuable to lose.