Starting the year off with gratitude

To the Editor:

It is common for people to set intentions and make New Year’s resolutions, and yet many never are seen through. The recent flood leaves me really feeling for what people are going through who were displaced and lost a lot in it. I have made it through several challenges in life and found myself homeless and without food more than once in my life; so, I can truly feel for what they are experiencing. I have lost everything that I owned more than once, including literally right down to the clothes on my back.

These experiences can leave us feeling more loss than joy, but one thing that I have learned from those experiences is how powerful it can be to start a year off with gratitude. It holds no expectations, judgments, or disappointments if something doesn’t happen. Challenges are inevitable in our world, but we don’t have to live as victims of our circumstances.

At the New Year, I like to take those feelings of being beaten and battered around by life and thank them for all of the lessons that they have given me and acknowledge all of the blessings that have come out of the hardships.

I like to appreciate and be grateful for all the wonderful things that I have and where I am able to live. When you have nothing, this comes down to being grateful for a nice Spring to gather water, a nature trail to walk, and the sun rising to see another day with the opportunity to find another blessing.

The reality is that our lives are filled with an abundance of blessings, even when we lose everything or have little to nothing. Bethel and all of Maine are abundant with things to be grateful for. Daily life leads us to overlook them most of the time.

So now that we have entered a new year, I hope that you will take some time to spend in gratitude and see how powerful it can be in blessing your life and helping you through any challenges that you have to face.

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