Thankful

I am thankful for:

--My relationship with God.  I feel such strength in acknowledging and actively participating in my life as a woman of faith.  I had doubts for a very long time--I still do, in fact--but I believe anyway.  Isn't that what true faith is?

--Therapy.  The couple of months I spent talking to a complete stranger about the fears I've carried for years helped me to let down so many burdens.  I feel lighter, freer, and more capable of loving myself than I ever did before.

--My job and my students.  I wake up every morning excited about my day, thrilled that I get to speak to inquisitive young men and women who are learning about the world and their place in it.  Their optimism and curiosity is the greatest byproduct of my job; I am so proud to be a teacher.

--Love.  Over the last year, I have discovered real love cannot be denied or ignored, hidden or masked, forgotten or undone.  This is quite possibly the most shocking and breathtakingly beautiful lesson I have ever learned.  It is also without a doubt the hardest.

A few lamps are lit, the house is aglow with warm yellow light, the only sound in the room is the breathing of my sleeping dog.  In this stillness I hear my heartbeat thumping out two words, over and over: thankful, thankful, thankful.