Wednesday, June 06, 2012

My Life Heroes

 The words highlighted in my photographs, these are the obvious reasons to be thankful.


But my personal heroes are those of you out there, and you know who you are, who have managed to find something to be thankful for in the midst of life's greatest sorrows and hardships. This post is dedicated to you.

Divorce. Cancer. Death. Financial Ruin. Chronic Pain. 

Those are not words we usually associate with gratitude.
But my life heroes have found a way to link them together. They have found the true secret to life.  
 If you were to come to my house right now you would see a sign that hangs over my door that says
, "There is always, always, always something to be thankful for." 


I believe this is true.
  
Do you believe this is true?
It may be a hard, but beneficial exercise in your life to search, seek out, dig deep, discover,what it is you can be thankful for even on your worst day.

Next time it seems nothing is going your way sit down and try to think of what you can be thankful for even in the midst of the hardship you might be going through.

                                                 
I'm talking about the everyday beauty that is all around us. Every one of us is surrounded by these small tokens. The fact that you woke up this morning with breath in your lungs is a gift. Most of you stood on your feet, and if you were like me you walked to the bathroom to go pee and then made some coffee. But there are those of you out there who couldn't get out of bed this morning, at least not on your own, and still you woke with joy and excitement for life. These are the select few who see the colors that explode on the canvas of life only because they are looking.

Are you looking?

    
The sound of silence.
The kindness of strangers.
The devotion of family.

The warmth of laundry right out of the dryer.
The choices at the grocery store.
Clean water, fresh and icy cold right out of your kitchen sink.

The innocence of children.

The soft feel of fur.
The playful way of a pup.
The unconditional love of pets.
 
What is an unlikely circumstance that you have managed to conjure up the ability to be grateful for?
A forewarning is due here, my answer might be sad but reference the above photo that says, My Fab 4 for the silver lining.

When My Giant and I first decided to have children we lost our first child to a miscarriage. What I was able to finally be grateful for from that experience was the preciousness of life.

That we all start out the same way. 
Precious Life.
That there are so many things that can go wrong in pregnancy. 
Precious Life.
That labor and delivery is something that happens everyday, every hour, every minute, every second. 
Precious Life.
Life is a miracle.
Yes, that experience taught me the miracle of life, and I will be forever grateful for that deep, deep knowledge.

And now I will leave you with this:

I have been saving this quote to pair it with an apple tree post in the fall, but it just seems so perfect now for this post. I hope you enjoy this savored quote, as much as I have.

"Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearnings. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on Earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could." —Louise Erdrich

a punk, a pumpkin and a peanut
The Fontenot Four

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17 comments:

Jillian Carreira said...

I like the idea behind thankful Thursday because you are right there, is alot to be grateful in life for. There are alot of precious people, things and experiences that came my way and changed my life for the better and this I am extremely Thankful for.
Hope you have a great day Noel.

shontell said...

I woke up at 4 with thoughts on my mind. Lots of thoughts. There are many decisions to be made over the next two weeks. Maybe over the next four weeks. We may well be inviting chaos into our life. When I pictured mellow summer days, God is throwing in alternative solutions. Maybe. Or maybe he is asking us to simply check our hearts. So I did. At 4am. And I realized I am thankful. I even made a mental note to blog about being thankful. And here you are beating me to te punch. Actually you are just confirming what I know. There is always ALWAYS something to be thankful for. Thanks friend. Wanna grab some coffee?

Kelly said...

WORD to ya mutha! good post. I love thankful thursday for this reason...so good! and I love the No-dots nick name ...so cute!

Sarah {the fontenot four} said...

I LOVE THIS POST!!!!!!!! You are truly someone who understands how necessary it is to give thanks in ALL situations at all times. Thank you so much, as always, for linking up with me! :)

ms.composure said...

such CUTE pictures girl! i def love the concept behind this post! i know that i try to find something i am thankful for EVERYDAY! i think it does allow you to be more grateful and change your attitude about a lot of situations you go through. def a new follower!!


http://infinitelifefitness.com
http://mscomposure.blogspot.com

amoryg said...

What a beautiful post!!

I always try and live with a positive outlook on life. There isn't enough time to be negative and one wants to be your friend anyways!

But when I do find that I'm being a Negative Nancy, people look at me crazy and annoyed.

Brittany T. said...

ohh wow a beautiful post!! i got teary eyed girl, especially the part about waking up and maybe not being able to get out of bed on your own-that's me!! I love your attitude on life and how thankful you are for the littlest things too...they make a world of difference! you have a beautiful family!! xoxo

LeiShell said...

I too had a miscarriage with my first and when I finally felt that feeling of holding my child for the first time, it hurt...good. I loved the way my eyes filled with tears and I couldn't hold back, the way I still feel when I look at how much he has grown. Life is a blessing, even in its sorrows, there is so much joy to be had. Thank you for a beautiful post. The pictures of your kids are just adorable!

Candice said...

What an awesome post! Thanks for stopping by my blog...following you back :)

http://www.wherenothinggoodcomeseasy.com

Cami said...

Your fav four are so beautiful :)
HUGS. Thank you for sharing your heart with us - and for being inspiring - through it all - you were still thankful - and that, everyone needs to be more like.
THANK YOU!! <3

P.S. Thanks for linking to Thankful Thursday @ First Day of My Life! :)

N. Rose said...

wow, just wow. thanks so much for sharing these truths with us sister. I love you so much.

Kristin_Texas said...

Great post! I might do a little Thankful Thursday post of my own.

Kristin

black tag diaries said...

so, so true. and your story was so beautifully told... thank you for sharing. life.is.precious. great reminder... and great ending quote. thanks for linking up!!

Jeni said...

I always love reading your posts. You are so joyful and encouraging - it helps remind the rest of us to be thankful. By the way, the picture of the Fab 4 with the boys in their bow ties is adorable!

MostWhatMatters said...

I am your newest follower! I loved your photos. Check out mine if you have time @ http:mostwhatmatters.blogspot.com. Can't wait to hear more!
Amber

Barefoot Hippie Girl said...

beautiful post. Too often we have to lose something before we realize its value. It shouldn't have to be that way.

Erin said...

GREAT post! Children are such a precious gift. I am so thankful for mine as well.

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