Beyond the Comfort Zone

Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

With Thanksgiving coming up this week, I am deeply aware of my blessings.

Yet sometimes it is hard to be grateful for a path that turns unexpectedly, taking me out of the comfort zone. It is easy to love the comfort zone, where there is no anxiety or pain other than what I have already faced. But what lies beyond the comfort zone? What blessings? What adventures? What new friends? And what person will I be at the end of it, when I have stretched my limits so far that this new place has become my comfort zone?

I am thankful for my husband and my children. I am thankful for good friends. I am thankful for a comfortable house and a lovely garden. I am thankful for life itself and for the fresh air upon my face. I am thankful to God for giving me all these blessings and many more.

And now that my comfort zone has been upset by complications from surgery earlier this year, I am grateful for a new path that, at least for now, I must get along with a cane. In my mind it is too many years early for such a thing; but although I can't yet see beyond the turn of the path, I look forward to seeing where it will take me. I have also discovered that long handled garden tools serve as temporary substitutes for my cane, so I am grateful that I can still rake leaves off of that path!

Many blessings to you all...Deb