As I began thinking of the many things I am grateful for this week, it became quite difficult to decide what I wanted to include in this post.  I am beginning to take note of more things I am grateful for each week and make a mental note in preparation for this post each week.  Not only has it turned my attention to the many blessings in my life, but also to the things that sometimes we tend to overlook and take for granted.  I am delighted to see how my weekly gratitude post is overflowing into the rest of my week and allows me to become more aware of the richness of my life and I certainly don’t mean monetary richness.

This week I am extremely grateful for technology and while I am far less “techy” than I am creative etc., I realize technology allows for us to connect in so many ways across vast distances.  A little over a year ago my family and I picked up and moved to SC where we didn’t know anyone but our realtor (who we found via the internet).  There was a part of me that panicked a bit at the thought of starting over again, and having to find a way to meet friends, acquaintances etc.  My sense of community has always centered around my workplace and the people I meet there in addition to my lifelong friends from back home.  This time my community building would be different since I work for a company remotely (a blessing in and of itself) and I don’t have the luxury of meeting people in an office setting.  At first I found this to be a frustration and somewhat of a concern, until I realized how many people I connect with on a daily basis via the internet.  In fact there are quite a few people I have “met” through other friends either by phone or via the web that I have yet to meet in person.  In the business world they call it networking, I call it human connection.  Many of my friends are people I would never have known had it not been for the wonderful technology that allows me to connect with some really incredible people many miles away.  I was reminded of that this week as I emailed, text messaged, and blogged with people all over the world.  For that I am so very grateful.

This week I am also grateful for sharing.  I was reminded of this thought at various times this week, but the one that stands out the most was motivated by nature.  I posted about my monarch messenger last week and since then I have had many other butterfly friends visit our mums on the front porch (sometimes 3 and 4 at a time).  Earlier this week as I was going to check the mail, I walked by the mums and saw a flurry of activity from various butterflies, bees, bubble bees and flies.  The butterflies stole the show with their beautiful orange, black, and yellow wings, but I was struck by the ability of all these little beings sharing the same space and how they managed to do it with ease.  I stood there for a moment just watching them fly from one flower to the next and was mesmerized.  When I initially bought the plant, I simply wanted to spruce up our front porch for the fall as I loved the cheerful feel of the yellow mums.  Little did I know, I was creating a meeting place of sorts for many insects to come together to share in the beauty for their own individual needs.  It reminds me of the importance of sharing and exchanging with one another.  I began thinking of ways to apply this concept of sharing in my own life and even managed to share a few ideas and websites that I thought might be helpful to others.  I realized that the butterflies, bees, and flies became my teachers this week and what an amazing lesson in sharing it was.

What are you grateful for this week?