Resident appreciates the simple things

To the editor:

On New Year’s Day, I always reflect on those things in my life for which I am grateful. With everything around us looking so glum, sometimes it helps to get a different perspective. No matter where you are right now, no matter what your current circumstance, you have something for which to be grateful.

Some of you might be unemployed or maybe fear losing your business or your home. These are heavy things, but they won’t last forever. Nothing does.

I have been so poor that I knew what it was like to be hungry with no food in sight. I have had to take charity— not an easy thing to do for anyone. I have also lived among millionaires and had everything I wanted financially. I have experienced both ends of the spectrum. But what I have found is that money is not the answer to happiness.

My joy is in what is around me that cannot be bought — the love of my husband and my children. The joy in watching a puppy experience snow for the first time. The most beautiful sunsets and sunrises our Creator ever made. The first flower of spring as it pushes up through the snow. A seed that will be my food, sprouting out of the earth.

A cool breeze on a hot summer day. A gentle rain that quiets everything around me. The smell of a flower in full bloom. The smile of a stranger as we pass. A beautiful song. A still mountain lake. A deer that crosses my path on the road. A clutch of baby pheasants scampering into the grass. The beauty of a newborn goat or kitten. The gentle joy of milking my goat. The rumble of thunder across the prairie. A good lightening storm.

Time with friends. Time with my elders listening to their stories and wisdom. A happy child. A hawk flying high on the winds. Food on my table. Food to share. A good book. A movie that makes me cry. A movie that makes me laugh. Time spent in prayer. Time listening. Watching the Peabody-Burns High School band march in a parade.

Good friends. Family. The bluest patch of sky. The song of a chickadee. Glistening stars in a night sky. A shooting star. A full harvest moon. The soft white flakes of the first winter snow. The stillness and quiet of snow falling. This day in my life. And whatever days left that Creator gives me.

That is what I am grateful for. My wish for all of us this New Year’s Day is that we find peace, because peace is a place inside of all of us that cannot be taken away.

Debbie McSweeney
Peabody