My 4-legged beloveds, and my human family too.

by Rosa Blue
(North Carolina)

one of my 4-legged best friends

It is my dogs I think of when I want to feel grateful. I am grateful for my human family too, of course, but dogs give me a unique sense of purpose and peace that I don't feel anywhere else.

Maybe it is because I get lonely and they give me so much comfort that way. Maybe it is because they never get mad at me and are always forgiving when I am sick. Maybe it is because they never put me down or criticize me. And for sure, they appreciate anything I do for them. They trust me, they treat me with respect and they are never sarcastic.

My sweet girl dog -- (the beauty in the picture) -- does get mad if I spend too much time at my desk and will at times, come over and start barking loudly right in my face. The only time this causes problems is when I am on the phone with one particular friend of mine. He gets irritated and says it hurts his ears. She will sometimes do this when I get on the telephone.

I'm mostly glad that she barks in my face. It's usually just what I need. Get up and go out, or at least get off the phone.

Walking my dogs makes me feel good because it makes them happy. The girl dog that barks in my face also smiles a lot and I get the greatest satisfaction out of knowing that I can do something good and not fail.

"You have to think grateful thoughts though," my therapist told me. "Positive thinking does not produce the same effects as does grateful thinking."

Practicing feeling grateful helps me with depression and anxiety. It helps me not to feel so hopeless about the sad things that I cannot control. Feeling grateful helps me keep my chin up so to speak.

I've said it before so I'll say it again:
If I could stand on a cloud above, and have our Almighty God ask me what I would like to do or be on Earth, I would say I'd like to be me.

I'd say could I please be the mother of that nice little boy who turned into a fine young man!

And if our Almighty God then said to me: if you choose to be that person, you will encounter a great many challenges, some of which you will simply not know how to handle other than to accept them, some of which will make you worry through years worth of sleepless nights, and some will give you pain-- I would still want to be me.

Above are excerpts from two of my blog articles about gratitude. I'm using one finger to write after accident 3 days ago, grateful it is my left hand, so I hope it is okay to have pasted from my blog.

I was moved to share here because gratitude does have a way of not only making me feel better, but in the hardest of times, it saves me from total despair.

Thank you for the space to share.

Rosa Blue, aka dogkisses on wordpress.

My 4-legged beloveds, and my human family too.

Did You See That Recent Reference to the Self-Healing Brain?

Brain Fitness and Neuroplasticity Exercises

Stretch Your Axons and Flex Your Dendrites?

Mind Sparke Brain Fitness Pro Impulse Control

How is Your Attention? Try Your Hand at the Stroop Test.

Neurogenesis and Neuroplasticity

Replacement Parts for Your Brain?

Chocolate is a Wonderful Counseling Tool, Don't You Think?

Looking for Information On the Grieving Process?