lucky or grateful?

Today as I was walking KoKo on one of our many daily walks I was basking in the warm sun and thinking how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place. After all it's January and it's nearly 80 degrees while much of the country is covered in snow and experiencing or about to experience negative temperatures. And that started me thinking about luck, happiness, gratefulness, appreciation etc. And that it really is up to us to create and maintain. We can control these things in the way we choose to live, the way we think, the way we view the world - actually allowing ourselves to see the good in our day to day.

So I spent the rest of my neighborhood stroll thinking I have so much to feel "lucky" about - first and foremost my health and the health of those who are near and dear to me. How often do you hear from a friend or a friend of a friend about someone who's sick, or fighting for their life, or worse case has just passed on? It's often and it reminds us that life truly is precious and that it's one thing we can't (completely) control. We don't know when our time will come and when we'll go. And that reminds me to not just appreciate that right now I'm alive and living this pretty cool experience but to also see and appreciate all that goes with that...

ALL the special people in my life friends and family alike, my heart - my dog KoKo, the man I've yet to meet who I know will steel my heart in an unexpected but completely noteworthy way, the beauty that surrounds me in California, the business I've managed to build and keep alive and the sense of reward that it brings me by way of my grateful and inspiring clients each and every day, the places I've seen and have yet to see and eagerly anticipate (Spain, i must meet you SOON), the years of memories, values, lessons and laughs I had with my mom, the videos and photos and momentos I still have of my mom, the little people in my life who remind us all how simple life really is if we could only always view it like a child sees it, the wisdom I've picked up along the way, the abilities I hold to help others, my beautiful apartment that truly feels like home, wine, cheese, ice cream and french fries and so, so many other things if I went on and on and on.

With that, I conclude, the "luck" is life - that we're even here. The rest is up to us - how we view it, how we live it.

You choose.