Thanks

If the only prayer you said in your life was "thank you," that would suffice. --Meister Eckhart
And so I say thank you, for -

• my cat sleeping next to me, touching my thigh with all four of her paws
• the sunlight burnishing the few leaves left on the trees
• meeting people with views so very different from mine, so I can continue to expand my knowledge and my curiosity about how other people choose to live their lives. We're all trying to live and survive in the world, but we choose to do that in so many ways; it's pretty amazing when I think about it, and infinitely awe-inspiring.
• having the basics - shelter, food, clothing
• having the chance to make my life more interesting, and hopefully more comfortable in the future by pursuing a degree (even if the comfortable part is only an ideal at the moment)
• my family of birth and my family of choice (because who are your friends but the community you choose to gather around you to function like a family?)
• my health (a little battered, with the still healing shoulder/ankle, but basically intact)
• my citizenship in a country that allows me to question, protest, praise, and support its policies and ideals
• my creativity and my skill with writing
• my intelligence
• my sense of humor
  
  There are so many more things, both large and small, that I'm thankful for, everyday, so many things that it's hard to even begin to list them. I am just happy to be here, in this country, on this planet, breathing in and out, and trying to learn and grow as much as I can in whatever time I have. Life is good, very, very good.