Gratitude Discussion Group

I am grateful to be alive and grateful to have a warm place to be with good food available. Today I am struggling with all the emotions of a family pre-grieving the death of our Mother. She has been in the hospital since Wednesday and I really thought she would go home again, but her heart and lungs are now failing and to treat either one puts the other at risk. I am prepared and Mother is prepared. She has been ready to go for a long time. Not all the siblings/grandchildren are ready though and with our family dynamics it is reasonable to expect nasty looks, snide remarks and raised voices. If you can spare me a prayer to remain calm through the family storm, I very much appreciate that. Some people will fight to the death. I want peace.

I am grateful to be alive and grateful to have a warm place to be with good food available. Today I am struggling with all the emotions of a family pre-grieving the death of our Mother. She has been in the hospital since Wednesday and I really thought she would go home again, but her heart and lungs are now failing and to treat either one puts the other at risk. I am prepared and Mother is prepared. She has been ready to go for a long time. Not all the siblings/grandchildren are ready though and with our family dynamics it is reasonable to expect nasty looks, snide remarks and raised voices. If you can spare me a prayer to remain calm through the family storm, I very much appreciate that. Some people will fight to the death. I want peace.

I woke up feeling very, very grateful for acupuncture. I had been having some discomfort in my knee - probably strained it with a walk that was a little too vigorous. Yesterday I had an acupuncture treatment and today that knee is so much better. It's amazing what improved mobility can do for one's attitude!

I'm going to share an Emerson quote I came upon yesterday. It talks about what he was grateful for and I thought it might help get our day started on the right track: For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, ...For love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) Anybody else want to share some positive thoughts for the day?

@lioness We have woods between our home and the homes on the next street over - the lots here have to be at least 1.5 acres and we have over 2 acres. It really is nice and quiet. My husband was just commenting on that tonight, how lucky we are to be here. Even so, if we can get our butts in gear and get more organized we hope to sell this house, it's way too big for the two of us, and move someplace smaller, preferably one that has an association that takes care of outside maintenance. Our neighborhood has many young families because the houses are large. If we move elsewhere maybe there will be more seniors there. I will miss it here though.
JK

We have many senior twins! I do not want to move from out too big house on beautiful land to a smaller place that need less upkeep. I like it here.
Praying!
Please say one for me 🙏
Will someone wrote about a move they made to a smaller residence and tell me all that they are enjoying? I need some convincing 😿

Debra, May I add this?
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have miles to go before I sleep.”

Be grateful for each mile you walk, weather it is easy or challenging. Be thankful for all that is good in your life.

@helenfrances I love Robert Frost's poems. I have a book of them.
We want to move so we can have our master bedroom on the first floor. That is imperative for my husband, that and the upkeep required here. We both love our home and neighborhood though so that makes it difficult.
So much being published about Coronavirus now (not Corona beer! 😉)
JK

@parus

You said you're not proud of the anger you feel when PTSD is triggered. My first response to that is that anger is an appropriate reaction. Not being proud of it implies to me that you feel guilt or shame for feeling angry.

I wonder how your anger presents. Physical response or mental or emotional response?

I was raised with the notion that anger was bad or wrong, and not allowed to express it. So, coping with it has been an ongoing struggle for me as an adult. It wasn't just anger that was banned. Tears, fear, frustration - expressing anything like those things was supposed to be suppressed. The result was that I kept everything in and wore the "I'm fine" mask. Not very healthy or productive. I wish my parents had taught us how to express instead of suppress our inner thoughts.

I think I've learned that anger in itself isn't bad. Rather, it's the expression of it that's important. Neither suppression nor eruption is usually the answer. It lies somewhere between the two. The word balance is a good one to apply to how we live out our lives.

So, what do you think? Any suggestions for me as to expressing anger and all its siblings appropriately? My 5 siblings and I have worked around the issues in our own ways.

Of course, our parents loved us and raised us to be loving, productive adults in many positive ways. I don't want to give the idea that our family was dysfunctional. We are and always have been a close knit bunch.

Jim