Cultivating gratitude

This is a time of year we hear the word gratitude quite a bit. It is a reflective time as we see this year end and we usher in the holidays – a time filled with traditions and nostalgia.

I have so many memories tied to the season of Thanksgiving that started when I was a child. My sister, Dad and I would watch the Macy’s parade in the morning eating donuts while my mom was getting everything ready for our family to come over and celebrate. I remember the way the house smelled when we were watching the parade all those Thanksgiving mornings. I remember the entire family gathering around the television when Santa arrived at the close of the parade. My mom always sets the most beautiful Thanksgiving table with the perfect place settings, turkey dishes, flowers, and accents – something I have always tried to model in my home when having guests.

We hear of gratitude for spouses, children, family, friends, home, career, pets, and health. All these are things on my list of gratitude, but how often do we hear people articulate their gratitude for nature?

Photo by Megan Rathz

There are so many things nature offers us for which I am grateful. I have always enjoyed the quote by educator Martin Seligman, “It is not happy people who are grateful. It is grateful people who are happy.” I’m grateful every time I see a butterfly or a hummingbird. I am grateful for dragonflies and cardinals; somehow when I see them, I know that whatever it is I am worried about is going to be fine. I am grateful to see the house wren at her birdhouse and the beautiful song she adds to my backyard. I am grateful for my daylilies and the rainbow of color they offer, and I love seeing the bunnies run into them for a place of refuge. I am grateful for the peace that comes around a fire on a brisk starry night spent talking with a glass of wine. I am grateful for the stolen moments of peace and serenity that water provides. I am grateful for rain and what it means for our wildlife and flowers.

I am grateful for the opportunity nature provides us to teach our children. I am grateful to instill in them respect for farmers when they see the work that goes into growing the food we eat. I am grateful for pollinators and the food they provide. I am grateful when my children clip fresh herbs from our garden and taste them in our food.

I am grateful for the first bits of green that pop up in the spring. I am grateful for the excitement I feel when I see animal tracks in the snow. I am grateful when a lost animal has been reunited with its family. I am grateful for trees and the oxygen they provide. I am most grateful whenever my children notice any of these things and express excitement for nature.

There are different seasons and rhythms in life where everything seems to come full circle. I now enjoy donuts with my husband and our children while watching the Macy’s parade Thanksgiving morning. Our whole house is consumed by the smells of my husband’s homemade noodles. After we see Santa join to kick off the holiday season, we head to my mom’s house to enjoy a beautiful meal with our family.

I am left to wonder what my children will count as their greatest blessings. I hope they never stop noticing the sounds of the birds singing or the vibrant colors of fall foliage, a cool breeze on a sweltering day. I hope they notice the sound of a babbling brook and the feeling of grass on their bare feet. I hope they notice how beautiful the snow looks on the trees and the stillness of a winter’s morning before the world is awake. I hope they realize how vast and wide nature is and feel wonder and respect for it.

Nature is speaking to us and is giving us so many reasons to be thankful. Are you listening?

Megan Rathz is a wife, mother and teacher. She says everything she has ever learned in life came from her Master Gardener mother.