Today I am filled with gratitude. I can think of so many things to be thankful for, from big to small items. Here’s a small list that shows some of the range in my heart at the moment:

• I’m alive. After my experience on Monday morning awakening to a smoke-filled kitchen, the ensuing panic and the incredible number of “what-if’s” that have been in my mind since then, I’m very much alive, and very thankful to be in this state with so little damage to everything around me, including my physical being. If ever there was a cause to believe in guardian angels or divine grace, this must be at least one of the good ones.

• Following the BTD has helped my speedy recovery from the state of panic and the inner janglings that accompany such a state. The morning after the smoke incident, I got up feeling quite strong inside, and I am sure that my food choices have contributed enormously to this strength (though I can’t discount my meditation practices, etc., either).

• Last week I conducted a brief interfaith service for a group of six young people afflicted with varying degrees of deafness, one of them a deaf-mute with beautiful, shining eyes full of love. The experience brought home to me how much I take my sense of hearing for granted, how much I use it, and how limited these young people (and others in their situation) are because of this condition. I am hoping that there might be a “magic” discovery that would replace some of their hearing loss that would be as simple as eating for their blood type. There may be a connection, you never know! I am incredibly grateful not only for my own faculty of hearing, but also for the fact that science has advanced to a point where cochlear implants are becoming a little more common and are quite effective for some of these people. Let us all pray that deafness becomes a thing of the past in a short period of time.

• I am strong and healthy, generally speaking. I could grumble about a great many small annoyances, but I have no impediments in terms of going about my business. I don’t have a major disease (at least none has been diagnosed so far), other than simply growing older. My aches and pains come and go, but mostly they are gone. I don’t need a cane, walker or wheelchair with which to move my body. I still have hair on my head! My eyes sparkle, even though I need glasses to read or do close work. I laugh a lot and enjoy my life. I love my family, friends and community. So far I am not senile. Even though at times it may take longer to remember some particular words, they do come in a fairly short period of time. I am not lonely or alone, though I have lots of time to be alone on a daily basis, for which I am even more grateful.

• And down to the trite – I’m grateful that this morning, on a showery day that is also humid and polluted here in the City of Toronto, Canada, I was able to (a) to go the store that isn’t exactly around the corner without getting tired from walking there or back (at least 3 miles, as much as I can figure it, perhaps more); (b) my o-l-d shoes, very comfortable, are perfect for rainy days because they’re made out of recycled rubber tires; (c) my very old rainjacket only leaked a little on the shoulders by the time I got home, with quite wet jeans by which to measure the success of the jacket; and (d) I recently acquired a new backpack with wheels and a handle which makes bringing food home from the store a wondrously effortless chore.

Is it any wonder that I feel so very rich right now?