Gratitude Is A Heart Thing

Gratitude. A word that is being thrown around a lot these days. Gratitude is grand. Even if it is over something seemingly small. Allow gratitude over one small act or experience to grow and expand, and you will find little else compares to the immense joy Gratitude fills a heart with.

Yet, when words are overused, the feeling associated with the word gets lost in the shuffle. The expansion shrinks and the word gets looked over and we are already on to the next.

Gratitude is a heart thing. Gratitude is also immensely personal. When we feel the warmth of the sun after a long, cold winter. That one moment can add a new perspective to our day. Sometimes we don’t even mentally acknowledge this feeling. It’s a heart thing. Our emotions are lifted and we simply call it a “good day.”

There are also the times we stop and allow gratitude to take over. Lifting our heads to the sky, opening our arms, and taking it all in. Yes, Gratitude is a heart thing.

I think I’ve watched the movie “Sing” over 500 times with Wil. Yet, each time he says, “Mom, watch Sing with me?” I say yes. Because I know what’s coming. It’s not at all about the movie, it’s about the entertainment that comes along with the movie. At this point, Wil knows every line of the dialogue and the songs. When one of his favorite lines arrives, he leaps up enthusiastically, throws his arms in the air, and theatrically presents his words in tandem with the characters. He looks over at me with a laugh in his eyes. Then he sits back down until his next favorite part. When a song comes on, he’ll again bounce back up and dance around the room, singing each word. I never grow tired of it over the 500+ times. His enthusiasm is contagious. Now, I could never watch “Sing’ by myself. It would fall completely flat without Wil’s energetic additions.

The same holds true if any Luke Bryan song comes on the radio while I’m driving. All of his songs fall flat without Wil’s back-up vocals. Wil adores Luke Bryan and knows every word of almost every song. He plays Luke’s music over and over and over again. Like we all do, if Wil doesn’t hear a word correctly, he makes up his own. I’m so used to Wil’s made up words, that if I’m in the car by myself and a Luke Bryan song comes on, I’m like, “Luke, you are singing the wrong words!”

Gratitude is an experience more than it is a word. Gratitude is unique to our experience but sharable by all of us.

Gratitude is a heart thing