Words on my Mind - A poetic diary

Gratitude

I'm starting this new week with gratitude. Shout out to my girl Sarah; almost every day she posts and talks about something she is grateful for with the hashtag #Gratitude. I decided to follow her example and get my praise on.

I may not have all I want, but I know that I have what I need.

You know what it is...(wink, wink)

Food! Yes, food!

I eat and I am satisfied lol.

My favorite dish is Yassa. You don't know it, do you?

Well, you should. It's made of fried onions and chicken marinated in mustard and lemon juice. It comes out brownish and tastes oh so good! It's from Senegal or Mali, but that's another debate for another time.

Food for my body, but also for my soul.

I am not starved. I am fed love by God and my mother. I also have soul-brothers and soul-sisters. They may be virtual, too far from me, but we connect and click our pens together.

We enjoy meditating on anything and everything; we could be discussing a single subject or a plethora. I often stay awake late at night because I came across a beautiful piece (poem) that transfixed me, or a funny post...

In all sincerity, when you take the time to look back and zoom in on the details scattered over the pages of your life, you feel amazed at all the colors, the differences, the laughter, and the shades of gray that could've made you bitter but didn't.

Would it be a miniseries, I'm sure it'll make a lot of money. How interesting would it be to sit in the front row before a screen and watch your past come to life like a movie?

Okay, it wouldn't be pleasing the entire time. You'd wince at your mistakes and cry all over again, reliving your heartbreaks, abuses, losses, bruises and so on. But wouldn't you be proud to know that you are the same person on that screen that has been through all this ish and still survived to see your life on the silver screen?

Yes, that'd be cool (insert sunglasses emoji here).

Gratitude is uplifting. I got my spirits high, my smile beaming, right here at my thirty inch wooden front-desk. I marvel at what has been accomplished, the miracles that came to be.

I saw one of my soul sisters giving birth today. It was a long journey till this rainbow baby came.

I recall her wisdom, her perseverance, her moments of discouragement. She would always bounce back with faith and sass. I'm proud of her, and I am praying this little queen becomes just like her momma.

We see people, people in the streets, people in the subway, in schools, workplaces, everywhere. We don't know their story, we don't know they've been born three to five months early. We don't know they battled cancer. We don't know their son was shot and killed. We don't if our boss is struggling in a broken home and a loveless marriage, so much he/she is suicidal. We don't know any of that.

Gratitude is what humbles us in life. We don't know what's going on outside of our lives. But for what we do know, for what we do have and can hold, let us be grateful.

I still have so many words on my mind, and yet ninety percent of them are not acknowledged by myself or spoken out loud because I never want to interrupt.

I never want to be in the spotlight. I don't want to intrude in people's lives. I avoid lifting my hand to speak my mind.

I am also guilty of acting blind when I see hurt, telling myself that it's not my place to react, giving this excuse: "That person is a stranger.''

The fact that I sometimes want to be interrupted when I am on the verge of breaking down in the middle of the street, literally, with my soul sagging far behind me, is proof that there are screaming needs, although they are not regularly heard.

I want people to intrude and ask me if I'm alright. I want them to insist. I want them to see that the smile on my face is only stretched by my teeth while my eyes are moist.

I want people to look at me when I sit beside them in a bus, or say hello when I'm entering a shop or company. But how can I want something I don't intend to give? I don't have an answer to my own question, but I know that means there is room for change.

In conclusion, I'd say gratitude should equal happiness, and when you're happy you'd be more in the mood to give, to share, to be there for others.

Gratefulness shouldn't be weighed down by a feeling of guilt towards all you possess compared to others.

You're grateful? Share it!

It is true that we are all on an individual journey, but what would it be without the people we meet?

It would be miserable if you ask me. For I am enriched by talking to you, even without the promise of a response.

Here I am, the observer being observed... I wonder what your thoughts are.