There are some days where the rubber meets the road.

Now I’m laughing at myself for trying to define this day with such a statement when I know that this is true for every single day from the moment I climb out of bed. It’s the same for all of us isn’t it?

We can tuck ourselves in at night expressing gratitude for what we have and who we love, we can wake up and be wise enough to claim them again before we get out of bed…and then the games begin.

There are consequences to face in our personal lives, our work space and we witness unspeakable violence in the world around us. It hurts our hearts and tries our faith in ourselves and each other.

We wonder sometimes what it is that will finally break our spirit.

Will it be the Hammer of Thor that knocks us off our feet or the million paper cuts we sustain on a daily basis? Are we kind enough to each other? Do we listen well and fully?Do we expect more from others than we do ourselves and are we disappointed when they don’t live up to the standards we don’t achieve?

Are we posturing, posing, judging, ranting and generally being asses in our own quiet ways? Are we bemoaning that the world has let us down without asking why we have let us down? Why are we asking the world questions we should be asking ourselves?

I think we owe ourselves an explanation.

More critical than going to sleep thankful and waking up with appreciation is actively living with gratitude. It doesn’t seem like much to split your last twenty dollars between Puerto Rico Relief Fund and Go Fund Me for Las Vegas Victims, but everyone’s last twenty would sure add up wouldn’t it? Because we had twenty and we love people who love people who are hurting in these places.

Living grateful means acting on the fact that we have more than enough to choose joy and be kind when someone isn’t, or listen when someone won’t, or offer a safe and quiet comfort when someone needs only that. It means we don’t pay someone back injury for injury, even if it would appear righteous to do so. A pathetic life would be taking everything you can because you can.

A beautiful life is giving what you have and who you are.

That’s where the rubber meets the road.