While rambling through the woods the other day I came upon a spot where a few large trees had fallen.  Their absence allowed the sun to pierce the shadows of the forest floor and allow a small wildflower garden to grow.  As I stood knee deep in the diverse beauty of the wild side, I was amazed at the assortment of flora that surrounded me.  It was a delicious moment in time spent basking in the perfumed breeze that washed over this secluded place.

        I shut my eyes and listen.  The sounds of birds from somewhere deep in the forest harmonize with the buzz of the bees gliding at my feet.  I am astonished at how much I can see when I take a moment to shut my eyes and my mouth and just soak in all that surrounds me.  The untamed sounds falling from above, the aromas rising from beneath mingle with the sunbeams and then get stirred together by the breeze of heaven to form a little bit of paradise for me to enjoy.  When I open my eyes I realize how much my vision has handicapped and dulled my other senses.

        As I begin to survey the borders of my forest garden I notice that it is encircled by these blooming blackberry bushes.  As I begin to photograph these fragrant blossoms I make one big mistake.  I bend over to look through the lens of my camera and back into the business end of a giant man-eating thorn.  Then I do the two things that every red blooded American would do; scream in pain and complain that flowers have thorns.

        After I regain my composure and manage to stop the bleeding I begin to wonder why I complain so much.  Here I stand knee deep in paradise and I am stinking up the place with protests and grumblings.  I began wanting to be gratefully humble but instead turned out being grumbly hateful.  How sad; with so much to enjoy all around us we choose to complain about a little thorn.  Today, let us choose to be thankful for the flowers in our lives; and realize that life is too short to spend our time complaining about the thorns.  Happiness is a choice; choose to enjoy a day full of gratitude.

Something to think about:

• There is no gathering the rose without being pricked by the thorns.

• Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.

• Don’t complain; the more you complain about things the more things you will have to complain about.

• The squeaking wheel doesn’t always get the grease. Sometimes it gets replaced.

• As a rule, you will find that those who complain about the way the ball bounces are usually the ones who dropped it.

• Don’t grumble because you don’t have what you want—be thankful you don’t get what you deserve.

• When opportunity knocks, about all some people do is complain about the noise.

Thankful for the thorn
Rickey Moore
To see more things to be thankful for visit www.rlmoore.com