Gratitude

[evilgerbil]

I am grateful that I have food to eat, even at night when I am hungry or thirsty. While traveling I frequently went to bed hungry, or woke up in actual pain from thirst and had to drink water from a tap, which I knew would make me sick.

I am grateful I am comfortable. If I am cold I have clothes and fire and heat, if I am hot I have wind, water, fans and air conditioning. I have a soft bed, blankets and pillows.

I am grateful there are no roosters on my roof crowing in the morning! I *always* hated this in Central America and never got used to it.

I am grateful I have this awesome laptop full of cool music. Oh, Radiohead, why are you so great?

I am grateful my car works.

I am grateful I have a family who is helping me through this transition period.

I am grateful for friends, who have cared for me and frustrated me and supported me through the years.

I am grateful I can now pick up the phone and call people when I am sad, and that there are people within 1000 miles that I really trust. It is hard on the road to open up to people, no matter how kind they are, because you've only known each other a few days.

I am grateful for the variety of food available to me. Tea, sweets, cheese, spices. Not only do I have food to survive, I have all this excess to choose from. Subsistence farming taught me the value of food.

I am grateful for the lack of mosquitoes in California.

I am grateful for access to health care when I need it, and not needing to go to another country when I am really sick.

I am grateful to be an American, surprisingly. Being a US citizen has it perks, and I am grateful that I can practice or not practice religion as I see fit, I can vote, I can own property, I can be gay and while drugs are not legal, they are not a hanging offense. My friend from Malaysia tells me how all Malays are forced to be Muslim by law, homosexuality is punishable by a jail sentence and drugs are a capital offense. I've got it good.

I am grateful for free time. Subsistence farming also taught me the value of having free time in which one is not exhausted.

I am grateful for the internet, which feeds my need for information and allows me to write to friends all over the world, and research just about anything I want. Uncensored, too!

I am grateful for love, and ex lovers I still adore.

I am grateful for mountains and oceans and forests and deserts all within an afternoon's drive from me.

I am grateful for my 8 months in Central America, which taught me so much about life, and made me realize I have so much to be grateful for.

I am grateful for my talents, so that I have choices in a career.

I am grateful that I still have dreams, and that they are reachable.

I am grateful for my health, for every day I get to walk and breathe and not have illness or pain.

I am grateful for being able to afford to scuba dive. There's a whole world down there that most people will never experience because it is a "luxury recreation sport".

I am grateful for all the things available to me in L.A. Rock climbing, diving, hiking, Ethiopian food, The Museum of Jurassic Technology, raw foods restaurants, universities, aquariums, theaters, Bootie L.A. There is truly something for everyone, and even if I never go, I am glad I have the option.

I am grateful for Jack Johnson! I love this album and have been listening to it for weeks.

I could go on forever and ever.