Gratitude in our Dying World

 

8 December 2020

Gratitude in our Dying World

Gratitude – giving thanks for life itself,

For our amazing, complex, and troubled earth,

After a year filled with joy, sorrow, and confusion,

It’s now time to pause, and let new directions give birth.

This is a time when I am struggling to comprehend

How our greed and indifference could come to this:

That the earth will soon be unable to support us all,

And I begin to truly think about all that I will miss.

It is well past the time when promising to do better will help,

As the damage is done, and it is useless even to hope.

More importantly, I want to fully live until I die

It is certainly not a time to just curl up and mope.

I want to learn to think more often and more openly

Of all the many things that bring me happiness and joy

And to realise that I no longer have time

To moan and complain, as it is now time to truly enjoy.

I have an endless list of gifts to be thankful for:

The joys of creativity, friendship, music, laughter, and more

And of nature with its amazing interconnected webs,

And mysteries of unseen worlds that warm me to the core.

Instead of wishing for more things, more places, and more time

I want to live in gratitude for each day with grace,

And awe and awareness of the magic of each moment

Until it is time to go to that beautiful and mysterious other place.