100 Gratitudes Today

I sm grateful: 1. That I enjoyed the party last night! 2. That I looked cute enough 3. That I’m ready to continue losing weight 4. That L and I are going into the city to see a movie together today 5. That I finally saw the movie from the 60’s (!), “Charade,” yesterday! 6. In his bed 7. On his large screen 8. Caressing the whole time. Ahhh. 9. That he danced a lot last night. 10. And had fun 11. And exercise 12. And that *I * suggested it. 13. And didn’t feel jealous. (I couldn’t dance last night). 14. That I told him, the night before last, about my fears about yesterday morning and the things I had to do for my mother 15. And he was understanding 16. And even helpful in a practical way 17. And – said he LIKES when I share these things. WANTS me to. 18. That I DID go there (rehab at nursing home). 19. And met with the social worker at 7:30 am, so could “sneak” in without my mother seeing me. 20. And then with her, in the presence of the social worker. 21. And said the hard things. 22. And stayed calm and said them nicely. 23. And she was finally, finally, able to hear 24. And that I then made the difficult phone calls. 25. And was able to spend over 4 hours, I think, on all of this (thank God for the day off) 26. And got the help secured for her. 27. And am away again, without having to call. Other than honeymoon, first time EVER not having to call my mother. She is safe and I can be away for a couple of days, like last weekend for 3, and not have to call. 28. That L’s friends are SO INVESTED in us doing well together! 29. That they truly love and care for him. 30. And apparently like me very much too. 31. And they speak to him. About things boyfriends do for girlfriends. L is a lovely man. A pure soul. A romantic person. A gentle, generous person. And actually brilliant. But had a certain type of childhood damage that has made him wind up not very experienced in healthy relationships. And they help him. Because they want him to have it. 32. And that they talk to me a bit about it, on his behalf, and how to understand him. But always – always – lovingly toward him. 33. That L. made me a beautiful salad last night. 34. And I shall make that one, with dandelion greens, for myself when I get home, too. 35. That MA and I are so close. 36. That L bought me flowers last weekend. 37. And said something about feeling so good in my positivity presence 38. And bought me a little bracelet too. 39. And when I got here yesterday, he gave me a bag with a box in it. And inside was a little necklace he’d bought me. 40. That I love him. I am so grateful. I don’t know where this is going, and I don’t even know where I would WANT it to go, but I am grateful that I love him. 41. And although they were, and sometime still are, so painful, I am grateful for the lessons I learned from my relationship with J. Like being gentle. 42. And especially, not needing/wanting/expecting someone ELSE to fulfill ME. 43. My sponsor 44. My doctor (therapist). 45. That although my bedroom at home is currently messy : ( , the rest of my house is in order right now. 46. O. I am so glad she is my friend. 47. That L is such a good lover to me. 48. That I basically don’t care what others think anymore. 49. This quote: “The teacher asked the students, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ One child wrote, “Happy.” The teacher said, “You don’t understand the assignment.” The child replied, “You don’t understand life.” 50. Peacemakers 51. Children 52. Poetry 53. Firefox allowing me to insert pics into emails and size them… Safari doesn’t allow 54. Jo – computer techie/friend at work 55. Compassion. 56. This quote: “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” The Dalai Lama 57. That although L is brilliant and I am not – really – he is like a genius – I can read more quickly with comprehension than he. Hee hee: ) 58. This quote too: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi 59. And this quote, oh my gosh I love it: The world, we are told, was made especially for man – a presumption not supported by all the facts.… Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation?
—John Muir, naturalist and explorer (1838–1914) 60. And this: There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher animals in their mental faculties.… The lower animals, like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery.
—Charles Darwin, naturalist and author (1809–1882) 61. Even in the worm that crawls in the earth there glows a divine spark. When you slaughter a creature, you slaughter God.
—Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer and Nobel laureate (1902–1991) 62. As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter and justice cannot dwell together.
—Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer and Nobel laureate (1902–1991) 63. My spirituality 64. My little doggie, although I rarely see her now. I hope hope hope that she is happy! And I believe that she is. 65. The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.
—Charles Darwin, English naturalist (1809–1882) 66. Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow creatures is amusing in itself.
—James A. Froude, English historian (1818–1894) 67. If you visit the killing floor of a slaughterhouse, it will brand your soul for life.
—Howard Lyman, author of Mad Cowboy 68. A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.
—Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist (1828–1910) 69. In fact, if one person is unkind to an animal it is considered to be cruelty, but where a lot of people are unkind to animals, especially in the name of commerce, the cruelty is condoned and, once large sums of money are at stake, will be defended to the last by otherwise intelligent people.
—Ruth Harrison, author of Animal Machines 70. The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of “real food for real people,” you’d better live real close to a real good hospital.
—Neal D. Barnard, MD, President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine 71. Now I can look at you in peace; I don’t eat you anymore.
—Franz Kafka, while admiring fish in an aquarium 72. I am SO grateful that all these well-known people feel this way and share it. 73. Poor animals! How jealously they guard their pathetic bodies…that which to us is merely an evening’s meal, but to them is life itself.
—T. Casey Brennan (1948–) 74. And this, which I really believe: Life is life – whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man’s own advantage.
—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) 75. Maybe my mother will be doing much better now. 76. I WILL find the strength to continue doing what I need to do for her. I will. With God’s help. 77. Humanity’s true moral test, its fundamental test…consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect humankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.
—Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, 1984 78. What is it that should trace the insuperable line?… The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?
—Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) 79. Can you really ask what reason Pythagoras had for abstaining from flesh? For my part I rather wonder both by what accident and in what state of soul or mind the first man did so, touched his mouth to gore and brought his lips to the flesh of a dead creature, he who set forth tables of dead, stale bodies and ventured to call food and nourishment the parts that had a little before bellowed and cried, moved and lived. How could his eyes endure the slaughter when throats were slit and hides flayed and limbs torn from limb? How could his nose endure the stench? How was it that the pollution did not turn away his taste, which made contact with the sores of others and sucked juices and serums from mortal wounds?… It is certainly not lions and wolves that we eat out of self-defense; on the contrary, we ignore these and slaughter harmless, tame creatures without stings or teeth to harm us, creatures that, I swear, Nature appears to have produced for the sake of their beautyand grace. But nothing abashed us, not the flower-like tinting of the flesh, not the persuasiveness of the harmonious voice, not the cleanliness of their habits or the unusual intelligence that may be found in the poor wretches. No, for the sake of a little flesh we deprive them of sun, of light, of the duration of life to which they are entitled by birth and being.
—Plutarch 80. I abhor vivisection. It should at least be curbed. Better, it should be abolished. I know of no achievement through vivisection, no scientific discovery, that could not have been obtained without such barbarism and cruelty. The whole thing is evil.
—Charles Mayo, founder of the Mayo Clinic 81. Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds them. We live by the death of others. We are burial places.
—Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519) 82. As long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap the joy of love.
—Pythagoras 83. When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it sport; when a tiger wants to murder him, he calls it ferocity.
—George Bernard Shaw, writer and Nobel laureate (1856–1950) 84. It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) 85. When a human being kills an animal for food, he is neglecting his own hunger for justice. Man prays for mercy, but is unwilling to extend it to others. Why then should man expect mercy from God? It is unfair to expect something that you are not willing to give.
—Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer and Nobel laureate (1902–1991) 86. A dead cow or sheep lying in the pasture is recognized as carrion. The same sort of carcass dressed and hung up in a butcher’s stall passes as food.
—J. H. Kellogg, American physician (1852–1943) 87. Reiki 88. Compassion 89. My Buddhist name that they gave me, “True Compassion of the Heart.” 90. It ill becomes us to invoke in our daily prayers the blessings of God, the Compassionate, if we in turn will not practice elementary compassion towards our fellow creatures.
—Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) 91. That L is going to read the Five Mindfulness Trainings with me, aloud, this weekend. Yay. 92. Kisses. I thank God that I can enjoy kisses. 93. That L. is opening up more and more to me. 94. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
—Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist (1901–1978 95. TheMan’s mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions. 
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., American jurist (1841–1935) 96. There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.
—Elie Wiesel, writer and Nobel laureate (1928–) 97. My hair (superficial) 98. My eyes (not superficial) 99. Treetops. I am looking at them now. 100. Every hand-hold, kiss, and hold I’ve ever had.