The Simple Gifts of Summer

Texas summers…intense heat, mosquitos, lack of rain, and did I mention the HEAT??!! Yes. There are some glaringly obvious detractors that can cause us to focus on the negatives of summer, but I have recently been reminded about all of the beautiful things that a Central Texas summer brings. The simple gifts of summer are plentiful and right before our eyes!

“The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.”

Mary Davis

Gratitude For the Simple Gifts

I tend to be an optimist by nature, and I try to find joy in the little things, but when I was younger, I was quite simply too busy to notice all of the gifts that were right in front of my face! I am ashamed to recount a time when I was a young, new, sleep deprived mother, and I remember thinking to myself, “If I can just make it a few more months, then everything will be better, and maybe I’ll get more sleep…”

Well, the tragedy was that I couldn’t see the beautiful things that were right in front of my eyes! I had a healthy, beautiful baby boy, a fabulous, supportive husband, and a family that loved and supported me. In other words… I had it ALL! I just didn’t see it. For whatever reason, I was unable to simply open my eyes and focus on all of the lovely things that were happening in my life. I couldn’t see it because I wasn’t living a life of simple gratitude.

The Gifts All Around Us

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

Melody Beattie

Fast forward twenty-five years, and I am literally surrounded by beauty! No. I don’t have the biggest, fanciest house, but it’s for that reason that I was able to retire at an earlier age. No. I don’t have the finest and most expensive things, but what I do possess is something so much better! I have a grateful heart that allows me to see the magnificent beauty of life! Do I always feel grateful? Of course not! I’m only human, so I have my days just like everybody else. For me, the secret to living a life of gratitude is in remembering to seek out the small things.

Sometimes we should express our gratitude for the small and simple things like the scent of the rain, the taste of your favorite food, or the sound of a loved one’s voice.

Joseph B. Wirthlin

My Summer Gratitude List:

Granted, it is much easier for me now that I have retired and my children are grown to have the time to notice all of the wonders of life happening around me. Still, though, I don’t believe that I would be as happily aware of these things if it weren’t for my focus on simple gratitude. Here is a short list of some of the gifts of summer that I’m currently thankful for.

• Cool breezes when they occasionally blow on a sultry, summers day
• Fireflies
• Ice cream
• Lemonade
• My porch swing
• Flowers, especially since I finally got smart and began to grow heat and drought tolerant ones… 🙂
• Hummingbirds- We have TONS of these this year due to my flowers!
• Butterflies- This is also due to my flowers!
• Baseball- Baseball is the greatest sport on Earth!
• Country living- It’s truly the BEST!
• Potato salad- This is sheer perfection on a hot summer day!
• A good book and the time to read it. On a side note, my latest read was amazing! Here’s the link!

The List Goes On…

You get the idea. None of these things that I listed above require a lot of money. They are probably the kinds of things that most people overlook. I was once that person, too, so take a moment to go outside and just look around for the simple gifts of summer! You just might be surprised! 🙂