Chocolate Covered Gratitude by any other name is still...

When I named this blog, it was purely out of my enthusiasm for all of the beautiful things that surround me and astound me in this world and in my life.  Well that - and my unadulterated love of all things chocolate.  By its very name, it may seem to exude all kinds of sunshine and roses, sweet, easy moments, and a steady stream of happily ever afters.  Yet, the first postings hint at a different kind of gratitude - more like a fortitude - born out of struggle and hardship.  Perhaps seemingly opposite, both are points of view reflective of the happenings in my life and my perspective as a result of them.

The way I see it, the moments and experiences of life form the questions, of which there are limitless possibilities.  Sometimes those questions are delicious and can literally make us swoon.  Other times, those questions are murky or downright painful and no answer will ever suffice.  Most of the time, the questions fall somewhere in between and can feel like a roller-coaster of ups and downs leaving our overall perspective of life highly dependent on the moment we are experiencing right now.

And, what is it that is at the root of what we are experiencing right now?  Circumstances - either the outer circumstances of life or our inner circumstances, or thoughts - to both of which we have attached ourselves by way of our attention to them.  So, whatever our thoughts are, about what has our attention, is directly indicative of our current state of being.

I honor that things happen in life and that we humans think thoughts about them and react to them.  I honor that we humans are vastly different and so our thoughts and reactions to things are also vastly different. And, I honor that, as such, this world is a little bit of everything I love, a little bit not so much, and a whole lotta in between.  Now, math is not my strongest talent, so I will keep it simple.  Since that is the world in which I live, I run the risk of spending two thirds of my life in the in between and the not so much places - YIKES!  That can range from a little bit disorienting to downright terrifying and heartbreaking, so...I need a north star.

Chocolate covered gratitude is my north star.  It is how I orient myself and what guides me gently out of the in between and not so much places back into my vision, back into the possibilities I see and choose to expound upon.  In other words, gratitude is how I get there.  And chocolate - definitely chocolate.

Because I choose to be happy and I choose to believe in my vision - that's why.  Yep, that is my overriding purpose in all of life.  It may or may not be what I am here for, but it is what I choose to do with the fact that I am here.