I lay in bed at 5:27 a.m. setting my intention for the day.

How
about a Thanksgiving twist?
I thought.

This Thanksgiving I’ll be grateful for the shit in my life.
Reasoning if I could be grateful for all the shit, being grateful for the gifts
would be Thanksgiving on steroids.  

Intention set, I got out of bed and stumbled barefooted in
the darkness toward the bathroom. My foot came down on something warm, soft and
mushy.

Wait, that did not
just happen. WTF!!  

Note to self, when
setting intentions be very specific about language.  

Yes, I had just stepped in my first gift of the morning.

    “Whaddya grateful
for now?”

 

I admit it is much easier to be philosophical while warm in
bed, than on-the- spot grateful with warm crap between my toes. I pondered this
conundrum as I scoured my foot with scalding water.

 

Why was I
grateful for stepping in poop?

1. My feet were cold and the sensation of stepping in
something warm and soft was actually nice
for a second.

2. Stepping in poop meant I had a dog.

3. I loved my dog. I know I’m much better at unconditionally
loving my dog than any other being.  I
don’t harbor long-standing grudges or anger toward her. I get mad, clean it up
and move on.

4. I like t practicing unconditional love. It reminds me of
how I can practice with people I care deeply about and how much more love and
fullness I have when I direct my energy towards love and forgiveness.

5. Finally I was grateful I was fully awake and alert (a morning
ritual that usually takes longer)

6. Lastly, I was grateful for the inspiration of this blog
post that wrote itself.

 

Yah well that’s just a little crap, I hear you saying, “What
about the big things like financial crap and health challenges.”

I periodically do a dumpster dive and though I never say,
Bring on the crap,” if I seriously look for the gifts I find them.  

For example, what was the gift of losing approximately 75%
of our net worth in 2008? I developed a practice of faith, not just the
emergency call to God when life was falling apart.  I was grateful for the deep friendships that
surfaced and floated like buoys in a stormy sea. I gained a paradigm shift
about wealth and abundance and resilience.

Health challenges have brought out my inner resources of
strength and self care enabling me to heal and share my wisdom.

Relationship crap has forced me to look inward and examine
my side–still an ongoing process.

 

Crap is the fertilizer of our life’s experience and as long
as you’re planting something, your garden will grow.

So
what is the crap you’re grateful for?

Who has this allowed you to become? What super powers did
you discover you possessed? Who are you still becoming?