Gratituesday: A New Coat of Paint… a New Perspective

Day after day, I’d walk into my house and see the front room, the living room:  small, drab, cluttered, and uninviting, and I’d sigh passing it by and heading for a seat at the kitchen table… until Thanksgiving weekend  that is, when my Mom opened the gallon of paint I had purchased but hadn’t yet gotten around to using and started painting.  As she painted, I kept glancing into the room and thinking, what a great color, what a warm feeling, what a lovely room… an now that the painting’s finished, I can honestly say that I just LOVE the living room!  It’s homey, inviting, and cozy – and there is nothing more I like to do in the evenings than sit on the settee with a cup of tea and enjoy the warm glow of the Christmas tree lights off of the golden walls!  What a difference a coat of paint makes…

 

And yet… I got to thinking, the living room is still the same room, what changed with that coat of paint was not the room, but my perception of the room… and so maybe, just maybe, a change in perspective is what is needed in regards to more than my living room.  Instead of thinking, the room is small and cluttered and drab, I will think, “I am thankful that I have a place to come home to.”  Instead of worrying when my boys are rowdy and not on their best behavior in public, I will say, “I am grateful they are healthy, strong, and full-of-life.”  Instead of grumbling about yet another load of laundry, I will smile and say, “We are fortunate that we all have clothes to wear (and make dirty so that they need to be washed.).. and that I have a washing machine in which to wash them.”

So, on this Tuesday evening, as I sit in my warm and inviting living room, the boys finally asleep in their rooms, a load of laundry in the washer, I am grateful for all that I have:  for family, for home, for friends… no, it’s not all perfect, it’s not all that I have dreamed of, but it is mine, it is good, and when given a new coat of paint (or viewed from a different perspective), it is enough!

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? For more reasons to be grateful, visit Gratituesday hosted by Laura at Heavenly Homemakers.