Gratitude

Gratitude. Life's precious blessings. Mindfulness. Sound like something from the Oprah magazine. Before you know it we will be having a panel discussion with Maya Angelou, Oprah's pal Gayle and Maria Shriver about living in the moment -- being aware -- blah blah blah blah blah.

But sometimes you really do have to be thankful for the little things. Saturday is my unofficial day off. I am paid to work on Saturday's but generally it is a quiet day. It is the reporter's answer to going on the hop from school.

Not today. At 8.40am I found out that three young men had died in a crash in the west of the county. To my eternal shame my first thought was that my day was ruined! Yes, my day -- not a thought for the bereaved whose lives have been forever changed. Just the ruination of a couple of hours of my life.

It is a guilty secret really but I think everyone in the media feels the same. We all want stories on our terms in the allocated time slots. What we don't want, particularly as work at home journalists, are stories which happen at anti social times. Like the 11 year old boy who went missing a few days after Christmas and who was found murdered. Or the poor unfortunate mother who drowned her toddler in August after a battle with postnatal depression.

Anyway, I digress. I threw myself in front of the computer. Made a few calls. Turns out one of the boys lost his father in a fishing accident in September 2006. His father died in a freak accident. Basically, the boat capsized on him.

So you have a mother in West Cork who has lost her husband and only son within an 18 month period. Kind of puts my 'inconvenience' in perspective.

It is mother's day tomorrow. How cruel that such a holiday would fall twenty four hours after a mother loses her beloved son. Meanwhile, a mother in Kildare lies in hospital battling for her life just a day after she was involved in a crash which claimed her seven year old son and eight year old daughter.

So I am thankful. Thankful for my darling four year old son who took part in a 'fashion show' today at my sister's workplace and made quite an impression on the 'catwalk.' (Who knew walking down a ramp was so hard? Let's 'trip' and see what kind of reaction we can get. )

Meanwhile, the carnage on the roads continues. A whole weekend can pay by without a single fatality and then suddenly six or seven families receive visits from police officers that start with the dreaded "I am very sorry but..."

I pray that such a thing never darkens my doors. I am grateful for my son, husband and family and for my mother on her special day.

Now if I could just get around to cleaning my home 'office' I would be truly grateful. Eliminating the dark circles under my eyes and sudden weight loss would also be welcome. Winning the lottery would be nice too. Not the jackpot just that inconsequential number at the end. I am not greedy!

But what is going on in my life now is just fine. Life is good. I will stop looking for faults and instead focus on the plentiful riches that life has provided.