Smell the Roses

By Shana Ogren

This year I pray for something easy: Let me see the good.

Prayers are not just words.  Prayer is action. 

To those of us blessed with a sense of smell, we must incline ourselves forward in order to inhale the scent of a rose.  That sweet and gorgeous scent is not offered to us aggressively.  The good thing sits.  It is our finding it, and our taking it, that offers us its gift.  It is when we inhale that we receive.

Hence my prayer becomes my action.  I pray to feel grateful, to give thanks, and to appreciate.   My action is to recognize the good things that are around me.

Let me continue to place post-it notes listing my joys all over my walls.  Let me record my gratitude everywhere. 

Today, on February 1, I rejoice in turning 31.

It is an easy job to inhale.

• choices
• time
• laughter
• cereal
• fooling someone
• sniffing a lilac
• the sun rising
• dreams
• harmony
• mystery
• surprise
• stories
• a good result
• love
• hugs
• moving onward
• memories
• desire
• the color blue
• a new friend
• hope
• Archie comics
• wonder
• compromise
• growth
• learning
• fruit
• loyalty
• fresh cut coconut pieces
• roots
• wings

Ball Python Image on Banner by Richard Chambers