Gratitude...
A Life on the Streets
Thanksgiving
2019
And
the tradition continues.... another day of a life
on
the street for another Thanksgiving.
Spending
the day with a stack of books, unless I am
able
to find some place to Volunteer, but this is the time of year
that
is overflowing with volunteers making up for the rest
of
the year of them letting it go by the wayside
,
so if I cannot find a plce to volunteer (which is something I have
done
throughout my life, not just the decades outside and through the
Holidays,
as well, if help is needed and not filled) reading
in
the park, walking through and in Nature and counting my Blessings.
A
tradition I never once dreamed would be my life, of
living
on the streets, has become my very existence.
But
counting my Blessings has become a staple of life,
every
moment of it. Reading in the park on the Holidays is
another
tradition, because everything is closed, volunteering is
over-filled,
and I have nowhere or place to go or be...
so
reading makes the time go by quickly, and I
do
not have to think about life.
Just
take in the smells, listen to nature's orchestra
and
feel grateful just to BE in the moment,
surrounded
by the Beauty of Nature and all
Her
Gifts the animals bring to my heart.
I
have much to be Grateful for, which I
keep
having to redirect my focus on, otherwise,
life
takes hold and reality smashes into
my
face and the circumstance I have been
forced
to endure decade after decade.
Some
things I am Grateful for;
-
Having access to clean water to drink
- Having access to restrooms to cleanup in, change and
wash my hair in the icy cold water from the sink
- Being literate and able to read and write with proficiency
- Having the means to do laundry when I need to
- Having clothes to wear
- Having a body that continues to hold me up
- Having many in Law Enforcement on my side
- Receiving Help that have been treasured gifts
- Being able to Communicate in a variety of ways
- Having a good, portable toothbrush
- Being able to make great coffee without a coffeemaker
- Being able to volunteer to work with animals
- Having access to restrooms to cleanup in, change and
wash my hair in the icy cold water from the sink
- Being literate and able to read and write with proficiency
- Having the means to do laundry when I need to
- Having clothes to wear
- Having a body that continues to hold me up
- Having many in Law Enforcement on my side
- Receiving Help that have been treasured gifts
- Being able to Communicate in a variety of ways
- Having a good, portable toothbrush
- Being able to make great coffee without a coffeemaker
- Being able to volunteer to work with animals
These
are just a few things I am deeply, truly Grateful for.
Many
other things come to mind of what I am Grateful
for.
And I count Blessing after Blessing throughout the day
and
it keeps me pressing on to face another day without
a
home. But Purpose and Meaning have Eclipsed my life.
What
are the lessons I am supposed to learn being
forced
to live outside, without a home, indefinitely?
Whatever
the lessons are suppose to be,
it
is not something I have been able to cull
from.
How do you draw a meaningful and
purposeful
life when you are forced into a
circumstance
not of your choosing and
you
lose youself in the process?
And
while I will never be Grateful for being forced from my home
by
and through the illegal actions of a despicable landlord,
living
on the streets teaches you about Life in the very
literal
sense;
You
learn how to be resilent and how to use what you have
all
around you, while improvising every moment of every day and
all
through the night. Street life teaches you how to persevre
through
the worst (of) what life throws at you, and all you experience
and
face with life without the comfort and security of a home.
There
is no way to prepare for and nothing prepares you
for
street life, even when fully immersed in it.
But
the Gratitude stems from what I have learned
and
how to become while living on the street;
The
strength that has come forth that I never knew
was
there, learning how to quickly adapt to
anything
and everything that comes my way, or I am
forced
to endure, how to let go and move on and
keep
moving forward.
The
Tradtion now unfolding and becoming the staple
of
life... is how to live when you merely exist, while
around
the Fringes of Life itself.Every moment of
every
day, Each and every Holiday and Winter, Summer,
Spring
and Fall. A Tradition that is a
Century
in the Making.
Another
Thanksgiving steeped in the
Non-Traditional
specs of Street life.
Thanksgiving
Blessings.
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