Thank you for...

...turtles.

Jane read something about gratitude the other day. She's read quite a few things about gratitude because she is, in fact, reading an entire book about it. This might explain her current interest. Her enthusiasm, however, comes from experiencing it for herself.

One tidbit in the book offers the belief that if you are filled with gratitude you can't be filled with negative emotions. Not anger. Not bitterness. Not anything resembling "woe is me". You can't. There simply isn't room. Jane read that and read it again and thought it sounded nice, maybe, but who knew if it really applied.

Only one way to test it. Jane became her test subject. In the book, one person suggested singing a gratitude song. Something you make up and sing in privacy. Whatever tune suits you best, but the words are all about being thankful. This particular person sang her gratitude song in the car. That works well because people are often bobbing their heads and singing along with whatever is on the radio. Nobody thinks anything of it. Jane was going out for a long walk with her best buddy, which meant that the singing part was going to be done while walking along. In public.

Not a problem! jane didn't have to sing loudly, after all. She could be quite subtle about the whole thing. She set out with her best buddy and soon a thank you medley sung to something that might have remotely resembled a Broadway show tune was being whispered, cautiously at first and then with increasing gusto.

Her goal, Jane decided, was to keep up the thank you song for the entire walk. No distractions. No thoughts rambling in other directions. She wanted to see how she felt at the end of the experience.

Easy? Nope, not at all. You might think it would be easy to warble off a thank you with every pace but at some point you start looking around and naming anything that catches your fancy. Thank you for that bright and cheerful mailbox cover! Thank you for their wind chimes! Thank you for this big hill that requires huffing and puffing to climb!

Jane continued on her walk, but as she approached her home (and the end of her song) she realized she was running out of creative ideas. One last verse! One last line! One last thank you needed! Jane's pace increased. Her volume did, too. Jane's best buddy looked at her curiously but kept walking.

"Thank you for..." Jane paused. What? What! Thank you for WHAT!

"TURTLES!"

Arms flung wide, Jane came up with the last thank you of the walk...and then burst into laughter at her choice. Turtles? Really? Still laughing, Jane rounded the corner and marched to her own driveway. The thank you song had worked. There wasn't room for anything but gratitude and laughter in her and it felt wonderful.

And every day since then, if negative thoughts start to prevail, Jane thinks about being thankful for turtles and about singing that word out loud and about the startled expression on the face of the person driving by at the time and she laughs and feels thankful all over again.

Jane hopes that you look for...and find...your own turtles.