Gratitude Journal, 11/4/08

As part of "Be Happier Now", participants are strongly encouraged to keep a daily journal of things for which they are grateful and/or things at which they succeeded. There is statistical evidence to support that it works. Try it -- you'll see how much happier you are!

Part of the reason I teach the course is to force me to walk my talk and keep mine up! Here is my entry for Tuesday:

1. I had the privilege of voting. Every time I vote, I remember that my grandmothers were born into an America where women did not have that right.
2. I cast an informed vote.
   
3. It looks (at least at first glance) like a fair election. [My biggest fear was another stolen election. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman (www.freepress.org), Bev Harris (www.blackboxvoting.org), Steven Spoonamore, who told the truth, and thousands of others who worked to ensure the voter rolls were not purged of legitimate voters, or that elections have a paper trail. Our work is not done, but at least the candidate who was winning in the polls won the election.]
4. When I went to my local polling place to drop my absentee ballot in the locked box, there were twice as many cars in the parking lot as I had ever seen before, and 4 times as many as a 'normal' election. "We the People" means all of us voting!
   
5. Obama won! As a species, we turned toward hope, caring for each other and the planet, acknowledging that we're all in this together. A great weight is lifted off my chest -- I can breathe again.