How funny it is to have people assume I gorged yesterday on turkey and all the trimmings–and of course dessert. Not me! I am so blessed to eat the same way 365 days a year. I’ve been doing it so long that, gracias a Dios, it would feel really weird not to. This is a testament to building new habits. I had a humble, delicious meal of red beans and rice. And not stuffing myself silly in no way interfered with my ability to be grateful! I have so much to be thankful for, including that I have the will, the clarity and the desire to look around me and see all that’s good, kind, beautiful and generous. Lest it seem I’m a real Pollyanna, let me also say that I struggle to stay away from unnecessary judgments of others. This is where continuing on the spiritual learning process really comes in. Accepting others, setting boundaries where necessary, as kindly as possible, this is how I live on the human plane. And it’s a job some days, let me tell you! Other people don’t want to do things my way! Can you imagine that? Nothing to do but settle back down into my own energy, feel that core of God-given strength, and operate from there. Thank goodness–while my higher power is always with me and in me as me (with thanks for that thought that way to Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote Eat, Pray, Love), I am not in charge. For today–the morning after all the hullabaloo–I’ll just keep doing the next right thing and leave the rest up to bigger, wiser forces than mine.

November is my 16th anniversary of abstinence from sugar, wheat or flour. There are few earthly obstacles now to my communion with my higher power, and I’m so grateful that the relationship is developing and going deeper, deeper, deeper. Someone wrote recently she’d relapsed–I told her to just reel it in as best she can. Grace too has to be reeled in. Today I woke up in a good mood–a gift!–but knew better than to coast on it. A day of grace is a day to continue to spend time with HP, and to give service. It was also a beautiful fall day. Life is so not what I thought it could be–all comfort all the time. That’s an addict’s dream. But it is way juicier than I could have imagined. And, most importantly, it is what it is. As my energy settles down, I am less anxious, more generous and kind–and the miracles just keep on coming. Love to all!