A laugh & a cry of gratitude

The author during a relaxed moment the evening her computer wouldn't charge!

Ohhh I just learned such a lesson.

Before writing you, I plugged in my computer .. but the green light indicating the computer is charging .. that green light that ALWAYS goes on .. didn't go on.

My heart skipped a beat.

I tried not to panic. I took a mindful breath. And tried again. Nothing.

The red light on the adapter was on, so that worked. The computer cord was brand new. 

OMG. It was the computer. And I'm on a tiny island off Spain (called Formentera).

It was Saturday morning. I thought about what I needed to write that day. A note to you for The Path. Two articles for Forbes. And a book proposal for my agent. I couldn't do any of this on a phone. I needed a working computer.

My hotel suggested a computer shop one town away. I hopped on a bus there. It was closed. Someone nearby said the owner hadn't opened the shop for days (this is Spain..). I took a taxi to another town. A woman at the information booth said the computer shop there and everywhere else on the island would be closed the next two days. I asked if I should head to Ibiza, a 45-minute ferry away. She said no, any electronics shop there would be closed all weekend, too.

"It's summertime!" she said, looking at me blankly.

I headed back to the village where I'm staying. I had no plan. There wasn't even a place I could buy a new computer.

Idly, I googled what to do when your computer doesn't charge. There were two suggestions for rebooting your computer in a particular way. I tried them both.

And then I went to dinner. I read. I had a relaxing meal and thought of the fun things I could do in Formentera if I wasn't writing all day .. but .. I had to get this done.

When I headed to sleep .. I thought .. I'll just keep the computer plugged in all night and maybe, by some miracle, it will start charging.

It was 1am. I was exhausted and not stressed. I attached the cord to the computer. And the green light went on!

I sat on my bed and laughed and cried at the same time.

We have SO much. We have our breath and body. We have clean water and food and clothing. We have cell phones that work and computers that we EXPECT to always charge.

If we could spend five minutes each day thinking about ALL the things we take for granted, and not focus on the one or two things we don't have, our hearts would soar with gratitude.

For the rest of my life, every time that green light goes on I'll say a prayer of thanks.

And all day today, especially as I write you now on a fully charged computer, I feel grateful for you. I'm grateful my fingers can type, I'm grateful I love writing, I'm grateful for my computer, for the English language, for grammar diagrams in 7th grade, and oh I am grateful for so many things I feel overwhelmed as I type these words.

And so today I invite you to spend a moment being grateful for the small things. Let gratitude fill your heart with good energy. Then spread this positive energy throughout your day and week.

And Tuesday, I'm super grateful that our friends Susan and Juliet from Doing/Living have invited us to host The Path meditation at their brand new beautiful space in midtown. This is so special! Janusz will guide us in a meditation on gratitude .. in this brand new space committed to wellness, art & healthy products.

click here to join us

We'll enjoy an expertly guided meditation and then Susan and Juliet will tell us a bit about what they're doing with this cool new space. We hope you can join us!

click here for meditation Tuesday

Cheers to gratitude, to new spaces, to Janusz and that little green light,

Dina