April Fools’ – no Fooling!

I was sitting with a group of women – yes, socially distanced and outside and my feet were freezing, when one of them said to me, “You must be really pleased.”

I had no idea what she was talking about, so in a voice of profound intelligence and insight, I responded, “Huh?”

“Didn’t you see the editorial in last week’s Rocky Mountain Outlook?” she asked.

No, I hadn’t, but now I have and yes, I am pleased. I am very pleased indeed. And I am feeling very grateful.

The line that gives me credit is incredibly uplifting – and surprising. “Like our columnist Lorraine Widmer-Carson reminds us each month, gratitude can change the way you look at the world.” I will stop there – because that’s enough to float my boat and generate three gratitudes.

First – I have never been called a columnist before. Thanks, Tanya Foubert.

Secondly – Our valley is served by an independent community newspaper. That goes back to the hard work of Carol Picard, Bob Schott, and Larry Marshall. Our local paper is still alive, accepting and printing positive stories – as well as all of the negative funk and bundles of bad news that is flying around. Thanks, Rocky Mountain Outlook – past, present and future.

Thirdly – Ms. Foubert is publicly encouraging the community – all of us living in the broader and inclusive community that extends from Lake Louise to Exshaw and Kananaskis Country – to lift our heads up, look around and find reasons to be grateful. In her editorial, Ms. Foubert expresses gratitude to the local groups that are finding new ways to deliver important services; to our ever-important front-line workers; to the servers and staff in restaurants; to our municipal leaders; and to our readers, our businesses, our community advertisers. Then the paper prints another  twenty pages of hearts and thanks and photos and images expressing gratitude.

I missed reading the paper that week. I didn’t know about the initiative and this is even more fantastic, because the idea of gratitude is not my original idea. No one owns gratitude.

Gratitude is completely ineffective if you, dear friend, dear helper, dear reader and all the rest of us don’t take it personally.  If my authentic and tremendous feelings of gratitude for something beyond me are going to have any dint in the universe, the feelings I am expressing have to be absorbed into the deep tissues of the hearts and minds and souls of other people – people like you. I can’t control your response. I can only control my feelings.

Gratitude cannot grow its seeds and roots if it lands on rocky ground. Gratitude cannot grow in the supporting structures of community if others, including our anchor institutions, our local businesses, our leaders and influencers don’t help till the soil of this good earth. Gratitude needs the acknowledgement, endorsement and support of ‘the other guy’, if we really want it to grow.

What if the winds of the Bow Valley are winds that really do believe in gratitude as an agent of change? What if gratitude seeds can be broadcast here, there and everywhere? What if Gratitude is more than Namaste after yoga or a Hallmark card at Thanksgiving? What if this isn’t just one more April Fools’ joke?

Thank you to the Rocky Mountain Outlook and to everyone who is reading this. Try being grateful for a week. Or for a month. Or for the rest of your life. Because we all know – it takes a village to raise our community spirit and April is a wonderful time to start something fresh.

First – I have never been called a columnist before. Thanks, Tanya Foubert.

Second gratitude? Our valley is served by an independent community newspaper. That goes back to the hard work of Carol Picard, Bob Schott and Larry Marshall, and our paper is still alive, accepting and printing positive stories, as well as all of the funk and bundles of bad news that abound. Thanks, Rocky Mountain Outlook – past, present and future.

Third Gratitude? Ms. Foubert is publicly encouraging the community – all of us living in the broader and inclusive community that extends from Lake Louise to Exshaw and Kananaskis Country – to lift our heads up, look around and find reasons to be grateful. In her editorial, Ms. Foubert expresses gratitude to the local groups that are finding new ways to deliver important services; to our ever-important front-line workers; to the servers and staff in restaurants; to our municipal leaders; and to our readers, our businesses, our community advertisers. Then the paper prints another  twenty pages of hearts and thanks and photos and images expressing gratitude.

I missed reading the paper that week. I didn’t know about the initiative and this is even more fantastic, because the idea of gratitude is not my original idea. No one owns gratitude.

Gratitude is completely ineffective if you, dear friend, dear helper, dear reader and all the rest of us do not take it personally.  If my authentic and tremendous feelings of gratitude for something beyond me, are going to have any dint in the universe, the feelings I am expressing have to be absorbed into the deep tissues of the hearts and minds and souls of other people – people like you. I can’t control your response. I can only control my feelings.

Gratitude cannot put down deep roots if it lands on rocky ground. Gratitude cannot grow in the supporting structures of community if others, including our anchor institutions, our local businesses, our leaders and influencers don’t help till the soil of this good earth. Gratitude needs the acknowledgement, endorsement and support of ‘the other guy’, if we really want it to grow.

What if the winds of the Bow Valley are winds that really do believe in gratitude as an agent of change? What if gratitude seeds can be broadcast here, there and everywhere and get traction? What if Gratitude is more than Namaste after yoga or a Hallmark card at Thanksgiving? What if this isn’t just one more April Fools’ joke?

Thank you to the Rocky Mountain Outlook and to everyone who is reading this. Try being grateful for a week. Make a list. Or do it for a month. Or for the rest of your life. Because we all know – it takes a village to raise our community spirit and April is a wonderful time to start something fresh and exceptionally gratitfying.

With the full power of positive thinking, grit, open-mindedness and genuine gratitude, Lorraine’s book will be launched in May 2021. With questions or to learn more about Grassroots Gratitude, contact lorraine@grassrootsgratitude.ca  or follow her on Instagram: lorrainewidmer_carson