Brian Morse’s Gratitude

 (Editor’s Note: When we asked TJM staff members to tell us what they were thankful for this year, most responded with a sentence or two. Graphic artist Brian Morse responded with this. We’re grateful Brian chose to share it with us, and we felt it deserved its own page. If you’d like to know more about Brian, check out his Employee Spotlight from 2015.)

They asked me
What I was thankful for.
My answer
Was not expected.
I said
I am grateful to the trees
For my breath.
I am grateful to the sun
For the heat of my soul.
I am grateful to the sea
For binding me together,
And am grateful to the earth
For the iron in my veins.
I am grateful that owning things
Is not the end all of my existence.
For the knowledge that
Money is a tool,
Not a pursuit.
That pursuing happiness
Is much easier when you realize
It’s right beside you … in you.
I am grateful that simplicity
Sings to my soul.
I am grateful for
My children’s smiles.
I am grateful that
When I leave this plane of existence
Those who love me
Will remember me
Not for what I have accumulated,
But simply for the fact
That I loved them.
I am grateful for the ability
To be grateful.