I took thirty minutes to sit in the shade and read yesterday. In walking back to my office, I paused to recognize: there is gift and blessing in every moment.

Time to read. The warmth of the sun. The ability to breathe, and to physically move, and to make choices. As I walked, my mental list continued to grow.

But one thing was clear: in the best of times and in the worst of times, there are gifts and blessings. And it seemed like a gift, too, to experience a moment when this was so evident.