Here in South Florida, it seems like everyone is celebrating the Miami Heat’s World Championship victory…and if there is one thing we do well here, it is celebrate. This morning, I am not only proud of our 3 kings, Lebron, DWade and Bosh, and their incredible court, but also of our people. All those people gathering in one place, no violence, no rioting, no negativity, just a great big love fest and tribute to the team that lived up to it’s hype! It makes me feel a little prouder to live in this state that doesn’t always get things so right.
Here in South Florida, we also celebrate the mango. When summer gives you mangoes (and they are incredibly abundant this summer!) you make mango EVERYTHING. Not only are my students bringing them in by the bag-fulls to share and not only is our neighbor sharing theirs (they got hundreds this year) but the tree we planted in memory of my brother, Mike, is giving us fruit for the first time. The fruit is really good and gives us promise for years to come. Of course it is extraordinary just as it is, with so many, I am putting them in my oatmeal, my shakes and my fruit salads. I made a mango salsa with 2 diced mangoes, about 3/4 cup of rinsed and drained black beans, 1/3 of a red onion, diced, one jalapeno pepper seeded and diced small, some cilantro and the juice of a lime squeezed over the whole thing. It is a delicious along with almost anything, or all by itself. I put it right on top of my garden salad which kicked it up a whole bunch of notches! If a few of them ripen at the same time this week, I will be baking some mango bread. My students Al and Margo make juice using a little water to thin them out in the blender. They freeze the juice and have it all year. Mangoes are a nutritional powerhouse, high in Vitamins A, B-5, C and E as well as flavonoids like beta-carotene and alpha-carotene. They are also a great source of potassium, fiber and copper. So very healthy and yummy, personally I am thinking mango martinis this weekend. Yes, we know how to celebrate our mangoes.
Today we celebrate day 38 of our journey along the love and gratitude trail. “Gratefulness in the character is like fragrance in the flower. A person however learned and qualified in his life’s work, in whom gratefulness is absent, is devoid of that beauty of character which makes the personality fragrant….There is much in life we can be grateful for, in spite of all the difficulties and troubles of life. Sa’di says ‘The sun and moon, and the rain and clouds, all are busy to prepare your food for you, and it is unfair indeed if you do not appreciate it in thanksgiving.’ If we answer every little deed of kindness with appreciation, we develop in our nature the spirit of gratefulness.” –Inayat Khan
In Gratitude we grow –remembering what we appreciate, APPRECIATES. Thanks to the Blooming Humans for sharing these thoughts with us.
Make it a productive day filled with gratitude for the bounty of blessings YOU have!
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