When I was meditating this morning I noticed one of those roly poly bugs. Maybe you call them pill bugs, water bugs, or some other name. They are those little black armadillo-like bugs with lots of tiny legs that roll up into a ball when you touch them.

Anyway, this little bug was roaming (or was it walking, strolling, or foraging?) around on the floor. I wondered how it got into the sun room, where its home was, and whether it would find its way back home. I also wondered about why it left its home and what it was looking for. My assumption is that the only reason a roly poly would leave its home would be to look for food. Then a tremendous sense of awe and gratitude swept over me.

We, as human beings, leave our homes for so many more things than to look for food. Our lives are so much richer than the lives of so many other living things because we have the ability to experience such an amazing range of thoughts and emotions. In that moment I truly felt thankful that I can experience sadness, disappointment, frustration, pain and all of those other emotions that we tend to not want to feel. It is because of our ability to experience those "undesirable" emotions that we are also able to experience emotions like joy, triumph, wonder, and love.

I don't imagine that "lower" life forms like the roly poly bug experience much in the way of thought. They probably exist solely on a subconscious and instinctual level. Furthermore, for most of those life forms their lives are quite short, probably spanning just one season.

As it turns out, we are in the process of wrapping up one season and moving into the next. Summer is noticeably giving way to Fall. Labor Day weekend is this weekend. The Jewish High Holy Days are right around the corner.

Lana and I moved into this house almost four years ago, to the day, on Labor Day weekend. We have had an amazing four years in our beautiful adopted home state. As we journey through our latest chapter in our lives, and as one season rolls into the next, it is good to recognize just how wonderful, rich, and blessed our lives have been.

Thanks for the reminder, roly poly.

I give thanks to the Universe for the abundance it provides me. I surrender and am open and ready to receive.