For weeks, no – it’s been months since I agreed to conduct my Attitude of Gratitude workshop for my friend Shari’s adult education group at her church.  Since keeping up this blog for almost four years, I have become keen on the idea of teaching what I’ve learned about gratitude.

I wrote and scripted a new outline. I designed and copied new handouts.  I practiced using my outline without reading it. I couldn’t wait. And then the first of two Sunday classes was finally here.

I quickly discovered the group’s habits, more than my well-rehearsed outline, determined how our hour went.

First, we observed the ritual of coffee and donuts, an oddly holy community rite observed after some discussion on who would probably show up a little late.  I introduced some new theories about approaching gratitude as a mindfulness practice and not as an inventory exercise (counting one’s blessings).

I collected email addresses and sent out mid-week notes to see if anyone had questions about my suggestion to consider themes of things they were grateful for.

And then on the second Sunday of my two-part class, after donuts and the distribution of clean coffee cups, I conducted a check-in to see how the class did with my assignment. While I got the impression they thought more about what they were grateful for during the past week than they might have normally, they didn’t exactly follow my assignment to the letter.

I was unsure whether they got the essence of my mindfulness approach to keeping a gratitude practice until I invited the class to write a little about how one of their gratitude themes could be found in a recent everyday experience.

One young man shared about an unexpected moment of pure love he had with his nine year-old son over watching a Harry Potter movie.  A housewife explained how she noticed how proud (and grateful) she was about her own creativity in adapting a recipe for granola bars to use less sugar.

Another man, who was quiet the previous week, talked about how much he enjoyed watching the Winter Olympics on TV.  After a few follow-up reflection questions, it surfaced that he appreciated the technology that made the experience possible, the example of hard work the athletes displayed, and his ability to share the event with his family.  He felt he was building memories and was very grateful for that.

The long anticipated class did not go exactly as I had planned, but it was clear that most group members got something out of it.  And I had to remember that whatever they got was perfect.

I am glad I fretted a little about getting things right and am glad that right wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.

Anticipation with detachment is no small thing.