Tea and the Art of Gratitude

I'm not a big tea drinker. Oh sure, I'll have the occasional iced tea, but when it comes to the hot stuff, not so much. Yes, I know it's healthy, full of antioxidants and all that good stuff, but the only time I enjoyed it was when I was in England. Of course, the tea I drank there was strong, milky, and accompanied by chockie biccies. Chocolate covered biscuit-cookies. Of course, for a chockie biccie, I'd drink hot molten lava.
But I was watching TV this morning, and they were doing a segment on tea drinking in China. There's a ritual to the preparation and drinking of tea there, and I can see why they drink a lot of it. When you are handed a cup of tea, you start with 3 sips; one to taste, one to drink, and one to remember. The rememberance is for all the good things, all the things in your life you are grateful for.
Kinda different than sticking a Lipton tea bug in a mug and guzzling it down, huh?

So it made me think of food, the way we eat. I've read about mindful eating, and incorporating gratitude into meals. But most of us don't eat that way. I certainly don't. I usually prepare food with two little ones hanging on to my legs, the phone ringing, the TV, computer, or radio blaring, rushing around to get food on the table before the kids' therapists show up, or I have to leave for work, or hubby has to go to school, etc. So sitting quietly, chewing each bite of food 100 times, and tasting every morsel to its fullest? Yeah, not gonna happen.
Unless...
I take time, every once in a while, to do just that. To turn off the TV, let the answering machine do its job, and incorporate the kids, as much as possible, into preparing meals. Not every day, but maybe every once in a while. If I take time to be grateful that we have food to eat, and a home to eat it in. That we have each other, and all the people in our lives who love us and help out. The family members who come over to babysit at the last minute, and those wonderful therapists who teach our kids with so much love, and give us so much support. The teachers who love their job. Everyone!

Because we really do have so much to be grateful for.