GRAVY BY RAYMOND CARVER

No other word will do. For that’s what it was. Gravy.
Gravy these past ten years.
Alive, sober, working, loving and
being loved by a good woman. Eleven years
ago he was told he had six months to live
at the rate he was going. And he was going
nowhere but down. So he changed his ways
somehow. He quit drinking! And the rest?
After that it was all gravy, every minute
of it, up to and including when he was told about,
well, some things that were breaking down and
building up inside his head. “Don’t weep for me,”
he said to his friends. “I’m a lucky man.
I’ve had ten years longer than I or anyone
expected. Pure gravy. And don’t forget it.”

(C) Raymond Carver

• Write your gravy list, full of gratitude for the gifts you have in your life.

• What have you survived that makes you feel particularly lucky—a divorce, an illness, an addiction, a period without work? Explore in your journal how hard times can add to your feelings of gratefulness.

• Write a thank you letter (or email) to someone telling them what they mean to you. The reflect on how it makes you feel to express your gratitude.