Grateful am I

I've had an interesting opportunity arise recently, one that is both a
long shot and a sure bet at the same time. I've gone for it with
gusto, and in the process shared my plans with several friends who are
more religious than I, in different religious faiths. A few of them
offered to pray for me.

I haven't regularly prayed in a long time, but when people offer to do
it for me I remember how important it actually is in many ways beyond
the obvious method of having a direct dialog with G-d, which, because
I do not have a strongly formed idea of who G-d is, can be a bit
difficult for me to build into my life in a meaningful way.

At Yom Kippur services, the rabbi in residence talked about the
morning prayer we are meant to say immediately upon waking up, which
starts with "modeh ani" ("modah ani" for women), which translates
directly to "Grateful am I." He noted that it's not "I am grateful,"
not putting yourself first as the first word you utter with the start
of a new day, but by starting the day with an expression of pure
gratitude through that first word. I could go into a lengthy
discussion of semiotics here, but that would probably just be
redundant.

Though I don't have much of a prayer life, I think that having that
kind of tradition, starting each day with gratitude for simply having
that day, can only be a good thing regardless of one's level of
religious observance. I typically don't have time to meditate in the
morning as I'd like, or stretch, or do yoga, or even sometimes pack a
lunch or shower (I'm not too proud to admit that last one). But if I
can take a few seconds after floating--or jarring, as the case may
be--into consciousness to say those few words of recognition that each
day is something worth being thankful to have...well, I can't see
anything but positives in favor of that.