Not long ago a friend commented that she relates most to my blog when I seem a little off. Well, Renee must be LOVING this place the last couple months, because "off" has been rearing its little head more often than not around here.
I just realized that it has been six months (SIX MONTHS!) since I added to my gratitude list. That needs to be corrected. I've been so busy lately, which I know I've been saying pretty much non-stop for the last six months. I'm the kind of girl who likes my downtime, and when it's in short supply, I can start to bristle here and there. I guess it's when I feel like I have to be "on" every second of the day that I start to feel "off" inside. I've felt too busy to blog. Too busy to stop for five minutes and remind myself of the many reasons I have to be grateful.
But I know that when I DO take those few moments every day, I feel about a zillion times better. So I'm just going to go for it. GratefulMo 3 is in order, don't you think? Thirty days of gratitude to whip me into shape. I know you'll forgive me if my postings are a little rushed, maybe not always Pulitzer Prize material, maybe not even spell-checked, but heartfelt, for sure, and desperately needed.
Let's see if we can drum up five reasons to be grateful tonight:
- I'm grateful that MY JURY DUTY WAS DEFERRED!
- I'm grateful for the opportunities I've been given lately to learn and change and grow. Sometimes the way I go on and on, you would think I'm about to have a couple limbs amputated, for God's sake. Nope, just working really hard. And getting the PRIVILEGE to expand my career in exciting directions. Which will probably not kill me. Which is probably good for me when you get right down to it.
Leading this project at work that is stretching me out of my comfort zone just a bit. Working with Glen to open this new business, which stretches me out of my comfort zone even a little bit more.
It's good to learn how much strength I have within me, to push myself further and do more than I knew I could, to impress myself once in a while. It's good to learn where my limits are, when I need to ask for help, and when I need to ease up just a little bit. It's good to remember that I'm not perfect, to have the courage to say I'm sorry. Again.
- I'm grateful for the ease with which things have fallen into place to allow us to start our shop. The storefront immediately available in the perfect spot on our beloved town square. The trusted carpenter immediately available to renovate the space. The single e-mail that has resulted in enough beautiful merchandise to fill the shop and then some. The support and help from family and friends, especially from my dad who has now made four (or more?) six-hour round trips to come paint and polish and transport signs and serve as general moral support. The financial pieces that have lined up with almost eerily perfect precision to make this possible. Not that we're not WORKING HARD and encountering mini-obstacles, mind you, but overall this has the feeling of meant to be.
- I'm grateful for my son's first smile of the morning. When he comes running into our room and climbs into our bed with a book for me to read, sunshine smile spreading across his happy little face, morning squeezes all around, nothing could feel better. I've never been a morning person, but those smiles are worth waking up for.
- I'm equally grateful for Jack's bedtime routine, morning and evening quiet times the sweet bookends to our days often spent too long apart. Bath, PJs, books, cuddling. Graduating now from baby songs to Beatles songs, he can tell if I get the lyrics wrong, and he actually thinks I'm a great singer. Tonight when he thew his arm across me and asked me to cuddle "just a wittle bit more," I had a moment of thinking I couldn't feel happier.
