Today I am grateful for healing.  We’ve had a bug in the house again and it hit pretty hard this time around.  Tummy issues abound for weeks for my little one.  It finally hit me and it knocked me down.  I’d been struggling with some respiratory issues previously, but the stomach thing was enough to lay me out for over 12 hours.  I’d been pushing myself for too long and I just couldn’t take it anymore.  That time on the couch made me feel better, though.  Rest is productive, that’s the biggest reminder for when we need to slow down: rest is productive.

Today I am grateful for bringing some joy.  We made an unannounced trip out to my family today.  We shared memories of the past from three different generations and looked at pictures from all of those times.  It’s amazing how quickly time passes but how tangible the past can be through discussion and photos.  It was such a privilege to bring those photos to the family and talk about them and what they meant to everyone.  Memories of different times, and more importantly, reminders to cherish the time we have together.  Times may be different now, family isn’t what it was, responsibilities are different—but we can always make time for family.  In the end it’s all we have. 

Today I am grateful to come to some peace.  I’ve shared often that it doesn’t take much to get me worked up.  I have an overactive mind and am highly sensitive/emotional.  I’ve also been highly trained as a people pleaser so I’m skilled with reading people and taking on their emotions.  So when we started cleaning today, things started spiraling.  As with any home, when you see one issue, a dozen more are hiding somewhere and ours is no exception.  With the way my mind goes to worst case scenario and the very real issues we found, I started to spiral in my mind as well as with the house.  I’m not sure how, but something pulled me out of that tailspin and told me that everything is going to be alright.  Something told me to just relax and approach one thing that I CAN do right now rather than all the things that will be coming.  That helped significantly.  We can’t take it all on at once but we can do one thing at a time and I really needed that reminder today. 

Today I am grateful to clean.  Not a new one, but today it was definitely needed.  In spite of the issues we found while cleaning, I’m so grateful we did.  I’m not a neat-freak, I let clutter accumulate (partially procrastination, partially laziness, partially anxiety, partially reminders of what I need to do), my schedule makes it incredibly difficult to find a reasonable time to clean—I’m already up at 3:45am-4:15am to work on some projects I have going, I get the house ready for the day, then I have to work all day and I’m not home until nearly 6:00pm 5 days a week.  Throw in my kid’s school projects and my husband’s insane hours, it is truly hard to find the time to do a proper clean.  Some people can make it work and more power to them-it just doesn’t work for me.  So, I am grateful that we got down to tackling the house today.  I feel all the better for it.

Today I am grateful to find beauty.  This is something I could share every day.  There is beauty everywhere, you just need to keep it in sight.  On the philosophical side of things, life is the most beautiful gift that we have.  What a freakin’ miracle that we are even here.  Statistically we made it just by existing.  The fact that we get to call this place, this floating blue ball our home, while we rocket through space, revolving around a star that keeps us perfectly safe and sustains us, is pretty damn mind-boggling.  So when I get overly emotional, I really don’t want to hold that back any longer.  It’s a gift and we need to remember that.  Hawks, rabbits, the sky, cuddling with my child, spending time with my husband, seeing my family, hearing their stories.  ALL of it is beautiful.  Don’t take the beauty in your life for granted—celebrate it with everything you have.  We need more reckless celebration of life these days.

Today I am grateful to come out of my shell.  With the beauty of life is trying new things, putting ourselves out there.  When the old ways don’t work or when we want something new, we need to try something new.  That may not work either, but the point is to see what there is out there.  I’m grateful to have the opportunity to try new ways of sharing, to try new ways of communicating and connecting.  There is literally no point in holding anything back.  When we let the full light of who we are out of ourselves and into the world, we ignite a firestorm of magic on the world.  That’s something we also need more of.  Appreciation of who we are and what our gifts are.  A coming to terms with our authentic identity and loving that person whole-heartedly.  We, too, are beautiful and something to celebrate.  Don’t hide.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead.