Sunday Gratitude

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Today I am grateful for fun.  I was able to walk the dog today and she loved it.  I took my son with me because it was a particularly warm February day and he loved being outside as well.  The fresh air was a much needed relief after being stuck inside for so long.  Feeling the warmth of the sun literally felt invigorating—definitely been missing that Vitamin D.

Today I am grateful for my son to experience new things.  He’s only three years old so he hasn’t been to too many birthdays in his life, and we got to go to celebrate at one today.  It was a kids place where he could climb and jump as well as slide and build and he could swing and ride on all of the things around.  Really just be a kid.  While he’s been to parks before and to jump parks, this was new for him and he had a blast.

Today I am grateful to begin my work with B-School.  This feels like the natural progression of things for me and I’m thrilled to be learning already.  I genuinely feel like this is something that will help me change my life and there is an energy about it that I haven’t felt in a long time.  I’ve been disillusioned with my other work for a while because I haven’t been allowed to do the work I was told to do.  This is an opportunity for me to actually control the path I want to take and no one can tell me that it won’t work for them—this is about fulfilling goals and getting a message out and I am beyond those limitations.

Today I am grateful for some time to relax.  I’ve had an extra day off this weekend and it was a wonderful day with my son.  I had originally wanted to devote one of the days off strictly to my side work and that didn’t happen but I was able to relish in some bonding time with my boy.  That is what mattered and as far as a mental reset for myself, that is what was needed.

Today I am grateful to take things a little less seriously.  I am naturally a serious person.  Not that I don’t have a sense of humor, but I am the kind of person who is always responsible and people come to me with their problems.  It was nice to take a break and just relax for a while and to have some fun.  Fun and joy are necessary parts of our lives and when you ignore them for too long, you start to break down in ways you don’t anticipate.  It’s necessary to take care of our mental health, even if it means ignoring other obligations and just taking a walk.

Today I am grateful to be learning from my past choices and to be making progress based on who I want to be. There were a few times today where I could have fallen into old patterns and gotten angry over silly things or lost my patience and screamed and yelled—but I didn’t.  I consciously made the choice to react differently and I did.  I am really proud of that.  It’s important to celebrate those wins because it took me a long time to get there.

Taking Action- Project Updates

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Hi all!  So, I wanted to give a short update on a few things tonight.  I’m really excited about a few things that have happened over the last week and, in the spirit of momentum and pushing forward, I wanted to share where I’m at.

I’ve constructed a few new projects related to my business that I’ve begun working on.  I know this is something that I’m going to have to narrow down and continue to iron out details, but they are things that I’ve wanted to work on for a while.  After heeding some of my own advice, I’m working on aligning and narrowing down the key things that I want to work on over the next few months.  How I did this is actually something else that I will be talking about in an upcoming post because this is some advice I feel can apply to anyone in nearly every situation—at least as a start.

The next thing is that I’ve narrowed down the scope of several of these large projects to help focus on a few key areas in my life: work, personal/health/spiritual, new business, home projects.  Having 4 areas of focus rather than a million projects has lessened the overwhelm and has given me room to prioritize.

The last thing that I wanted to make note of is that I have joined B-School with Marie Forleo!  I make mention of this project because it is a huge action step toward many of my goals.  It’s a large investment, but it’s one of those things where, when you think about it, you really can’t afford to not invest.  The best way to back yourself is to do it—take the leap.

This is work that can help lay the foundation for a variety of goals, personal and professional, and it’s something that I can work on now.  And really, when it comes to action, why not start now?  There was always the thought of, “I can do it next year when things are a little better.”  For the first time, I really thought about it and realized that I can either have the ground work ready and laid out in the next year (and possibly be even further) or I can plug along and continue to wait.  Why put off until tomorrow what can be done today?

So these are some projects that I will continue to update you on over the course of the next few months.  Change doesn’t happen without effort and I am going to put my money where my mouth is.  And, again, heeding my own advice, there isn’t a better time to start.  So here we go!

Step 4–Getting in Line With Yourself

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Now that your direction is clarified, it’s time to start taking action toward the specific goal you have.  We do this by looking at the end result and then asking what it would take to get there.  What do you actually need to do in order to see that result?  This part isn’t about where you’re at—so it doesn’t matter where you start from.  It doesn’t matter what’s in your bank account or where you live, what your current job is, what you wear—none of that matters here.  This is simply taking account of what you need to do to get where you’re going.  What does it look like?  What does it feel like?

If you’re not sure of what to do to achieve your goal, the first part of that is researching what the steps are.  Look into what it takes to own your shop.  What permits and licenses are needed?  Can you do your work on a laptop or do you need a brick and mortar shop?  What is your mission?  What team do you need to build to help you put the pieces together?

Once you have the answer to a question, then break it down to the first step to achieve it.  Before you know it, you will have created the foundation.  Take each step one at a time and repeat: break it down piece by piece until you can check it off.  Before you know it, you are building the infrastructure of your dream.  Then the walls, then the roof, and before you know it, it’s all together.

I know many people will think this is an oversimplification of something that can be incredibly complex and to them I say THAT’S HOW YOU CREATE MOMENTUM!!  One step at a time.  I’m not going to pretend that any of this is easy because it takes effort and concentration and breaking years and years of habits in some cases.  It takes facing fear directly and saying I’m doing it anyway.  That in itself is a huge hurdle, so if you get to the point where you’ve even begun, congratulations!  The truth is that if we don’t break the complex into manageable parts, we won’t start and if we do, most of us won’t finish.  We think we have to eat the whole pie in one bite and it’s easy to get discouraged when we can’t do it.

So the other step entwined in all of this is probably the hardest: take the leap and go after that dream with unwavering confidence that you can do it.  That belief will put you miles ahead of the game.  Don’t listen to the nay-sayers or to the people critical that you didn’t do it the way they would have.  This is your dream, not theirs.  You will probably have to remind yourself an endless amount of times that achieving your dream is doable.  But those moments of doubt have no bearing over the end result so keep going and keep telling yourself how close you are.  Psych yourself up and get excited because the work will change your life.  It’s worth it, and remember, you’re only one decision away from a totally different life (Mark Batterson).

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Step 3- Getting in Line With Yourself

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Tonight’s step is a short one but it’s important.  This is where you start applying what you’ve learned from the first two steps and start seeing something coalesce into reality.

It’s simple: Get clear on where you’re going.  You’ve started working with your patterns and getting comfortable with trust.  You’ve stopped focusing as much at what other people think and you’re looking at what you need based on the things that feel right.  Once you’ve gotten to the point where you know what feels good, you can start asking more questions to really develop clarity about where you’re going.  Once you’ve established some trust in yourself and your abilities, then you can get more comfortable with defining where you’re going.  So, it’s about seeing where you want to go and then working out how to get there.

Start with questions like do any of these things go together?  Are there similar themes with what you enjoy.  Are there similar themes with what works?  Is there an overarching theme that can drive you in a direction?  If there isn’t one theme, are there a couple of key areas that may work well together?  This is about getting creative and finding the things you want to develop in greater detail.

There is another way to look at it: make friends with your curiosity and try to piece it together.  Yes, that may be an oversimplification for many people depending on their situation, however, the basic point remains the same: find what you like and find the thread.  This is about developing that plan even if you didn’t know what it was when you started out.  This is the chance to turn it into something you recognize and are passionate about.  Rumblings turn to revolutions when you listen to what your heart is saying.

Step 2– Getting in Line With Yourself

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Briefly, step one is being with what is and taking stock of your surroundings and then owning your part in that via a connection with the universe.  If you missed the first step, go back and read my “Get in Line With Yourself.”  The essence of this step is to take responsibility for your actions and choices and recognize that your choices are what determined your current position in life.  If you look around you and see things that aren’t where you want to be, chances are your thoughts are along the same path.  Even with a bad hand, the choice about how to deal with it is now yours.

Step two is where we start to dig in and begin the work.  It isn’t enough to admit your role in something if you aren’t going to do something about it.  In fact, the whole reason you’re looking at where you’re at with such detail is because you want something else.  So step two is about the low hanging fruit—clear away what doesn’t serve where you’re going.  I will absolutely recommend taking the easy shots at the hard work—it’s easier to keep yourself moving forward at this stage of the game.  With big transition we need to remind ourselves that we can do it so take each win no matter how small and celebrate it.

To clarify, step two requires you to start small in order to acclimate yourself to growth and change.  If you’re feeling cluttered in your mind space, start cleaning your physical space.  If you don’t feel comfortable hanging out with a certain person anymore or doing a certain activity, then start saying no.  If you feel really happy, then start telling people or keep a gratitude journal.  If you want to start seeing more positivity around you, discuss the positive things that have happened.  Each of these things in their own right are small but they are often mountains to many of us.  Start the climb.

Believe me, you will feel better accomplishing one small task, trying one small feat once than you will sitting there wishing you could do something different.  This is about surprising yourself with that first step.  See yourself succeed and then take the next step.  At this point you may not have a clear goal—that’s ok.  Just keep going with what feels right. This is about building trust in your abilities.  It’s about building trust in receiving messages and signs.  It’s about reconnecting with your intuition and learning to understand it.  It’s also learning to accept ourselves and accepting that we are enough.  So in this whole process, if your fist step is knowing you’re doing too much, then let your second step be saying no when it feels overwhelming—and being ok with it.

That’s all it is—just start small.  Starting with any step is better than not doing anything.  Trust that when something feels off in your life, that is your sign to go in a new direction.  I start small a million times a day and I constantly remind myself that I am still accomplishing something even if I don’t accomplish it all.  When it doesn’t work out or if it doesn’t feel aligned, I ask again and I start again.  You got this. What are you going to start today?

Get in Line With Yourself

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Following up on our discussion about what the universe gives us being a response to our vibration, I wanted to discuss ways to recognize you’re on the right vibration.

I think what’s most important here is understanding that you are already speaking to the universe and the results are all around you.  It’s important to understand how important thoughts really are.  Every thought emits a frequency that connects to you.  For example “I am” or “I believe” are perceived on the level of reality—there is no way to determine what is or isn’t real based on frequency-it just is.  For those who struggle with this concept, it isn’t necessary to believe that you are having a literal conversation with the universe or anything else so out there. It is necessary to understand that your internal world is its own universe.  You live in your head and those thoughts and feelings reflect in the outer world.  They color how you see things and how you react to them which creates your reality.  So make sure you’re conscious of what you’re thinking–you get to decide how you feel and how you react.

If you’re curious about the quality and content of your thoughts, look at your immediate environment as this is the most accurate representation of your inner thoughts.  Taking stock of where you’re at helps you understand the connection between your thoughts and the results you get.  If you see stacks of paper everywhere or other clutter chances are there is a part of you that feels disorganized and unclear with your thoughts as well.  If your house is filled with tons of things that get in your way or you don’t really have room for, chances are you feel restricted and frustrated in your thoughts.

If the goal is to align with our purpose we have to start small and get really honest about where we are and where we are going.  Then we work one step at a time to close the gap.  But take that first step. It will help you visualize and verbalize what you are feeling—and have often internalized.  Clearing your physical space opens up mental space as well.  Removing the clutter can detoxify our homes as well as our minds because we are cleaning up where we live.  Clean up your space, you clean up your mind.  As you clear your mind, the big picture will become more clear and will help guide you where you need to go.  If you don’t know where to start pick up your room.

Sunday Gratitude

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Today I am grateful for a break from the norm.  As proud as I am of doing all the work for my meal prep, I realized that I didn’t have to do as much as I was.  I was able to take a break today and not have to spend hours in the kitchen.  I was also able to get laundry done yesterday so the evening wasn’t spent putting clothes away.

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to be gentle with myself.  There are always a million things we have to do but I wasn’t feeling it today so I put aside 95% of what I normally would do and just let go.  My son hasn’t been feeling well so I tended to him today and we played.  I was able to get the essentials done but I didn’t push for anything else.  I let what was done be enough.

Today I am grateful to reconnect with family.  We hadn’t been able to spend much time with my husband’s father over the last few years and he came over today.  We all sat together and caught up on things.  It was really nice to see how happy my husband was to spend that time with his dad.  It was also really nice to have our son see his grandfather.

Today I am grateful to be making progress.  Quite literally last week I wasn’t sure that I would even have a family and this week has given me the opportunity to reflect on how far I’ve come.  Even though there is constant motion and things are always in flux, I have definitely started to make some progress to where I need to be.  I haven’t shied away from what needs to be done and I am learning to acclimate as I go along.  I mentioned the other way that you can’t go into the kitchen and expect to come out with a cake without breaking a few eggs.  I have to learn to follow my own advice because I was definitely jumping ahead of the game.  My expectations were of a completed product and I lost sight of being happy with what I’ve managed so far.

Today I am grateful for emotional control.  As I mentioned my son isn’t feeling well and it is something he has dealt with since he was born.  He is starting to see some additional symptoms that I’m not sure how to deal with (we are taking him to the doctor this week) and they’re a little scary.  I used to think that I was immune to this because we’ve been dealing with it for 3 years but I still feel so helpless and terrified of what could really be happening to him.  Today I knew that he needed me and that losing my mind would be of no use to him.  So I worked through it and helped him to stay as calm as I could.  I comforted him and held him through every episode—and that was all he needed today.  He just needed love and support and I am happy I was able to give that to him.

Today I am grateful to just be.  I’m really understanding the lessons around taking things as they come.  Any time spent speculating is time wasted because the results are never guaranteed.  I used to romanticize the thought of knowing everything, knowing every move, reading people’s actions and knowing their next move.  All that has done was create an anxious state not spent recognizing my own needs or even my role in situations.  I’ve spent so much energy anticipating things—usually to the negative end—when that energy could have been better spent just being in the moment.  There is nothing other than what is here right now.  Don’t waste energy on something that isn’t even real.

Today I am grateful for the essence of who I am.  I’ve been incredibly judgy about myself and I’ve set expectations that aren’t realistic.  It’s all bullshit.  I don’t need to be this perfected version of a person with no flaws in order to be worthy or to get where I want to be and I certainly don’t need to be that version of a person to get started.  It’s ok to be at peace with who I am and it’s ok to be proud of the things I have accomplished.  I am human and I am making progress—that’s all we can ask.  For so long I had been focused on the finish line not thinking that the finish line means it’s over.  It’s ok to be ok with ourselves.  In fact, accepting who we are and where we are is the only way to make changes and move forward.

What Are You Asking For?

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I read a quote the other day that said, “The universe doesn’t disagree with you, so what exactly are you asking for?”  I love this idea almost as much as I hate it–but the accountability implied in it is so empowering.  For example, I had a moment of self pity the other day when I hit a series of red lights– absolutely ridiculous and childish, I know.  But here is where it got my wheels turning.  During the course of that morning, I will admit that I had been feeling particularly negative, so by the time I left in really crappy weather, I was not any better.  Regardless, as I was driving, I distinctly remember thinking, “I bet today I’m even going to hit that light” meaning that I would be stopped at a light I normally get the green for.  Sure as hell, as soon as I approach that light it’s red.  And then the light after.  And after. And after.  By then it felt like a cosmic joke because that series runs through downtown and they are normally all a go at the time I leave—so I really got chaffed at that point.  I screamed, “Why is it so easy to manifest all the bad shit?  Why does the bad shit have no issue coming through?!”  Ah ha.  Why indeed?

This is all on me.  I quite literally called those lights into existence (in addition to the universe probably telling me to slow down) and then I got angry about it.  Truthfully I was angry that the good things I want haven’t come through nearly that easily.  And it hit me that it was about mindset.  How much do I really believe that the good things can happen—and do I really believe that they can happen that easily?  And I thought to myself, no I really don’t think the good comes that easily.  But why?  I have seen many people in my family working very hard toward what they want in life and they have been successful.  I know it’s possible.  But the key to that is how hard they worked—and it stands to reason that the manifestation of ones dreams takes infinitely more work that something negative.

Now, I want to be clear that I understand the value and importance of work but I have seen people work themselves to the brink of insanity and still barely get by.  Whether it was their own business or for someone else, there was always a piece of them that appeared to never shut off.  Is it a societal thing?  That we value the appearance of being busy all the time over productivity?  Perhaps.  What is the point of working that hard for so little return?  I personally find it better to work smarter and not harder but those returns are also risky.  When it comes time to put in the work, I think, in my case, I still have engrained fears about what people will think and that it’s necessary for things to be just right before I present them.  But that energy says to the universe that I am not ready to receive the full scope of my dreams until things are also just right.

Learning to let go and to take in what IS allows us to be clear and to adjust as needed.  It is incredibly rare that someone hits a homerun the first time out so I think it’s safe to let go of the notion that things need to be all figured out or all perfect before you are “allowed” to take a shot.  There are inherent risks no matter what stage you jump in, but if you never take the shot then your result will always be the same: nothing.  It is in the open state of learning that we learn to not be attached to the result of our effort and to view it as something we are learning.  Being in a state of learning keeps us open to receiving—and that is when the universe goes into overdrive.

Learn what you can, all you can, whenever you can and apply it in a way unique to you.  That is where the magic is.  That is where the divine flow is.  It is a state of being—neither perfect or imperfect but it just is.  Focus on those moments and you will get much further one step at a time rather than trying to make a perfect whole from the get go.  You don’t go into the kitchen and come out with a cake without breaking the eggs first.  So do the work.  Take the steps.  And manifest wisely—no pressure, just let it happen.  And even if it doesn’t look how you thought it should, trust that it’s what is meant to be.  On those days you’re not seeing the results you’re hoping for, ask what you’re asking for and how you’re doing it.  Readjust and see what happens.  Right thought, right action, release the rest.

Unexpected Changes

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The only kind of love that will fix you is self-love.  It’s been a whirlwind over the last few days but I’m grateful for that storm because it made me really start analyzing things in my life a little deeper.  For as much progress as I’ve made, I was given a hard lesson in how much more I have to learn.  I’ve taken a few days off of posting to absorb this information and decide how things were going to move forward.

The bottom line is that change is delicate work and it is hard work and sometimes when change is in process, your relationships go through something.  The other person often has to learn a new behavior or the dynamic shifts in other ways.  Over the last few months, the changes I’ve been going through have yielded positive results overall, but my relationships have been challenged in new ways.  The people closest to me are seeing new sides of me and seeing me face fears and progress in my life and it’s uncomfortable for some of them.  I believe I have reached another level so to speak, a level where I have to reacclimate and learn again so I can get to the next level.  People around me are learning that they need to adapt as well—and some it would seem may not be willing to come along for the ride.

As I’ve been learning to ease through this transition I am contemplating my relationship with myself as well.  That relationship means more to me than few others.  I spent so many years worried about others and what they thought of me, of ways to make others happy, and how I could make others like me.  Years of this didn’t serve me.  They left me stressed out and often holding the remnants of other people’s dreams while they moved on to other things.  It took me over 35 years to figure out that I didn’t want to continue down that path.  That I was tired of trying to get results out of people.  That my time here was a gift and I was worthy of making it what I wanted—not just what others wanted.

I’ve been open discussing my relationship with my husband here before, and I have not hidden that we have had our share of issues.  Earlier this week, my husband informed me that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be with me anymore.  I was taken aback at first and really sad (and I still am) but I thought and thought about it.  This is a man that I have been with for 19 years, we have shared countless memories together (good and bad), we have a beautiful son together, a home.  And while thinking about these things, it hit me like a flash that if all of these things that I have fought to provide are not enough then there is nothing else I can do.  More accurately, if those are the things that HE no longer wants, then I can’t force him to want to live that life.  There are just some things in this world that time changes and our interests and goals are one of them.  When paths no longer align, it causes more damage to fight to stay than it does to walk away.

Most importantly, as people change so do we, so it’s important to not get so tied up in pouring energy into someone else because that person needs to harness that energy themselves.  Our relationship to ourselves is the most important one we can have because we live with ourselves for our entire lives.  I understood how important it was to make our own lives enriching and joyful independent of being with someone else.  I also understood that steering someone toward your personal goal is not the same as working on it together.  You have to make allowances for what the other person wants as well.  And that is ok—we are all allowed to have goals and visions of what we want.  I spent 19 years working toward what we had agreed upon as a goal as a couple as well as things I wanted for us.  And I thought that was safe—I thought that was what we wanted.  Clearly something has changed along the way.  Maybe it was me wanting more for us and pushing as hard as I did.  Maybe it was a man realizing that he thought he wanted these things as a child and now he no longer does.  Maybe it’s time to learn who we are independent of each other.  Well, that has to happen anyway, but still.

The last few days have made me face some demons because I know I am not innocent in all of this–I won’t put all of this on my husband.  With the exception I feel this came at a time I never anticipated and it could have been broached better—but this is something we did together.  For as much as we started it, we are responsible for its falling apart.  We are also responsible for what happens next.  He hasn’t told me that we are definitively over, he needs time and I will respect that.  I will be taking this time to reconcile with myself.  I will improve my relationship with myself and we will see what happens next.

I believe in sharing vulnerability with honesty and humility.  I believe that people can learn from each other’s mistakes and this is part of one of mine.  I hope that I am able to learn enough about myself in this process that no matter what the final outcome I will be ok—and I hope the same for him.  I know this isn’t the end of my world—it’s not technically the end of anything yet—but I also know that this has to be the end of some habits I’ve had for years, habits that have held me back in a lot of ways, not just in relationships.  This has to be the end of waffling between things I used to do and things I want to do.  The end of childish habits and engrained trauma responses.  I know I need to be better and this is the motivation to drop any guards and jump all in.  No more half-lived pushing, but organized progress and purposeful steps.  That is where the opportunity lies—and who knows what comes next.  I welcome this new phase because no matter what comes of my relationship, this is a chance to connect with myself again.  And regardless of circumstance, we all need that every now and then.

Sunday Gratitude

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I’m struggling to be grateful today.  Honestly, I’m overwhelmed and frustrated and I feel alone.  This week was not easy and I had sincerely hoped for some time to recover this weekend but that hasn’t happened.  I know that it is extremely important to focus on gratitude right now because that is the only thing that can turn my situation around at this point.  So I will try.

I am grateful for my health.  In spite of feeling like I’ve been hit by a truck due to lack of sleep, I am still healthy overall.  I am able to move, I am able to breathe, I can see, I can feel.  I still have the opportunity to improve, but I am still in good health and I don’t take that for granted.

I am grateful for the energy I do have.  While I feel less than myself as of late, I am working on applying my energy more efficiently and toward the things that really matter.  I appreciate the energy I have because that means there is something to direct it towards and a purpose for it.  I can choose what to do with it—and for all of us, choice is everything.

I am grateful for my family.  We are facing our share of challenges at the moment and knowing how to move forward is definitely uncertain.  But my family is here and we have the opportunity to fix the situation.  I chose to commit to them a long time ago and that hasn’t been without its bruises, but I believe that people need time and the opportunity to act to their potential.  No one is perfect and I have to learn to deal with the imperfections in myself as well as in the people I love.

I am grateful to have the means to care for my family and my animals.  The work I do is all to provide a good life for all of them.  The life we all deserve.  I am grateful for the comfort of having our needs met with a little extra.

I am grateful to have found purpose.  I am working diligently toward my goals every day.  Some days the steps are smaller than others, but I do something every day.  Having direction beyond the eat-sleep-pay bills routine is refreshing and comforting.  It’s also exciting because there is so much potential in the work I am doing and I am so grateful for the opportunity to share it.

I am grateful to be working toward the break that I need.  The last few weeks, really since the middle of January, I have felt like I was running on fumes.  I know I am in real need of some time to reconnect with my soul.  Not just time away, but time to reconnect with myself again.  I will be taking some time in a few weeks but I have the opportunity to take more as I need it.

I am grateful to understand the choices I need to make regarding my personal and professional relationships.  Both arenas involve letting go of what people think of me and sticking with the decisions that are right for my path.  They involve not letting other people’s opinions impede what needs to be done.  They involve working toward the change that I advocate for and believe in without being concerned someone won’t like me.

I am grateful to be building my resilience even further.  In the process of aligning with creativity, there are many bumps, ups, downs, feelings of failure, feelings of uncertainty.  It’s all part of the process as you learn what really matters.  All of those things that direct you where you need to be are not a straight line and you have to practice going with it to learn the lesson.  I am working on that every step I take and learning to bounce back faster.

I am grateful to have kept my priorities straight today.  I meal prepped, I took care of the sick animal to the best of my ability, I took care of my child, did laundry, and all the other things that needed to be done.  But I also didn’t let myself wallow in the crap that was this week. I easily could have forgone being grateful in favor of wallowing—but I didn’t.  I know this is the example I want to give to my son.  I want him to be able to say that no matter how tough things are, there is still a lot more to be grateful for—and to believe it and practice it.

I am grateful that as I type this it is early enough in the day that I can still turn the afternoon around and prepare for a better week.  I will continue to work on the things I can and to focus on what is in front of me.  I will let go of speculation and anticipating the worst.  I will keep the best in mind and continue to move forward.  The storm doesn’t last forever.