I've Moved

I will no longer be publishing posts here.  Check me out at my new website, www.thankyoudaily.com.  I hope you'll join me over there.

Disclaimer

Gratitude is different for everyone.  "I am thankful for lemonade", "I am grateful for lemonade", "I am happy to have some lemonade", "My life would be missing something if there were no lemonade"; it's all the same to me.

I am aware that not everyone believes in God and unlike some, I have no problem with that.  I do not intend for this blog to be about God or any other deity.  This blog is about being thankful, period.  Being thankful for the big things like life and family and being thankful for the little things like lemonade and air conditioning.  I don't really care who you are thankful to.  It's not my business.  And I'm not here to make you believe the same thing that I do.  I know who I am thankful to and how being thankful is making my life better. I'm not always happy and I will never pretend to be, but looking for things to be thankful for makes the rough times a lot shorter than they used to be.

My sincere hope is that by reading this blog, you will begin to be more actively thankful in your life.

One Man's Testimony

I woke up this morning feeling pretty tired, but nothing was hurting so I counted it all joy.  In that moment, I decided that today is going to be a good day, even though what I really wanted to do was to go back to sleep.

As I walked Tildy, I was looking for something beautiful to snap a picture of so that I would have something to share on Instagram.  It's funny how since I started being really active with this notion of thankfulness, I now look for little things to give thanks for and to share with others.  It's kinda cool.  Anyway, my neighbor's sunflowers were particularly pretty this morning, but Matilda was off to the races, so I didn't get a chance to snap a picture.

On our way back to the house, a familiar green truck flagged me down.  It belongs to one of my neighbors up the street, but I had never met him.  He pulled over, rolled down the window, and his yellow Lab/Retriever mix tried to say hello before the man could utter a word.  Matilda went crazy.  I had to pick her up to keep her quiet and calm.

The man's name was Roberto.  He was wearing a sunshine yellow humane society shirt and a smile as broad as his nutmeg colored face.  He told me that he sees me walking my dog all of the time and he had some questions.  The dog in the car is the first dog he's ever had and he had questions about the cost of shots and how often he should put out food.  The mixture of his smile and sincere excitement was contagious.  He told me that his life was a mess and then God sent this dog just for him and now he doesn't feel so alone.  He was definitive in his belief in God and told me that he believes the Father and the Son have conversations with each other.  He said that his belief came later in life but that it has had a strong impact on him.  He told me how he was reading the scripture and how he now believes that we were made in His image.  He struggled for his next words because his English wasn't the best, but he managed to connect his prior statement about image to his next thought; "If I show hate towards someone, I look like a demon and that scares me.  So I try to show love so I look like Him."

Right before he left, he told me I should drop by sometime for coffee.  He told me bye with another bright smile and waved as he drove away.

My encounter with Roberto made me so happy I could have skipped the rest of the way home.  I am so thankful that I met him.  He filled my morning with sunshine and happiness and he made it a morning that I won't soon forget.

Furry Smiling Face

Who wouldn't be thankful for this furry smiling face?  She stayed by my side all weekend and made me feel less isolated.  I love her so much.

Happiness

I just got a call from one of my oldest and dearest friends.  I'll call him Sam.  Even though he attended a funeral today, he said he had a really good day.  He sounded genuinely happy.  I haven't heard that from him in quite awhile.  His happiness made me happy.  I'm so thankful that he found happiness today.

It's over.

It's been a long and tiring day at work. Today, all I have the energy to say is I'm thankful that this day is over.  I'm heading to bed and it's not even 7:00.

My iPod

I love music.  If you want to give me a message and have me remember it forever, set it to music and make sure it has catchy tune or a funky beat.  "Schoolhouse Rock" was made for kids just like me.  Had it not been for those little tunes, I probably wouldn't be able to recite the preamble of the Constitution or tell you what year women earned the right to vote.

Music is intoxicating to me.  There is nothing else in the world that I've ever experienced (or wish to experience) that makes me believe that I could sing with Prince or dance with Janet.  If you ever pull up next to me at a stop light, you'll see what I mean.

For more than a year, I have been without a laptop which meant that I couldn't listen to any of my cds because I don't have a cd player in the house.  It also meant that I couldn't update my iPod.  It also meant that I really couldn't buy any new music because I wouldn't be able to listen to it.  Well, this weekend changed all that.  I now have a working laptop and I have bee jammin' ever since.  I've listen to music that I've owned for a long time, but had never played. 

I am still amazed at the technology involved in the iPod.  It is an awesome thing to be able to have all of the music that you own in one place.  Maybe in the next couple of years, I'll decide to upgrade to one that has Bluetooth, but for now, I am very happy with the one I have.  It's not even half full yet.

Today, music got me through the day.  I am thankful for a working laptop, my iPod, and the music.

"Look it up!"

I came across this quotation today and I immediately thought of my mother.

My mother is a teacher by nature.  She taught English for many years, but even after she left the classroom, there has been an element of education in everything she's accomplished.  I think it's in her DNA.  She once told me a story about one of her relatives that taught with Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.  I think I come from a long line of educators.

When I was a kid, my mother taught a class on life skills to young adults with learning disabilities.  She would take me to class with her and I would learn right along with them.  Mom is not one to pacify; she expects the same out of everyone, regardless of their ability, and that is to perform at your highest potential, whatever that may be.  I have many memories of her forcing me to reach that potential.  Most of them involve me asking her a question only to hear "Look it up!" as her response. 

My favorite memory of mom using her teacher skills on me was in elementary school.  I can't remember if I was in the third or fifth grade.  We were assigned to write a book.  We had to tell a story in chapter form and after we finished, the teacher taught us how to bind the book.  (It was a pretty cool assignment, in retrospect.)  I decided to write about a cat and that's about all I had as an idea.  Well, that wasn't good enough for my mom. 

"Tell me about the cat.  What does it look like?"

"It looks like a cat."

"Ok, but what does this cat look like?  What color is it?  What size is it?"

After she pulled a thorough description of  the cat out of me (I decided it was a pink cat that had a peculiar mark on it), then I had to decide what happened to the cat.  And each step of the way, I had to be thorough in my description.  I remember once responding to her with, "I don't know" and she fired back with "Why don't you know?  This is your story.  You do know.  Now tell me."

Eventually, I churned out a pretty good story that I am still proud of 30 years later.  Had my mom told me how to spell every word and spoon-fed me the details of the story, I'm sure I would've forgotten about this experience a long time ago.  She knew I had the potential to figure it out and she made me do it at every turn.  For that, I am thankful.

"On with the show! This is it!"

 

I can't imagine growing up without "The Bugs Bunny and Road Runner Show" on Saturday mornings.  When I was a kid, it came on at 11:00 and lasted for an hour.

The Warner Brothers cartoons, and in particular Chuck Jones' contribution to that body of work, has seen me through difficult times as an adult.  I love these cartoons and am thankful for their irreverent sense of humor.  Saturday morning wouldn't be the same without them.

 

Enjoy!

 

 



Stern Encouragement

When I hit 900 likes on my Facebook page yesterday, I sent an excited text message to my friend, whom I will call Jerry, that simply said, "900 likes!!!".  He responded with, "Lol.  Keep going."

Jerry is always good for stern encouragement which is exactly what I needed.  I have a tendency to get really excited about a project and then fizzle out when things don't move at the pace I expected.

I'm really thankful for Jerry's special brand of encouragement.  I think it will be invaluable in the weeks and months to come.

I sent him a text this morning when I saw this.

He was a little more excited, but still kept his cool.  We'll see what happens when we hit 2,000.  :)



Work Neighbors

I was sitting in my office, closing out some files and listening to the rain beat loudly against my window when our office administrator yelled my name as if her hair was on fire.  I ran to the front office thinking that she was in dire need of help.  It turned out that one of the guys who works next door came over to tell me that I had a screw in my left rear tire and he could hear the air sputtering out of it.

I'm so thankful that he took the time to tell me about it.  Had he not, I might have been stuck in the pouring rain, on the side of the road, with a flat tire, and no idea how to change it.  (Note to self: Learn how to change a tire!)  Because he took the time to tell me, I am now sitting at the tire shop, watching television while waiting to see if they can patch the tire or if I'll have to buy a new one.  Y'all know what I'm hoping for, right?

Post Script: They were able to patch the tire and send me on my way.  Whew!

Fake It 'Til You Make It

When I woke up this morning, I was not in a good mood.  I had to fight to get to sleep last night and I didn't feel rested when I woke up.  I hurt all over and had to convince myself that staying home from work today wasn't a feasible option.

I wasn't in a positive place and I most certainly didn't feel thankful for anything.  Just as I was rolling out of bed, the phrase "fake it 'til you make it" starting ringing in my head.  I listened to that voice and started coming up with reasons to be thankful even though I didn't really feel it.  "Well, at least I can feel the pain in my legs.  Well, at least I have teeth the brush.  Well, at least I have shoes to put on my swollen feet."

I can't say that I'm in a more positive place, but positivity and happy don't equate to thankful and anyone that tells you that it does has probably drank some sort of Kool-Aid concoction that I would advise against you trying.  What this exercise has done for me is stopped me from dwelling in the negative for today.  Yeah, I don't feel good.  Yeah, I don't want to be at work.  But there is still something to be thankful for and I'm going to try and hold on to that truth to get me through this day.

I hope that if your day hasn't started off very well, that you'll be able to fake it 'til you make it to get through this day.

Jack

This is my nephew, "Jack".  He 14 months old and smart as a whip.  My sister has been a little worried about him because he would not walk without holding onto something.  Today, her worry ended and we are all very thankful.

Running Water and The Fix-It Friend

Last night, I turned on the shower and just as the water started feeling good, the water stopped flowing.  The water would come out of the faucet, but not through the showerhead.  Instead of getting upset and stressed out the way I normally would have, I said a quick thank you for running hot water and I filled the tub and took a bath instead of a shower.

A little later, I texted a friend and asked him to come over with a wrench.  He showed up, but without a wrench.  He was already out and about when I texted him and didn't go home before he stopped by.  I explained to him what the problem was and what I knew the solution to be. 

He said, "You don't have any kind of tools for this?".

"Yeah, I've got tools, but I don't think I have what I need for this job."

I retrieved the set of pliers I had, gave them to him, and watched him as he did exactly what I knew needed to be done.  He fixed my shower for me but what I learned in the process was that I had everything I needed to do the job myself.

I'm thankful that my friend came to my aid, but I'm even more thankful that I was reminded that I already have the tools I need to take care of myself.

Perspective

This morning, I woke up feeling pretty awful.  Just about all of the joints in my hands and feet were swollen and my back felt like it hand no bend in it at all.  I was exhausted but had slept through the night.  I wasn't sure that I was going to make it into work today.

Then my best friend sent me a message asking for the contact info of my rhuematologist.  A friend of hers has a friend who is also fighting lupus and by the description of things, her battle is much tougher than mine.  Her organs have become involved in her disease and it sounds pretty serious.

At that moment in time, I said a quick "thank you", and rolled over for a little more sleep before I started my day.

Free Breakfast

I was in a good mood this morning and was particularly hungry, so I decided to stop for breakfast at Chick-fil-a.  By the time I pulled up to the drive thru, they were out of chicken and I had to wait a whopping three and a half minutes for a fresh chicken biscuit.  I didn't mind, but in this fast paced world that we live in, Chick-fil-a felt the need to do something to compensate me for my wait and gave me a coupon for a free chicken biscuit to use on my next visit.  Woohoo!!!  Boy, am I thankful for that!

Wonderful Weekend

I've been away from both the blog and the Facebook page for a few days because I've been out of town and had very spotty service.  So much happened during my visit home that I am thankful for, it could take up a few posts.  So as not to bore you, I'll be succinct and condense it all into one post.

Wednesday, July 30th - I drove home to Virginia on this day.  There is so much beauty between the Bay and the mountains.  While I hate the long drive, I enjoy taking in the scenery.  I also enjoy being in the car with my favorite tunes.  This trip was all about James Brown.  I am so thankful that I made it to Virginia safely.

Thursday, July 31st - I had lunch with Grandma on this day.  She wanted a chicken sandwich, so I brought her some Chick-fil-a and we sat and talked.  I got completely caught up on all the family happenings and what has been happening in Grandma's neighborhood.  We talked about life and we talked about God.  It was a great conversation.  I love my grandma and I'm very thankful for her.

Friday, August 1st - I had breakfast and another good conversation with grandma.  Lunch was with my best friend from high school.  We don't talk very often, but when we do, we're able to pick right back up without missing a beat.  It's funny how two people that have so much in common found each other so early in life.  I'm thankful for her.

Later in the day, I fulfilled the purpose of my trip home.  I took my Dad and Stepmom to see the new James Brown movie, "Get On Up".  The movie was absolutely phenomenal and it surpassed our expectations.  After the movie, we went to dinner and continued to talk about the movie.  We had such a good time.  The dinner conversation turned to family and I heard a lot about my family that I'd never heard before. This was one of those occasions that I'm sure we will be talking about for years to come.  I'm thankful that I decided to make seeing the movie with Dad a priority and I'm thankful that we were able to experience it together.

Saturday, August 2nd - I traveled back to Maryland without incident and for that I am thankful.

Sunday, August 3rd - Matilda let me sleep until 8:15.  Very thankful for that.  I spent the rest of the day sleeping, thinking, resting, researching, and writing.  It felt good to be a bit productive today.

This was such a great little getaway.  I'm hopeful that it will sustain me for quite awhile.

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