28: Thankful

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

My friend Stephany posted three sets of prompts for a series of gratitude posts and I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon, because it’s Thanksgiving and a good time to reflect on gratitude. I picked 10 of the 30 original prompts to share with you guys today.

1) I’m most thankful for my ability to empathize. A lot of people have told me that they feel comfortable talking to me about various things, because they know I’ll take them seriously but also offer honest advice. 

2) In this moment, the thing I love most about my family is how close we are. I am very close with my parents and with my sister and her family and on days like today, I miss them extra-hard, but I also really value having such a good relationship with them, because I know that others are not so lucky and I can’t take this for granted.

3) Something that made me smile today was seeing all the people come out for the local turkey trot. The Sacramento Run to Feed the Hungry Run is the largest turkey trot in the country. I decided last minute to run today (honestly, we were just hit with the first winter storm here in California and it looked like it was going to be gnarly outside. Thankfully, the storm mostly moved through yesterday and while it was cold this morning, it was dry when the run started.)  and I am so glad I did. First of all, the run goes right through my neighborhood, so there was really NO excuse not to run. It’s also for a good cause and what better day to give to others than on Thanksgiving! 

4) One of the memories I’m most grateful for is Christmas Eves with my family. The holidays have always been a special time for our family where everybody makes sure to gather and spend time together. I miss that. I haven’t been home for Christmas in a few years, but every year that I can’t be physically there, I reminisce about all the good times we have had in the past.

5) Even after a rough day, the things I’m most grateful for at work are a group of great coworkers, a four-day work schedule, flexible hours and some really fun projects. I know, I’ve been complaining a bit lately about my work situation and low workload, but at the end of the day, I have been at this place for almost 15 years, because I love the work that we do.

6) In this moment, the things I love most about my friends are their support, kindness, and loyalty. You know what they say: there are friends for a reason, friends for a season, and friends for a lifetime. I have quite a few friendships that go back decades at this point and these friends have passed the test of time and will, no doubt, be around for a lifetime. Even if I don’t see these friends very often, I always know they’re just a phone call away and we can always pick up where we left off.

7) I love going online to connect with others. Most of my family and friends are not local, so the ability to talk to them through the smartphone in my hand is one of the greatest gifts! I remember when I first moved to the US in 2001. I didn’t have a cell phone or a laptop and had to go on campus to check my email and schedule phone calls at the local pay phone around the corner to talk to family and friends. We’ve come a long way since then and I don’t know if I would be able to live so far away from everyone, if we didn’t have the technology that we take for granted now. 

8) When I look around my home, I’m grateful that I feel safe and that I love coming home to this space. I still sometimes lament the fact that I miss the kitchen from our house, but overall, we’re really happy in our new place (we’ve lived here for a year now) and in our new neighborhood. 

9) When I look around the world, I’m grateful for the people who try to make a difference. It’s not always easy to know what to do to help in certain situations and I often feel small in my efforts, but I also believe that if everybody does one little thing, we can move mountains together.

10) I’m grateful that I’m learning to let things go. I tend to hang on to things and people and it’s hard for me to accept that sometimes things come to an end. I am getting much better, however, to work through these feelings and get closure in order to move on.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I hope you have lots of things to be thankful for today.