I saw this quote the other day, and it made me stop and think for a minute.
Pretty wise words. I feel like I lived them while Stephen was deployed. Every couple I saw fighting, every person I heard complaining about their spouse, I thought about how much I’d give to have Stephen home. But now that we are together, it’s easy to become complacent. And I could always use more gratitude in my life. So here are a few things that I take for granted. Today I’m going to take a few minutes to be grateful instead.
Grocery shopping. My least favorite chore. Meal planning is such a pain and I don’t love the commissary. (The aisles are so narrow! There are kids everywhere! The lines always move really slowly.) On the flip side, I’m fortunate that I have a multitude of foods at my fingers tips. I can afford a full cart every week. In less than an hour, my kitchen is fully stocked and overflowing with almost anything I want to eat.
Boredom. With no job, few responsibilities, and fewer friends, most of my days are spent with some serious couch time. I have too much time on my hands and not enough to do or enough motivation to do anything worthwhile. Being bored isn’t the end of the world. And I know we are lucky that I don’t have to work since the job situation here is so bleak. (And I spent a lot of time last school year debating quitting my job. Now I’m job-free!) Plus, it’s temporary. Soon my free time will be filled with moving prep and eventually (hopefully!) a new job.
Being sore, chaffed, blistered. All the running and exercising I’ve been doing has left me worse for wear in some areas. (Seriously not loving the bra chafe. Owie.) But these little hurts are really just because I’m healthy. I can run every day I want to, as far as I want to. My lungs can breathe, my heart can beat, and my eyes can see. A little blister ain’t gonna slow me down.
I could go on and on with my list, but these three things pretty much sum up my life right now. And all week long I plan to take a little extra time to remember how lucky I am to have them.*
Sometimes it’s hard to remember what we have to be grateful for. My husband and I find ourselves often overwhelmed with the negatives. It’s good to remember exactly how much we have to be thankful for. Thanks for reminding me.
It’s so easy to be feeling down and out when you have a lot of cause to feel down and out! Taking a few minutes might just be a tiny step to feeling a little bit better.*
Beautiful post. Nothing like seeing someone else’s struggles to make us grateful for what we have.
OMG, bra chafe is the worst! I had it after my half in Dec and I’ve still got a mark that won’t go away! LOL Happy weekend
At least it isn’t only me! Chafe blows!*
Super, super true. I think that all the time about work when it gets rough- after going through 3 years of RIFs and potential layoffs the threat of not having a job was very real there for awhile. So, now, those whiny high schoolers are total job security. And I have to admit, I love, love, love grocery shopping, haha. I sit down with my notepad and Pinterest every Sunday morning and plan away.
RIFs – ack! We had our fair share of staff meetings where the principal tells us how many people will be losing their jobs or relocated. Leaving those meetings is just the worst feeling. I’m so glad you’ve not gotten the axe (no surprise – you sound like a great teacher!). Nothing like job security!*
I love to go grocery shopping, and as silly as it might sound, I have truely missed it, but when. Ben gets better and out of the hospital, I will get to do it again.
That doesn’t sound silly at all. You also enjoy cooking, so it’s no surprise that you enjoy shopping for the food. (Speaking of – I heard there’s a Sprouts in El Paso!) And when we were visiting in November, we were both dying for grocery store food – real food! Hopefully you’ll be back to the grocery store in no time!*
This is a great post. I know some bloggers who have a gratitude journal where they try to list things out that they are grateful for – and it can be the littlest things, like “There was no line at the grocery store today” or “I had a really great lunch today.” I need to start doing this, too!
Cool idea. I had considered it before, but I hadn’t thought about being so specific and I figured every day I’d write the same thing. “I’m thankful for my health. I’m thankful for my dog.” Now that I hear your example, I really want to do it!*
Thanks for the reminder of what we have to be grateful for. It is easy to get wrapped up in our own world and forget others less fortunate. I have 5 or 6 friends who for various reasons can’t run. They would do almost anything for this simple gift I take for granted. It is good to remember occasionally how fortunate we are.
Every night at dinner we go around the table and list what we are grateful for, in an attempt to teach my 5 year old. And he usually does one for himself and one for his sister (who is too young to be grateful, or at least outwardly). This has really helped me remember to be grateful for the simple things: the ability to buy groceries (when I am crabby from grocery shopping all day), a job (which I complain about endlessly), a warm house (which is always cluttered with random toys, a lost sock, or a dirty dish). Though I can always find fault, it has helped our whole family remember just how lucky we are.