For everyone in the US, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week. My parents were helping my sister move so I decided to stay in Michigan and just enjoy a day off. I went to yoga with the boy and one of his cousin’s, and then after we grabbed some coffee together, I drove home for a relaxing afternoon.
I was invited to a few different gatherings which was so sweet and appreciated, but the more I thought about it, the more I just wanted a day off. Life has been super busy and this next month will be no different so the idea of taking some time to just relax, catch up, clean, and go to bed early, sounded too good to pass up. Thankfully, everyone seemed to understand and overall, it was a really nice day.
With life being so busy, it should come as no surprise that it’s also been a bit stressful at times. In fact, I completely missed my chiropractor appointment on Wednesday as my mind was in a million different places and it wasn’t until I got a phone call after the appointment passed that I realized my error. Thankfully, they were understanding and I rescheduled for next week.
All of this to say that I wanted to take a few minutes to talk gratitude. While November is a great month to reflect on all of the things we have to be thankful for in our lives, I prefer to take a few minutes every night to reflect on what I’m grateful for that day. It helps me bring the bad days back to a more positive note and really relish in the good days.
But since this is the month of gratitude, I wanted to share a few things in my life I am supremely grateful for right now:
Yoga/Yoga Teacher Training
The practice of yoga has made a major impact on my life since I started playing around with classes online about 8-10 years ago. It’s been an off-and-on practice, but every time I step away, it’s like that long lost friend where we can pick up like no time has passed.
Teacher training is no joke and it’s definitely putting a lot of added stress on my time, mind, and body, but I swear to you it just feels so right to me. I don’t know where it will lead, but I’m open to the options.
Friends and Family
Of course this is an obvious one, but I’m still not going to skip it. I have so many wonderful people in my life that I am so grateful for. Whether they are near or far, whether we talk regularly or not nearly enough, their love, support, and friendship mean more to me than I can ever explain.
My apartment
I have been doing a lot of driving lately. More than normal. In fact, I’m driving the (at least) 45 minutes to Grand Rapids 6 or 7 days a week between my normal yoga practice, teacher training, and visiting the boy. It’s always worth the drive, but sometimes it gets old and I can’t help but wish I wasn’t so far away. But regardless of that, this is one of the nicest places I’ve lived, I really like the neighborhood being so close to hiking trails and the beach, and what’s better than an in-unit washer and dryer (am I right?! #adulting). This place is safe, warm, and honestly the perfect size for me. For this (and more), I am so grateful.
I’m sure you could imagine that I could keep going. Obviously this isn’t an exhaustive list by any means. There are so many little things, big things, and specific things I could name but we’d be here all day and I know we all have other things to do with our time so I’ll leave it at that.
It feels good to me, to not only recognize the challenge in some situations and being able to flip it around to focus on the gratitude. Besides, the more good we see and feel, the more good we will bring into our lives.
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What are you grateful for today?
