Thankful 3

I'm not gonna lie.  I've had a miserable couple of days.  Full of ridiculous drama, the realization and disappointment stemming from the fact that I couldn't count on someone I thought I could, very little sleep, multiple overtime shifts, rain that doesn't seem to stop, work stress, moodiness, etc.  Being my normal self was a chore, and being nice to people required an unusual amount of effort.  Nothing went right, nothing was right.

I sat last night for 30 minutes and couldn't think of a single thing that day I was thankful for. Nothing.  I couldn't even make something up, like pizza.

Like I said, miserable.

To be honest...today?  Overall, not much better.  But coming home from the gym tonight I started tabulating a specific list of all the extra things in my life I could be thankful for in the past several days, no matter how small...

An old man told me I looked beautiful with my hair down.

I made plans for next weekend.

I made a new friend at the gym.

I realized someone I know wasn't as ridiculous as I once thought and could actually be a pretty cool person.

I made myself a decent-tasting dinner last night using the bare remnants of stuff found in my refrigerator: kohlrabi, brussel sprouts, cabbage, and left over chicken.  Not something Alicia-365 days ago could have done.

I was offered a pretty cool extra-duty today at work, and if it all goes as planned I will be teaching everyone in my district (about a hundred workers in 7 counties) how to use a new computer system.  I really do love what I do, but I wish I could expand and do more every once in awhile.  I miss teaching special ed kids.  Teaching these guys won't be a far cry from that.  Don't tell anyone I said that.

One of the directors at the YMCA asked if I would be interested in getting certified in Pilates and teaching it at the Y.  She said I'd be good at it.  No, that's not really something I'd be into right now, but I'm keeping it in mind.  Plus, to be completely honest, it was a huge ego boost.

I got to catch up with one of my friends I haven't talked to for awhile.  She always makes me laugh.

The realization that no matter what time of the day, for example, this morning just after midnight, I have a friend who is awake and is willing to chat with me while I sit and drink coffee and try to wake up.  No matter how silly and inane the conversation is.

I just randomly got a text to go meet new-gym-friend and some people out and about.  Too bad I'm in PJs and basically ready for bed.

I ordered a shirt 2 days ago from sevenly.org - check them out if you're interested.  They support a different charity every 7 days.  The shirt I bought supported handsforafrica.org

And right now, most specifically, I am glad I have a bed I can curl up in (momentarily!), to sleep away and start repairing my attitude from the last couple of days.

Something a coworker made for me one day.

The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.
~ Helen Keller