On Being Thankful...

Being Catholic, for Lent, I choose to do something every year. A lot of Catholics give something up, like Al is giving up pop and ice cream this year. I used to think that this was the easy way out until I tried to give up Coke the year I was pregnant with Carter...Needless to say, I don't give things up very easily. Instead, having talked with Father Brunkan a lot when I became Catholic, I choose to do something to hopefully make me a better person. Last year, I completed the Couch to 5K running program and ran a 4 mile race. Other years, I have exercised for a certain number of days a week.

This year, I decided that I was too much of a "glass is half empty kind of a gal" and that I needed to be more thankful. So, I am listing things I am thankful for each week. In retrospect, I should have made the goal more concrete, telling myself exactly when I would list these things and how many I should do each week, to make it easier to stick to. But it is what it is. I started listing 10 things each week, but I used my work blog and an article I wrote for the local paper. Now, I'd like to put them all here and add some more today. I thought maybe I'd make Thursdays my Thankful Day or I might piggyback onto a fellow bloggers' Multitudes of Much on Mondays. We'll see. For now, I'll add some today since I woke up not feeling very thankful. Much of the time, taking time to think about what I'm thankful for helps me to be more thankful. And in the end, that's the goal.

After I decided to be more thankful in my life, a book came across my desk at work that dealt with writing thank yous to achieve this same end, so I checked it out. I recently finished reading 365 Thank Yous: How Simple Acts of Daily Gratitude Changed a Life, by John Kralik, and it has inspired me to keep going with my thankfulness each week and perhaps a few actual handwritten thank yous are in my future, too. So, in keeping up with my goal of being more thankful, here's my list for this week.

1. Words with Friends app on my itouch. It’s addicting!

2. My youngest son overcoming his desire to stay home and going to school with a smile.

3. My cousin’s blog; she inspires me.

4. New walls, new texture, and new paint.

5. Sales that allow you to afford what you really wanted in the first place and save money doing it!

6. User friendly computer programs that make life easy.

7. Warmer weather.

8. Crème de Menthe cake.

9. Supper waiting at my mom in laws when I pick the kids up after work.

10. Purple.

11.Running 3 miles today!! I made it !! Hooray! That feels sooo good!

12. Coca-cola!!! So much better than Dr. Pepper and so glad I didn't give it up for Lent.

13. So thankful for all my new paint going on my walls tomorrow. The colors are bold and beautiful and I can't wait to see the rooms shaping up!

14. Stolen moments in day.

15. My daughter, who is so good at standing up for what she believes.

16. My son saying he was most thankful for Mom laying down next to him at night.

17. Supper in the crock pot waiting to be served.

18. Tickets to a comedian. Laughter really is the best medicine.

19. Helping people find books they love. So much satisfaction in this simple act.

20. Making deadlines.

21.Always, good books to read and enjoy. Cheesy, but true.

22. Great help in the huge amount of work I have to do with no strings attached.

23. Sunshine and rain boots, so you can walk outside in it instead of looking at all of the mud out there and staying inside yet again.

24. Coca-cola and the fact that I didn't choose to give it up for Lent this year.

25. My husband and the fact that he can always make me laugh no matter how bad of a day I think I am having.

26. My supportive co-workers and the way they inspire me daily.

27. My oil slick shoes.

28. The fact that I can run, even if some days I don't want to...

29. Sample of a power bar so I had breakfast today.

30. Being on time today.

31. Painting is pretty much done!! One more thing off the list!

32. My 5 year old making me a bookmark at school. So sweet! Even at so young an age, he knows what I love.

33. Eating my favorite Chinese dish: Princess Chicken for lunch.

34. Sharing a recipe that is loved. so someone else can love it.

35. Enjoying my job. It's a perfect fit for me.

36. Remembering and sharing old 80s movies. What a hoot.

37. The colors in my house. They make me happy.

38. Laughing at hokey April Fool's Jokes my kids tell.

39. The camraderie that comes with brothers and sisters. (Fighting not so much, but the friendship is fun to watch and be a part of)

40. My marriage in the midst of stress.


What are you thankful for??