My Gratitude Experience

It's day five, the last day, of my gratitude challenge and I really want to thank my mom for nominating me to this challenge. Like a lot of things on Facebook, this could have been scrolled by quickly and ignored or laughed off. But since Mom tagged me, I decided to take it seriously. For the past four days here is what I have been thankful for:

Day 1
1) my very own bed, toothbrush, & refrigerator. I do not take any of that for granted. 2) Decades of memories & photos to jar them. 3) Baseball.

Day 2
1) teachers who do amazing jobs & are not respected nearly enough, 2) my awesome sister & parents who never once said maybe you can't be a professional writer, and 3) vegetables.

Day 3
1) first responders who do a job I can't fathom doing on a daily basis, 2) my family that extends far and wide, people I'm related to by blood and by choice, people who live with me in my heart every day, and 3) ice cream.

Day 4
1) I am grateful for the 2 amazing women who live next too and across from my house. They came to visit yesterday, Mary brought flowers & we shared our Europe pictures with them. A lovely afternoon. 2) I am grateful for a body that moves. Today I start another three month workout challenge & I'm so thankful my body is up to it! 3) The person who invented fans. Ours have been on nonstop for a month now and while I wish everyday for central air conditioning, I am grateful for what I do have.

So today, Day 5, seems a bit anticlimactic.  I've been listing all the people in my life and all the things I have and that's well and good but today I was trying to figure out what else to be grateful for. And then I went to volunteer at the Homeless Lunch at my church, just like I do most Tuesdays. And I realized that basically, I have to be grateful to God for everything I've listed above and thought about all week. Because without Him, there is nothing. But most of all, without Him, I am nothing. And I realize that in the grand scheme of things I am really so unbelievably blessed that it's kind of hard to fathom. Yes, I complain, a lot at times. Yesterday I was almost in tears because it was so hot in our house all afternoon. It's really getting to me. And then I had to do a gut check and remember, hey, you have a fan. You have a house. You have a mattress. You have a car to take you to places where it's not so hot. And I get that. I also get that at times I have to open the valve and let out the steam. But mostly, I have to remember, every minute of every day, how much I have to be thankful for. So thank you, Mom, for reminding me of that five days ago. Here goes...
 
Day 5
1) The fruit in my fridge. I was able to buy cut up melon and pineapple and strawberries and grapes this week. I have had a huge fruit salad twice a day for the entire weekend. And today I had to ask people in the lunch line if they wanted one banana or one box of raisins or one cup of applesauce. Just one. Maybe for the whole week until next Tuesday. (Side Note: If you ask me for an extra fruit, I will likely give it to you, especially if you aren't wearing any shoes.) I bet I throw out more fruit in a week than they eat. I have to remember this. Every day. Especially on days I want to skip the banana and go for the bagel.
2) Money in my bank account. There isn't much this month. Hardly any because it's right before Angela gets paid. But there's a little. Yes, there are bills waiting to be paid but they'll get their due. But right now? I have more than enough. I was able to go to the mall this weekend and buy fancy lotion at Bath and Body Works for Angela, myself, and one of my Homeless Lunch friends. We were able to eat more than one meal out in the past week. We bought hundreds of dollars worth of groceries in the past few weeks. We have television and Internet and fancy phones and new clothes and so much more than we could ever possibly need. And yet? I worry about money all the time. All. The. Time. And I shouldn't. God will provide, as He has for every single day of my life and will continue to do until the day I die. I am so grateful for that. (And for Justin for reminding me of that in his FB post today.)
3) Hallmark. No seriously. I mean I am the girl who listed baseball in her first day's list (I almost put baseball pants - I should have!). Saturday Angela and I missed the movie we'd intended to see at the mall because I took a shortcut driving and it didn't work out. And so we wandered through the air conditioned mall for several hours, not buying much (see lotion above) but laughing and window shopping and dreaming. However, we did spend the money we would have spent on movie tickets in Hallmark buying cards for friends and family members. And today I mailed five of them out. We bought silly cards and birthday cards and just because cards. We laughed and shared them with one another and then picked our favorites to bring home. And mostly? Hallmark reminded me to stay in touch this week, to brighten up a friend's day or to comfort a family member who might need it. I can't be there to give hugs in person but my hugs often come wrapped in a bright colored envelope and delivered by a federal employee.

So my official gratitude challenge is finished. But I won't stop. I'll keep it going, unofficially. I'll keep being thankful for what I have, working for what I want, and trying, just a little bit each day, to make the world brighter.

P.S. - If you have cable TV, check out the 15-minute show SOULPANCAKE on Pivot. It's a crazy little montage of interviews with people like Mindy Kaling and Russell Brand and stories from homeless people and reminders to be happy. I love it. I am grateful for it. Yep, I always like to do the extra credit.