It basically stated that you know you're happy, the inner kind, the wonderful kind of happy that lets you survive almost any catastrophe of daily life, when you are frequently overwhelmed with gratitude, to the point of tears even.
For the last four years, I have found myself overwhelmingly grateful. A song comes on the radio, I tear up because I am so happy to be in the place I am. I watch a movie with a happy ending, I am reminded of everything I have. Someone tells a love story, I immediately thank God for Michael. It is rare that I ever lose sight of this feeling. I experience it almost daily.
So, since November is a time of publicly proclaiming your gratitude, this post will be a list of things I'm grateful for.
1. Fall weather. After melting into the front seat of my car all summer, driving 200+ miles a week for work, I am very grateful to not be in 108 degree weather anymore.
2. Doing homework at the kitchen table with the blinds open, letting natural light and theoretical foundations of counseling soak in.
3. Out-of-town relatives being in-town relatives for the holidays.
4. Breaks from school... just to catch up on my sanity.
5. Ridiculously good food. From everywhere. All the time.
6. Driving on rainy nights (or, you know, 5:00 pm when it gets dark) near major shopping centers when the car brake lights seem more like Christmas lights.
7. Having someone to come home to.
8. My still-feels-new-to-me car. I still love it as much as I did. I get excited to find it in parking lots. It's pretty silly.
9. A good video game. Like, Skyrim or Fable II or Little Big Planet (the first one). Games that suck you into their awesomeness.
10. When you come across some really good writing, be it prose or poetry, in an unexpected place (like a Facebook status or a StumbleUpon click).
11. Curling up on the couch with my husband and watching a really stupid scary movie.
12. Growing out of my fear of the dark. Slowly. But, it's happening.
13. Being brave enough to start singing in the shower, again.
14. Financial security. I cannot emphasize how grateful I am that Michael and I are both employed for good companies that value us.
15. When the clouds part for that twenty-minute window of sunshine that I need right in the middle of a completely overcast day.
16. Playing fetch with my dog. I try to do ten minutes a day, but it's usually just four or five days a week. It's more than I was doing and it feels good to be outside for at least that long.
17. My animals, in general. I absolutely adore each one of my pets. Cheeto is and always will be my favorite, no matter how weird he is. CC is beautiful and strange, so she fits right in. Sandy is the sweetest heart ever. She is fundamentally good.
18. The days when you forget that life has not always been this good.
19. The day when you remember.
20. Peppermint Bark.
21. Getting into the graduate program.
22. Not getting the promotion at the job I grew to absolutely dread.
23. Soft blankets. I call them 'softs'.
24. My closest friends, especially my best friend. It can be really hard for me to form lasting connections with people. My best friend has known me for more than five years, now, and she can still stand me. She's pretty cool.
25. Grace.
26. Having a bedroom window. The fact that it looks out on my rather sizable yard doesn't hurt, either.
27. Finding time to journal.
28. Having the right kind of drink, right when you need it. A really fizzy, super cold root beer with pizza. Iced tea sitting on a porch in the summer. Not to stickysweet hot chocolate while you're reading a book in a big chair.
29. Finally having someone who can accept all the parts of me, including the ones that I have not accepted yet.
30. That I am learning to accept those parts, too.
Alright, HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone. I hope you can find yourself as grateful as I am.
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