It’s officially November which means that Thanksgiving is in a couple of weeks. That gets me thinking about thankfulness, although I try my best to be thankful every day of the year. One of the people that inspires me is Ava DuVernay who was inspired by Oprah Winfrey to every day say 5 things that she is thankful for. I haven’t quite kept up with doing it every day, but every day I make sure to be thankful for something. I’ve also made it a tradition to share what I’m thankful for on my social media to inspire others to be thankful, too.
Therefore, not only will I share on my social media everyday what I’m thankful for, but each week I will share 5 things that I’m thankful for with you all.
1. I’m thankful that I am learning to be content no matter where I am in life. This year has been not exactly what I wanted it to be as it pertains to where I thought I would be with school, my career and finances. Although those things are necessary, they don’t get to determine my happiness. Plus, God has kept me and made sure that I didn’t lack anything that I needed, and I am grateful.
2. I’m thankful that I’m slowly learning to be more patient due to my job. When I say that I’m slowly learning, I do mean slowly. Everything that I thought I would have by now that is necessary to live an adult life has come slowly or still hasn’t arrived yet. At times I find myself upset and complaining, but it’s funny that I ended up back at my old job working with kids and I see myself in my kids sometimes. There are things that they want right then and there, and I have to tell them, “You can’t have this right now, but I will give it to you later.” But the only thing that matters to them is wanting what they want right now and not having to wait for later when it’s a better time to have it. Which is how I’ve been acting with God when he tells me to wait. So even though this isn’t the job I dream of, I’m thankful because it’s teaching me patience.
3. I’m thankful that I have amazing friends. I used to envy people who were popular and always had people around them. The older I’ve gotten the more I’m thankful for having my small tribe of friends. Everyone wants to be known and I feel that having just a few friends who you spend time with allows that to happen. These people are in my life because they value me and know me well. We are like-minded and want to see each other become the best we can be. I wouldn’t trade that just to have 40 more people I call friends who don’t know me on the level I like to be known.
4. Seriously, I’m thankful for Lays baked chips – the original kind. They’re so good and my absolute favorite thing to snack on.
5. I’m thankful for those moments in our lives that make life worth living: Like going outside and seeing how the trees have changed colors and the leaves are falling. Hanging with family or friends and laughing about crazy stuff. Coming home and my two dogs acting as if they haven’t seen me in days when it’s only been a few hours. And when one of the kids at my job randomly tells me that he loves me. I’m thankful for these moments.