On Saturday, September 28, 2024, I'm Grateful For...

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This week I was reminded about a principle integral to Christianity, addiction recovery, and almost any type of counseling currently offered.

That principle is gratefulness.

Today has been a rough day. A lot has gone wrong - but a lot has also gone right. When things were going wrong this morning my husband joked and called me a pessimist. 

He was right.

So I set out to prove him wrong and proceeded to turn all of the things that went wrong for the rest of the day into something I could be grateful for. 

But what do you do when you have a fight with that same man and then it suddenly feels like there's absolutely nothing to be grateful for no matter how hard you try and no matter how you felt just an hour or two earlier?

It took me a while, but then it just hit me like a ton of bricks (ouch!)...

...I need to be grateful anyway.

I'm still mad at him. I'm still hurt by what started it. I still don't know how to get through the rest of the evening processing these feelings.

But there's a lot to be grateful for even in the anger... and the hurt... and the uncertainty.

So, here I go. My goal is to write 25 things I'm grateful for (and honestly, I know this just scratches the surface but I do need to get some sleep tonight).

So, on Saturday, September 28, 2024, I'm grateful for...

  1. the computer I'm typing this list on
  2. my blog where hopefully this pain (and solution) will help someone else
  3. the husband I'm so mad at right now (but still love in spite of it)
  4. the daughter I got back after several years of her being sick and so far away from me
  5. getting to be on a worship team for the first time in a very long time
  6. getting to be on said worship team with the husband who I'm mad at
  7. my ergonomic keyboard
  8. my cell phone with an S-pen (I've wanted one for years)
  9. the diet peach tea that I'm drinking that tastes like real peaches
  10. the weighted wrist brace I was able to make that helps me deal with my essential tremors without meds
  11. that my new camera body wasn't broken after all
  12. the new battery I was able to get for my car - and put on a payment plan because right now finances are tight
  13. the free pet food that I was able to get for my daughter and her fur babies
  14. the many opportunities I've gotten to do through photography and writing that I never, ever could have even dreamed about a decade ago
  15. the cooler weather today (and this time I think it's here to stay!)
  16. losing weight
  17. the under-desk bicycle thing that helps my restless leg syndrome (RLS) when I'm working
  18. my SUV (an item I never really wanted but can't imagine not having now)
  19. a camera harness that doesn't hurt my neck
  20. my very cute-and-tiny fur baby of my own
  21. cool looking business cards that I designed and that I'm actually proud of
  22. little bitty colorful clothespins that I can use to put up reminders of what I need to think about when things like this happen
  23. getting - not having - to live with my mom (and if you've known me long, you know how much of a miracle that is)
  24. friends who support and pray for me
  25. that someone (I can't even remember who at the moment) reminded me how important being grateful is...
... and SO much more!

Thank you, God. Thank you, friends. Thank you, couselors and pastors and mentors... 

Being grareful may not change anything that I can actually see, touch, hear, smell and taste, but in a major way, it actually changes everything.

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