A few months ago I joined a gratitude group. Yes, I know it’s all a little woo woo, but for this recovering cynic, staying positive can be pretty hard work. So when I heard some friends were starting a group all about thankfulness, I was totally in. I love journaling about the happy things in my life, but because I’m only accountable to myself, I tend to let the task slide in favor of seemingly more fun items (like rewatching the entire Fringe series from beginning to end because I’d forgotten how incredibly hot Pacey WitterPeter Bishop looks in a sharp peacoat). Soon I’m grumpy, surly and an all around Grinch, and before you can say “Are you PMSing or something, Megan?” I remember I haven’t been very grateful lately. Mystery solved. Someone call Angela Lansbury.
So I joined this gratitude group and basically we just send little messages to each other via Facebook where we tell the others something we’re grateful for that particular day. Everyone comments on each other’s sharing and it’s really quite lovely and uplifting. Sometimes I share simple things, like when Tate finally napped or when Lulu rode her two-wheeler for the first time. Other times I share deeply personal items, like when I looked around me and realized my life, which was in such chaos not so long ago, felt good and real for the first time in a long, long time.
I don’t know when gratitude changed my life, but I’m sure that it has. A few days ago, a car cut me off on the highway and instead of honking my horn and waving obscene hand gestures, I took a deep breath and told myself that person must be on the way to something really important. Maybe their wife was in labor or maybe their kid was throwing up at the nurse’s office in school? Who knows? I just sent a little prayer into Universe that they get wherever they are headed safely. I know, right? I can’t believe myself either. Who am I?!
I can tell you I am not a person for whom this comes easily, and I’m just as likely as you to scoff at the silliness of it. But I’m also a person whose blood pressure is lower and sleeps better at night. My brain is not wild with the craziness of the ungrateful (and therefore always needing MORE MORE MORE) person I was before. I am not looking to fill some hole in my life with more stuff or more people or more food or more throw pillows or more blog posts…I’m all filled up. Is this because of gratitude? Maybe. Can I prove it? Nope. But I’m gonna keep my glass half-full anyway, just in case.
http://www.crazybananas.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Crazy_Banans_Logo_WebsiteBanner.png00Meganhttp://www.crazybananas.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Crazy_Banans_Logo_WebsiteBanner.pngMegan2014-09-25 22:42:522014-09-26 15:02:08Gratitude, Silliness, and the Lessening of Obscene Hand Gestures
I was tagged by a friend for a gratitude challenge on Facebook, and while I know I’m supposed to list out things I’m grateful for today, I don’t know how to limit myself to only a few. My life is so full, so silly wonderful, narrowing it down would be impossible. I believe we go through hard times and struggle so we can fully appreciate it when life is good. Sometimes it’s difficult to remember on the darker days, of which this past year I’ve had many, but then, one day, the sun comes out. And holy wow, life is good. Not perfect, not even close, but incredibly lovely in all its imperfection.
Today I spent the entire day with my family. It was heaven. There was the cider mill and the bike rides and the dog park and the book store and the fire pit and the leaves crunching and the eating on the patio. There were runny noses and skinned knees and bad directions and turning at the wrong (right?) corner and I’m right/you’re wrong’s and I’m sorry’s and I love you’s. I ended my day swinging in a hammock with my husband, wrapped up in a pink snuggie and watching my kids perform a play about ninjas they created in the backyard. This was life today. As I write this I’m snuggled up with a cup of warm apple cider and a pumpkin candle filling my room. My dog hasn’t even eaten any of my shoes today!
Tomorrow might be hard. Yesterday may have been the worst. But right now, today, I am so grateful. My tank is full. It isn’t always easy, but as long as I stick with gratitude, service to others, and connection through my spirituality, I’m good. I don’t need much else.
I hope wherever you’re at today, whether it’s dark or light, you can find a small thing to be grateful for. Gratitude changes everything. Trust me, I’m a certified reformed cynic who is surprisingly… actually… really… truly… happy.
Gratitude, Silliness, and the Lessening of Obscene Hand Gestures
/0 Comments/in Finding My Path, Grumples, Happiness /by MeganA few months ago I joined a gratitude group. Yes, I know it’s all a little woo woo, but for this recovering cynic, staying positive can be pretty hard work. So when I heard some friends were starting a group all about thankfulness, I was totally in. I love journaling about the happy things in my life, but because I’m only accountable to myself, I tend to let the task slide in favor of seemingly more fun items (like rewatching the entire Fringe series from beginning to end because I’d forgotten how incredibly hot
Pacey WitterPeter Bishop looks in a sharp peacoat). Soon I’m grumpy, surly and an all around Grinch, and before you can say “Are you PMSing or something, Megan?” I remember I haven’t been very grateful lately. Mystery solved. Someone call Angela Lansbury.So I joined this gratitude group and basically we just send little messages to each other via Facebook where we tell the others something we’re grateful for that particular day. Everyone comments on each other’s sharing and it’s really quite lovely and uplifting. Sometimes I share simple things, like when Tate finally napped or when Lulu rode her two-wheeler for the first time. Other times I share deeply personal items, like when I looked around me and realized my life, which was in such chaos not so long ago, felt good and real for the first time in a long, long time.
I don’t know when gratitude changed my life, but I’m sure that it has. A few days ago, a car cut me off on the highway and instead of honking my horn and waving obscene hand gestures, I took a deep breath and told myself that person must be on the way to something really important. Maybe their wife was in labor or maybe their kid was throwing up at the nurse’s office in school? Who knows? I just sent a little prayer into Universe that they get wherever they are headed safely. I know, right? I can’t believe myself either. Who am I?!
I can tell you I am not a person for whom this comes easily, and I’m just as likely as you to scoff at the silliness of it. But I’m also a person whose blood pressure is lower and sleeps better at night. My brain is not wild with the craziness of the ungrateful (and therefore always needing MORE MORE MORE) person I was before. I am not looking to fill some hole in my life with more stuff or more people or more food or more throw pillows or more blog posts…I’m all filled up. Is this because of gratitude? Maybe. Can I prove it? Nope. But I’m gonna keep my glass half-full anyway, just in case.
The Secret
/0 Comments/in Family, Finding My Path, Happiness /by MeganI was tagged by a friend for a gratitude challenge on Facebook, and while I know I’m supposed to list out things I’m grateful for today, I don’t know how to limit myself to only a few. My life is so full, so silly wonderful, narrowing it down would be impossible. I believe we go through hard times and struggle so we can fully appreciate it when life is good. Sometimes it’s difficult to remember on the darker days, of which this past year I’ve had many, but then, one day, the sun comes out. And holy wow, life is good. Not perfect, not even close, but incredibly lovely in all its imperfection.
Today I spent the entire day with my family. It was heaven. There was the cider mill and the bike rides and the dog park and the book store and the fire pit and the leaves crunching and the eating on the patio. There were runny noses and skinned knees and bad directions and turning at the wrong (right?) corner and I’m right/you’re wrong’s and I’m sorry’s and I love you’s. I ended my day swinging in a hammock with my husband, wrapped up in a pink snuggie and watching my kids perform a play about ninjas they created in the backyard. This was life today. As I write this I’m snuggled up with a cup of warm apple cider and a pumpkin candle filling my room. My dog hasn’t even eaten any of my shoes today!
Tomorrow might be hard. Yesterday may have been the worst. But right now, today, I am so grateful. My tank is full. It isn’t always easy, but as long as I stick with gratitude, service to others, and connection through my spirituality, I’m good. I don’t need much else.
I hope wherever you’re at today, whether it’s dark or light, you can find a small thing to be grateful for. Gratitude changes everything. Trust me, I’m a certified reformed cynic who is surprisingly… actually… really… truly… happy.
xoxo,
Megan
First Aid Kit : Stay Gold
/0 Comments/in Tunes /by MeganNothing like a little First Aid Kit on a rainy, autumn Friday afternoon.