I checked out today’s Memories page on Facebook and this commemorates “Gratitude, Day 1” in 2014. Back then, I was inspired by a friend tagging me in her post to say, “YOU give it a shot.” This year’s inspiration… not as good.<\/p>\n
I spent the first part of the day at a visitation\/mass for Marie Moilanen, my little brother’s mother-in-law, who passed away last Tuesday. It was only a matter of time—she died from pancreatic cancer—but it’s still hard to experience. Even when it’s inevitable, even when the person is no longer in pain, death is tough.<\/p>\n
During the service, people focused on what a positive person she was, how she shared so much happiness and joy with everyone, how she was grateful for all of the blessings in her life… it was sad, but also inspirational.<\/p>\n
I saw Gratitudes on Facebook, I saw gratitude at mass, I watched a video about mindfulness and gratitude this afternoon… I even have a Gratitude app on my phone! Everything just seemed to click.<\/p>\n
On the first go-round, I wrote three every day for a month and only repeated something once. I started again a few years ago on my blog with Five Gratitudes every day, which lasted a week. This time, I’m not setting any hard rules for myself. At least three gratitudes a day, possibly more; no set number of days; don’t sweat if I miss a day… expressing gratitude shouldn’t be difficult or a stressful experience. So with that said, here we go!<\/p>\n
Teresa Smith, my fiancee. Prior to meeting her, I might have something special happening at the end of the week and I’d kinda coast through the days until then. Now I have something special happening in my life every day: her.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Berkley and Sophie, our two dogs. Two rescues who have completely different personalities, but the same warm space in my heart.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Attending the visitation\/mass today. I thought about skipping it and just going to work this morning, but considering the result (see: this blog entry), I’m glad I went.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The rest of my family. I got to see a lot of them this morning and I love them very much.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
My car. That’s how I got to the church, that’s how I got to work, that’s how I got home again. I spent a lot of time on the road, but it could have taken a full day or more with a horse and buggy.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I checked out today’s Memories page on Facebook and this commemorates “Gratitude, Day 1” in 2014. Back then, I was inspired by a friend tagging me in her post to say, “YOU give it a shot.” This year’s inspiration… not as good. I spent the first part of the day at a visitation\/mass for Marie … <\/p>\n