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Acknowledging Gratitude

posted 26th November 2011    Written by: Elyse    CATEGORY: All Posts, Elyse, Life Lesson, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 5, What I've Learned

It has always been hard for me to be grateful. I’m really good at thinking about the things that irk me or are bothersome, but rarely do I reflect on all the good things in my life, which is a shame, because I really do have many good things in my life.

Back in high school, I used to make lists of things that made me happy when I was feeling pissed off or depressed.  Those lists really helped, but as I got older, I fell out of that habit. I couldn’t think of a better place to reinstitute the list-making tradition with things I am grateful for. I don’t think gratitude is only for the big things, but even the small things that make life worth living.

This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for…

©       My incredible family – Even though I love my life in Cincinnati, and I’m a grown woman, I still get homesick for them. Going home for the holidays is always something I look forward to because of them.

©       My boyfriend, Rob – He makes every day special.

©       My job at the zoo – so many incredible animals and people grace me with their presence every day. I am having experiences that are so unique and special and get to do what I love: teach kids.

©       BBQ sauce – my sauce addiction

©       The sunset behind the church steeple out my apartment window

©       Good music on the radio when going to work early in the morning

©       My new neighborhood, Over-the-Rhine

©       My friends – they keep me laughing and enjoying life

©       Tea – Especially on chilly days or before bed, it is liquid comfort

I need to work on appreciating these things more often and continuing to find new things to be thankful for. What are you thankful for on a day-to-day basis?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{Photo Credit: Silly Eagle Books}

 

 

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Serenity and Blessings

posted 25th November 2011    Written by: Kristen    CATEGORY: Family, Kristen, Life Lesson, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 5, Spirituality, What I've Learned

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday because it combines two of my favorite things- family and food. The excitement for the Thanksgiving meal to me is more than gifts at Christmas. This year I looked forward to Thanksgiving more than ever before but not because of the amazing spread and annual Cranium game after the meal, but because this year I am truly thankful for my life and everything in it in a new way.

It’s been a rough few years for me and I finally feel like myself again. Saturday November 5th was the first time in almost two years that I felt truly alive. It was one of those perfect fall days with a sunny sky and I was positively filled with glee. It was also one of the first weekends all to myself to do what I wanted without errands or chores. I went vintage shopping with my best girlfriend. Read in my sunroom with tea. Had dinner with friends and family. It was perfection and I realized– this was it.  This was the life I imagined for myself years ago.

I am filled with such amazing self-love and joy that I was able to come to that moment- to realize that I had risen above the Quarter Life Crisis and ending of a relationship to get to a place where I felt completely at peace. Of course, I want to continue to evolve to be that person I was that Saturday every day. But on that day, I was completely filled with the calm feeling of grace and love that had escaped me.

This year I feel I need to, more than ever, make public announcements of the immense gratitude and blessings I have in my life. I am overwhelmed with happiness and humility at all that is amazing in my life. There have been more times in the past five months where I have been speechless or overcome with such intense emotion and thanks for people, events, sights, etc., than I think ever before in my life.

There isn’t enough blog space in the world for me to express my deep feelings of adoration, thanks, and respect for my family as I’ve worked through the process of the divorce. Their unending support, emails, small gifts, and hugs have pulled me through some pretty dark moments. They are my foundation, my rock, and without them I seriously do not know where I would be.

My close friends who I consider my family were the ones who helped me to see the downward spiral I was in- reaching out and providing insights and support even before I knew I needed it. Without one particular amazing girlfriend I would have never known about the Stratejoy website or started to think about what I wanted for my life, and definitely never ever pushed myself to ask some really tough questions. To say thank you to her doesn’t seem enough. Other friends offered dinners out, listening ears, and plentiful distractions, as well as the push to get me out of my pajamas, off the couch, and back to living a fabulous life.

I am incredibly blessed to have a job I love and unbelievable coworkers who inspire me every day. I have hit the job lottery in terms of having a group of people who feel more like family than colleagues.

The mentors, teachers, and colleagues who have had an impact on my life and career are people who are never thanked enough, but I realize now, play an important part of who I am. There are so many to name and thank in different ways because of the significant impact on my life.

I am thankful for my good health and my ability to take care of myself with healthy food, long baths, yoga, and meditation. I am blessed with a house over my head that I own and a financial situation that while tight, allows me to still enjoy a dinner out every now and again and still make the bills.

I am grateful to live in a country where I can do what I want with my body, protest what I might, vote for what I think is the right decision, and express myself in whatever way I want.

I’m over the moon for Molly, her amazing Stratejoy idea, the rocking Tribe, and the new relationships I’m cultivating because of it. Without this site, I’m not sure how long it would have taken me to realize that things were not right in my world or if I even would have questioned it at all– just would have continued a mundane existence for years and years. Now to be part of the site and reaching out to other fabulous females is an incredible gift. The blog has reminded me of how much I love writing and makes me want to pursue things I only dreamed about as far off possibilities.

I am thankful for the peace and serenity that I have acquired in knowing that I made the right decision for me and my life. I am grateful to my ex-husband for what he and our marriage taught me about myself, things I never examined or was too afraid to look at before. I am appreciate and hold dear our years together and what it taught me about love and the many lessons of life and living he showed me by example.

I am filled with gratitude for the simple pleasures of life that bring me such joy- and reveling in the fact that I now am able to surround myself with what truly brings me happiness. The quiet grace & beauty of nature ( like the above image from Yosemite), books, a cup of tea, a glass of wine, a relaxing night in with friends playing board games, Sunday family dinners, a sunny day driving in the car with great music- these are just a few of the small things that fuel  and sustain me. Such small pieces of life that for years I never noticed or overlooked, but I now see are integral for me to connect with my essential self.

I am thankful to be me, to be opinionated, strong willed, and to know how to trust my instincts again. Most of all this year, I am thankful to be living again, to be embracing life, and finding joy.

 

[Photo Credit: Valley View, Yosemite National Park. Photo by Cindy Costa, a remarkable photographer and aunt!]

 

 

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Boycotting Thanksgiving – Gratitude and the Freedom to Choose

posted 24th November 2011    Written by: Dusti    CATEGORY: All Posts, Dusti, Family, Season 5

My family likes to ruin holidays. No really. They create drama of epic proportions.

This time last year, my bigot of an uncle had a real gem to share. Over pumpkin pie, he was discussing how he and his Army buddies used to beat gay kids with socks full of padlocks – because soap only left bruises and didn’t break bones.

Yeah. Can you tell my family is a generation out of the trailer park? Of course, he wasn’t aware his niece, *ahem* moi, was open about her bisexuality. I’ll leave the falling out of the evening to your imagination.

This year, I am boycotting my family and their tradition of drama-making in the name of gratitude for the freedom to choose.

In almost everything we do, we have a choice. We choose how we respond to what’s around us. We choose tomorrow based on actions we make today. We can choose to stay the same or change. We can choose happiness or apathy.

They say you can’t choose your family, but I disagree. Family is who you spend your time with. They are the wonderful community of people who you can trust. They are who you don’t mind sharing the last piece of apple pie with.

For me, that’s my sweet little girl – who is with her dad this Thanksgiving – and that handsome guy I live with. No turkey for us – we’re making something delicious and simple, because I’d rather spend the extra time making pies. (I make seriously gorgeous pies, and I’ve got limited energy to expend. Best to put it where it counts.)

I’m going to take some time and reassess my choices this year. How have I chosen well, and how could I choose better? Could I be in better alignment with my values? It’s all on the table. The idea is to give thanks I can choose.

And, I’ve got a feeling this Thanksgiving will have amazeballs written all over it when it’s over.

I’m not sure if there are other countries with similar traditions, but I think it’s pretty cool we have a holiday based on gratitude.

Could you ask for a better reason to stop what you are doing – and thank the universe for this moment, this breath? How beautiful that we have an opportunity to step back from our daily lives and just be grateful we have the right to choose who we are and how we live?

Happy Thanksgiving, Stratejoy Tribe. May your holiday be full of joy and chock full of love. (And pie. Good lord, enjoy lots of pie – and don’t feel guilty for any of it! You can choose better tomorrow.)

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Thank you, blueberries.

posted 23rd November 2011    Written by: Laurenne    CATEGORY: All Posts, Laurenne

I’ve been freelancing in a cubicle this week, and it’s quite an experience. I have steered clear of cubicles for seven months, convinced I didn’t need them. Unfortunately for me, money is made in cubicles.

Fortunately for me, mine is next to the kitchen. I can hear all the water cooler talk, even though there is no water cooler (Instead, there are plastic bottles of water and no recycling program, but who’s counting? Not me, no.). I’ve noticed that in office settings, it’s easy to get swept up in the negativity of the day because that’s just how society works. Misery loves company and soon we’re all crowded in a cubicle complaining about the new IT guy. “I can’t wait for Friday” “Aw man, our client sucks.” “The food here is horrible.” “I can’t believe they don’t recycle the thousands of bottles we use each day.”  (Okay, only I said that last one.)

The kitchen hears all the complaints. And the girl in the cube next to the kitchen also hears all the complaints.

Alas, there are so many things to be grateful for. Not just for Thanksgiving either. And not in the sense that I should be happy I have a job because other people don’t. Nah. I mean, there are so many things to REALLY be grateful for. Even in that office, there are fresh pens and funny people and creativity and good printers and brainpower and really good business skills. I can see that because I’ve just walked into it. But the others have let the stack of file folders cloud their judgment.

I’m sure if I stayed there longer, this honeymoon period of fresh observation would wane. But no! I don’t want to be a Negative Nancy (Poor Nancy. Sorry about that nickname.) I want to always be grateful. I want to send cards and give hugs. It’s usually hard for me to tell someone how much I appreciate them. So, here I am. Being grateful. For my job and my paycheck and whatever else comes my way. I’m making a list. Any time I make a gratitude list, I’m always pleasantly surprised to see that nothing on it costs a lot of money.

Things I’m grateful for today: 

Blueberries
Olives
A bottle of Cab Franc
Sharp cheddar (I think I’m hungry)
Cuddling
The smell of books
My momma
My body and it’s healthy condition
The beach
Hot showers
Clean water
Flannel sheets
Fluffy sweatpants
The smell of garlic
Silence
Texts
All the people in my life
All the lessons I’ve learned
Every ancestor since the beginning of time, who have all lead me to me
Hot soup
All my teachers
Hugs
Lemons
My bicycle
Fresh laundry smell
Flowers
Bread and butter
Traveling
Other cultures
Creativity (mine and everyone else’s)
The Venice Beach Community
Laughing
Karaoke
Dancing
Libraries
Coffee
Boardwalks
Sidewalk cafes
Words
Typing
My Stratejoy girlies
My computer (Oh! What would I do without it?)
My brain
Madrid
My awareness
My skin (Oh! What would I do without it?)
Animals
Sand
Tests
Different languages
Eyes
Spices
Music
Humans
Pumpkin pie
Myself.


[Photo credit : A photographer! That's my grandma, from whom I get some of my sense of humor. Thanks, G.]

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The Little Things

posted 22nd November 2011    Written by: Ashley    CATEGORY: All Posts, Ashley, Family, Job/Career/Work, Love/Relationships, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 5

Y’all, I’ve had a really rough few weeks.

I still haven’t finished unpacking and my apartment is a disaster. There are piles of clothes on the floor and not a single decoration or picture has been hung on the walls. Work has been stressful and frustrating and I’ve wanted to cry more days than I’d like to admit. Plus, I made my (monthly) trip to the grocery store today and somehow didn’t make it home with the package of tortillas and bottle of honey that I bought. It was really annoying! Also! gas went up $.14 over night. I… I just… how?

When you’re in the midst of your QLC, it can be really easy to lose sight of what’s important. You’re so busy focusing on how it feels like your life is falling apart (because, umm, it might actually be falling apart, if you’re not just complaining about missing tortillas), that you forget to recogize everything that is going right in your life. Despite everything, there is always something, somewhere you can show a little gratitude.

Brene Brown says that the people who practice daily gratitude often have the lives filled with the most joy. She also says, “Joy is not a constant. It comes to us in moments- often ordinary moments. Sometimes we miss out on the bursts of joy because we’re too busy chasing down the extraordinary moments. Other times we’re so afraid of the dark that we don’t dare let ourselves enjoy the light.”

I think what Brene Brown says is true. So, today I’m shining a light in the dark and I’m putting aside the big, extraordinary dreams. Today I’m focusing on ordinary gratitude.

I am thankful for green smoothies, smart phones, twinkle lights, and the changing color of the leaves in fall. I am thankful for Essie nail polish, my BFF’s upcoming lingerie shower, Twitter, and queen size beds.

I am thankful for my parents and the fact that they showed me unconditional love as I was growing up. I am thankful that I have a close group of girl friends in Austin who made plans to go see Breaking Dawn on opening day.

I am thankful for pumpkin scented candles, good hair days, my flowery scarf, and catching all the green lights on the way home from work. I am thankful for warm coffee with vanilla creamer, the anticipation and excitement of the holidays, and Dawson’s Creek on DVD.

I am thankful for my boyfriend who makes me feel respected, loved, and cherished on a daily basis. I am thankful that I have a job where I am not restricted by set hours and where I feel valued and supported.

I am thankful for my Erin Condren Life Planner, the daisies sitting on my desk, warm blankets, and thunderstorms. I am thankful for LashBlast mascara, Greek yogurt, the color turquoise, and the opportunity to share my story with you.

What are you thankful for today?

[photo credit: snarkel]

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