30 Days of Thankfulness

“I feel a very unusual sensation – if it is not indigestion, I think it must be gratitude.”
~Benjamin Disraeli

I serendipitously stumbled upon a random blog post this morning (even though I don’t really understand paying $70 for a felt tree),  but I found it appropriate given the time of year and serendipitous because I was thinking along these lines just this morning.

Many friends (including myself) have experienced some major life changes in the past few months: getting married, breaking up and finding themselves single for the first time in almost a decade, having babies, losing old jobs, getting new jobs, re-evaluating current jobs, moving far away to strange places, and, of course, turning 30.   And while change is good, it is can be disruptive and not necessarily in line with your grand life plan.  And for me, too often (way too often) I let small defeats and frustration get the best of me.

So, in the spirit of the upcoming holidays, being exactly 30 days out from Thanksgiving, and entering my 30th year of life, I am going to embrace the aforementioned blogger’s suggestion and follow in her footsteps (though I will be using pieces of paper and a jar).  I know this isn’t a totally novel concept, but making an effort to really be aware of everything we do have and stop obsessing about the things that we don’t…every day…just for a month…it can’t hurt.

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
~Thornton Wilder