Oprah Winfrey recommends keeping a "grateful journal" in which you "list five things that happened this day that you are grateful for. What it will begin to do is change your perspective of your day and your life. If you can learn to focus on what you have, you will always see that the universe is abundant; you will have more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never have enough."
I know it's early in the day, but life is good and I'm sure I can come up with five things I'm grateful for right now:
1. It is no longer "Talk Like a Pirate Day." I can't write in pirate-speak, so No Nym, I couldn't comment on any of your posts yesterday. I find "Talk Like a Pirate Day" to be most irksome. I do not, however, expend any energy deploring its glorification of those bad, bad piratical people, and find those who do complain about pirates to be just plain humorless.
2. I finally got the contract from my publisher (for a book about what else? crosswords), so I no longer feel like I'm in the limbo of uncertainty. Writing about something I enjoy turns out to be fun!
3. While my husband may pay no attention to laundry, he is a good man, a good husband, and a superb father. Plus he puts up with my snoring.
4. My son's having a good time in first grade, his best buddy from day camp is in his class, he's reading so fluidly now, and he does a much better job of listening to his mother than he used to. I've been productive during the hours he's in school, though today will entail more hair salon time (highlights and a much-overdue cut) and less writing time.
5. Pharmaceuticals and medical technology. Seriously. My kid and I wouldn't be here without 'em. While universal health care is sorely needed, health insurance companies drive everyone nuts, and there's plenty of over-/under-/mis-treatment in medicine, we do have a helluva bunch of resources on tap.
What are you grateful for? (And you'd better come up with five things. I know you can do it! If you're in a bind, there's always the weather, the new TV season, and the seasonal waning of heat and humidity.)
Cross-posted at Bitch Ph.D.
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9 comments:
Yarrrr! Happy belated Pirates Day ye scurvy matey!
1. My mom is visiting, allowing me to sit here in this beautiful coffee shop without wrestling with a toddler.
2. My family and my husband's have good teeth. Don't laugh, dude. It means something when your kid gets paraded around the pediatric dentist place to show everyone how strong her teeth are.
3. My new Adidas.
4. We ate corn from our own garden last night and will again tonight (I'm listing this now, as 6 days from now I may not be quite as psyched about our all-corn diet).
5. Pooey, while waking me up 6 or 10 times last night, is still healthy and happy and rolly-polly during daylight hours. If he were a little jerk during the day, that would be extra-specially hard.
Thanks OrTan. And congrats on the book deal!
Ye be anti-piratical, eh swabbie? Ye sound like a ninja sympathiser to me!
I'm trying to think of 5 things specific to THIS day ...
1. A good run.
2. How much the boy enjoyed having me tie an orange scarf around his waist to make a tutu.
3. My husband splitting a 24-ounce Heineken with me, only he split it 70:30 and gave me the big share.
4. Stealing a moment to order some really cool Keen clogs online.
5. How happy my assistant seemed today about her pregnancy, which was unplanned but the guy stepped up to the plate; also, she already has a girl and her boyfriend has THREE -- and she just found out it's a boy!
I know that she is right about the journal but it would be easier to take from her if I felt that I could identify with her in the slightest... Congrats on the book!
Pirates, oh, hush.
Mignon, hooray for babysitting and fresh corn! And thanks.
DoctorMama, I love little-boy tutus! (And beer.)
Joanna, thanks!
Maman, I get the idea Oprah started doing that a long time ago. And she did have a truly crappy upbringing, so I think she's entitled even though she's a bazillionaire. So don't take it from her—take it from me! (Not like I keep a gratitude journal myself, but one blog post is enough, isn't it?) And thanks!
i am grateful for my favorite organs...my liver and my brain. In that order.
Hey, congrats on the contract!! I can't wait to read the book.
I'm going to have to keep my list of things for which I am grateful to myself. There are so many, and I might get a little sniffly thinking about them.
better late than never? here goes:
1. my son who i love more than life itself
2. all of my friends
3. the internet
4. the elliptical at the gym
5. my job, which allows me the time and money to do the things i love.
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