It’s funny how this time of year has changed so much for me over the years. It use to be one filled with stress and deadlines and late nights at work. When you work in retail, Thanksgiving is just the day before Black Friday.
But now that I don’t live that life anymore (thank god) it’s a much more relaxing time of year for me and one I genuinely look forward to. I actually get to see my family and actually take time off. I mean, kind of. When you’re constantly creating content there isn’t always a “break” but I still wouldn’t trade this in for my old soul-sucking retail job for anything.
Today I’m spending my day in my Aunt’s kitchen with my cousins, sipping on wine (probably starting at 10 am if I’m being honest) and chopping up whatever they put in front of me. Both of my cousins actually know what they’re doing in the kitchen so I typically just do whatever they tell me and refill their wine glasses.
I’m thinking a lot about this past year and how different my life is compared to last year. In so many ways I feel restless and like I’m running behind in life. There are still so many goals I haven’t reached and things on my to do list I haven’t gotten to. But today I want to reshift my focus on what is going right in my life. This is something I try to do daily with my gratitude lists and it has the power to totally transform my day.
So today I am going to stop being so hard on myself (anyone else have this problem?) and instead just be grateful. It feels so much better, ya know?
This year I’m grateful for…
My precious parents
They do SO much for me and are always rooting me on, no matter what. They are my number one fans and thanks to them I will always be able to say I know what unconditional love feels like.
Friends that feel like family (and vice versa)
If you want to read my ode to all of the lovely ladies in my life you can check that out here, but the gist is that I am so incredibly lucky to have so many amazing women in my life who lift me up and celebrate me daily.
Living alone
I make jokes about my tiny shoebox of an apartment all the time but while it may be built for elves it is all mine. Living alone is such a luxury in itself in San Francisco and I have made my little space feel like home and for that I am grateful.
My resilience and determination
Working for yourself in an unconventional industry is hard. Figuring out how to bring in enough each month to pay the bills and live a decent life and save for the future is stressful. But I knew I wasn’t the 9-5 kind of gal and that I wanted to do my own thing. Not everyone gets to make a living the way I do and I should be so thankful I am not the type of person to give up when things get difficult.
Knowing my passion
So many twenty-somethings I know have no idea what they want to do. And while that’s totally okay, I recognize that I am lucky to have this innate desire to write and that I know without a doubt that this is how I want to spend my time and earn a living.
Being in good health
I know this may seem basic but I feel so lucky to have a healthy body and to not be in pain. After spending the majority of 2017 barely able to walk and relying on 20 ibuprofen every day to help reduce my arthritic and sciatic pain I don’t let a day go by without feeling so thankful to now be living a pain-free life. It sounds so dramatic but you don’t realize how much you take your body for granted until it’s not functioning the way its suppose to. So I am thrilled to be feeling good this year!
I could probably write a novel about all the good things in my life and that fact alone makes me immensely grateful. It’s so easy to be negative and to fall into this trap of feeling sorry for ourselves. And some days, I think that’s okay. We can’t let go of bad vibes unless we feel them out first. But I think we could all put in the effort to express gratitude more often. That’s a big focus for me going into the new year.
I hope you’re all spending the day with people you love, eating delicious things and feeling grateful for all that you have.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Xo, She
