Grateful. Day 1

Did any of us really see 2020 coming? I doubt it.

One of my favorite lines from The Office is from Andy Bernard. He says, “I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them.” As an Enneagram 4, I regularly romanticize the past, but I’m not sure it’s ever been as tempting as it is currently in September of 2020.

I’ve felt prompted for weeks to start documenting gratitude. I don’t know why I’ve felt this pull, but I have. So here I am. I know gratitude is a healthy practice for a number of reasons, and while I know I verbalize gratitude daily in a number of ways, I don’t as often record it.

Most humans are never fully present in the now, because unconsciously,

they believe that the next moment must be more important than this one.

But then you miss your whole life, which is never not now.

And that’s a revelation for some people,

to realize that your life is only ever now.

-Eckhart Tolle

I’m out of my favorite eye makeup remover right now. I can’t buy it in the store. I have to order it online, but I’m out, so for now, I’m using these wipes from Neutrogena. The last time I used these wipes was three years ago when I traveled to Italy with my mom. I couldn’t pack my usual liquid makeup remover, so I used these instead. Now, each night when I wipe away the day, the lavender scent takes me back to Italy with my mom. For the reminder of those memories, I’m grateful.

I made banana bread tonight using my grandmother’s recipe. The smell filled the whole house. It was heavenly. There are firefighters in our country battling fires like never before. There are people who just lost their homes to a hurricane. There are loved ones in the hospital battling COVID and all kinds of things. We all go through seasons. For so many, this season is a valley. While I have my own battles, I also have my family, my health, a home, and a job. Grateful.

What are you grateful for?