Thankful

I feel like the perfect way to end the month of November is expressing my thanks. As great as food and family is.... giving thanks is what the holiday is all about right?

I'm thankful for the gospel. It brings happiness and guidance and purpose to my life. Comfort too... to know my family is forever.

Speaking of family. I'm really thankful for my family. I'm thankful that my family is pretty drama free compared to many other families I know. I'm thankful that we all love each other and love spending time together. I'm thankful that everyone has different talents and willing to share them and help each other out. I'm thankful how sweet and supportive and loving they all are. I feel really blessed to be a part of my family. They are all amazing examples to me.

I'm thankful for being an overall positive person. Sure I have my down times, but overall... I look at life in a positive way and make the best out of every situation and pretty happy most of the time and love life.

I'm thankful for technology. I'm thankful that it makes my life easier. Easier to keep in touch with people, easier for me to keep a journal, easier to share my life with others.... just makes life easier.... there is something for everything to make things easier. It also provides me a job.

I'm thankful for my job! It's so nice to have a secure job for the past almost 6 years. It's nice to have a steady income to be able to support myself and also do things that I love. I'm also lucky that my job has provided me great co-workers and a fun and laid back environment that ALSO gives me great benefits and a lot of paid time off.

Which brings me to the next thing I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for traveling. Not only do I love seeing new places and doing new things and eating new food... but each time I travel, it teaches me new lessons and has me meeting new people and it gives me new perspective and appreciation for life. I'm so passionate about traveling.

I'm thankful for the basics. A roof over my head, food to eat, water to drink and shower in and a car (a beautiful and very reliable new car) to get me where I need to go. It's the everyday little things that a lot of times we forget to be thankful for because we are all lucky enough to have them, but not everyone does.... or people do, but it is a big struggle to get them.

I'm thankful for my friends. I have had bad friends in my life that have caused me a lot of heartache, but I have mostly been blessed with really wonderful friends that truly love and care for me as I do them. They have been a great support to me and we have had a lot of fun times throughout my life. My life would for sure not be as enjoyable without all of my dearest friends. They give life more meaning.

I'm thankful for music. Seems like a silly thing to be thankful for, but music is something that I have always been passionate about. I love it... pretty much all of it. I love singing, I love playing the piano and guitar even though I'm not the best. I loved my choir days, I have tender memories of singing with my mom and sisters all growing up and all the music we listened to in the car growing up. Music can set a mood, help you express your feelings and help bring back wonderful memories. Music is a powerful thing and I love it.

I'm thankful for my health. I know that there are a lot of people that are not so lucky with their health. People that are sick all the time or have struggled with cancer or other unpleasant things. It makes me feel bad for being such a baby about getting a cold once or twice a year. I really don't get sick much. I'm really thankful for that. I'm also thankful that I exercise and eat healthy and am able to run and hike and do active things because I have taken care of myself... sure... there is still lots of room to improve and I'm always trying to... but I'm healthy and I'm thankful for that.

I'm thankful for everything I have learned in my life so far and the person that I have become. Of course I'm not perfect and will never be... but I like to think that I have learned a lot in my 31 years. I have matured and become a better communicator and more confident and less judgmental and just a little wiser. I love who I am and it has taken me many years to feel that way. I'm happy that I finally feel that way.

I could go on and on about things I am thankful for. There are a lot of things and people in my life to be thankful for. However, I will end it here. It is easy to focus on what we don't have... but let's choose to focus on everything that we DO have. We are all blessed with so much. There's so much to be thankful for.