30 Days of Gratitude in November!

“Gratitude is the first sign of a thinking, rational creature”. – Solanus Casey

Being grateful is a great way to shape a positive mindset. Realizing what you have, and not focusing on what you don’t have, will make your view on life more positive. It is great for your mental health. It’s a great way to wire your brain to see the good in life and not the bad. Life is a blessing!

This month I’m going to post something that I am grateful for each day. Hopefully, I can update this post, each day in November. I hope this helps others. Cheers to a month of gratitude.

What are you grateful for? How have you experienced gratitude helping you have a more positive mindset?

Day 1: I am grateful for my children. They fill my heart with love. When they were born, the love I felt for them is indescribable. They make every day count. They bring so much meaning to life. I am so blessed to have two daughters. They are so intelligent and sweet.

Day 2: I am grateful for my husband. He is very emotionally supportive. He listens to how I feel and is willing to talk when I’m upset about something. He is supportive of my anxiety disorder. He is supportive in general.

I like how he is emotionally supportive of our two emotionally charged teenage daughters. They are so lucky to have him as their Dad.

He worked three jobs for me to be a stay-at-home Mom when they were little.

We’ve been together 18 years, married 17.

Day 3: I am grateful for sleep! Yes, sleep! I worked last night and took my kids to school in the morning. I slept 5 hours. I can’t wait for a bed. I cleaned the whole house today too. I am exhausted. I’m sure I sleep more than the average person. When I work, I get to sleep 10 hours! My job wears me out. I am grateful that I can get enough sleep for myself since I sleep so much! I am also grateful for my comfy bed! Some people don’t even have a bed.

Day 4: After spending all day outside, I’m thankful for nature. The wind blew through the trees. The moon in the night sky. The mountains for hiking. The sunrise, and sunset. The beautiful beach, and oceans. The lakes, and bodies of water. The changing leaves in the fall, and the blooming flowers in the Spring. One of my favorite activities is walking in nature, hiking, or sightseeing.

Day 5: I’m grateful for my parents! My Dad just put a new toilet in for me and I didn’t even ask. He doesn’t need to do this for me but he did. He does a lot for me around my house because he is a handyman, he also helped me by car. I’m a Daddy’s girl, and my Mom is supportive to talk with and she is hilarious to joke with. My parents are always there for me. I’m off to their house right now for dinner…

Day 6: I’m grateful for my job. It is stressful, does a lot of wear and tear on my body, and tires me out. There is a lot of politics at my job, and we are short-staffed. I feel like I do the work of 4, and I complain (vent) a lot about it, but I love it.

I love being able to help the elderly, the generation before us, that served our country. I love helping people and making their day better. It brings a lot of meaning to my life and is very fulfilling. It gives me a sense of purpose, I put 100% into my job and wear myself out! Haha. I have a high standard of care and am quite a perfectionist at work.

Many people do not like this kind of work. We cannot find people, let alone good people, that don’t just sit around.

What I do is, care for the elderly. Toilet them, shower them, do their laundry, get all their trash, do their oxygen, transfer them, take them to dinner, serve them, bus their dishes, set up the dining room, and put them to bed. I do care for about 10 of them and get 40 residents trash. Sometimes, I just pass their meds, do eye, and ear drops, blood pressures, vital signs, and respond to emergencies.

Quite exhausting, but quite rewarding. I still love this job and look forward to going to work. The pay isn’t great, but the sense of purpose is.

I did find a contract job where I make really good money going to various places as an agency. This is my part-time job. What a blessing to get paid what I deserve! You can read about that here: https://michellescrazybusylife.net/calling-a-cnas-and-qmaps-get-paid-what-you-are-worth/

Day 7: I’m thankful for reading and writing. I think writing is a great form of expression. Keeps our brain sharp, and helps organize thoughts. Helps us express ourselves and thoughts in a different light.

I love reading. It is a great form of escapism and makes of more creative. It opens our minds up. It’s so relaxing to get lost in a book.

Day 8: I’m thankful to live in a first-world country. I’m thankful for running (CLEAN) water, electricity, and so on. In other countries, people do not have running water nor electricity, access to education, or healthcare. This is truly sad. I need to learn to appreciate this.

Day 9: I am thankful for my pets. I have two dogs and two cats. This is my dog Buddy: https://michellescrazybusylife.net/how-much-is-that-doggy-in-the-window/

This is my parents’ dog: https://michellescrazybusylife.net/oh-you-dont-learn-do-you/

They are cute, fluffy, and sweet. I forever have a cuddle buddy. They greet me with their wagging tales when I come home from work, bark for a walk, and wake everyone up! They bring joy to my heart, and they are funny to watch.

I love walking the dogs. They help me get exercise, and it is fun to have walking/hiking partners.

My cat caught all the mice in the house. I am so grateful for that because I am terrified of mice!

This is my cat Mable: https://michellescrazybusylife.net/happy-catuday/

Day 10: I’m grateful for my health! Tonight at work my residents were sick with colds and flues. My friend I work with is getting chemo. Some of my friends died of cancer this year. This is heartbreaking, but it puts things into perspective, to be grateful for my health! My kids were born healthy as well. Your health is everything, and sometimes you don’t realize until you get sick or get diagnosed with an underlying health condition.

Day 11: Along with day 10, I am thankful that I live in a country where I have access to healthcare, medicine, and vaccines whenever I need them! I’m thankful that I can just go to the doctor or the hospital need be when I’m sick.

Day 12: I am thankful for transportation. I am thankful that I can just get in my car and go to point a to b. I’m thankful I have a car to drive 20 miles to work in, but those gas prices though!

Day 13: I’m thankful to live in Colorado. When I was growing up it was much smaller and safer, it has grown a lot. I’m thankful to live here because there is a lot of fun recreational activities. Skiing, hiking, going to the lake, the mountains. With the legalization of marijuana, a lot of people moved here, and the cost of living sky-rocketed, I can barely afford it, but I don’t want to leave. I will just work more, that’s how much I love Colorado. The mountains are so beautiful!

Day 14: I am thankful for massages. My body, especially my back, hurts from my job. I go to the massage therapist and get a deep tissue full body massage when I have the money to splurge.

It takes away the pain, relaxes me, and is a great stress reliever. I feel 10 years younger, afterward, and don’t have a care in the world. It is great therapy.

Day 15: I am thankful for friends. It is nice to have friends, and have people to talk to. It is great for me mentally to have someone to relate to and share my thoughts, feelings, and problems with and to vent to. It is also fun to have someone to hang out with!

Day 16: I am thankful for education. I loved being in school and learning. I love all the knowledge that we can attain. I am grateful that we can go to school, and get an education, and get a better job.

Day 17: I’m grateful for the dentist, and being able to go, and get a cleaning, and get cavities filled if need be.

Day 18: I’m thankful for technology, and the Internet. I think it is helpful that we can google certain things, and have access to the weather. We can look up businesses, and look at their reviews. We can blog, and use social media to stay in contact with our relatives.

Day 19:

I am happy to be given life in general. It is a blessing with all of its ups and downs. To get up in the morning and be able to start a new day, and see what is in store for me that day. To be able to get up for work in the morning or get up and spend time with my kids on my days off, and go out and have fun with my kids.

Day 20: I am thankful for food. It is delicious. I like it too much! 😀 =) Haha. But I am grateful that I have enough food to eat.

Day 21: I’m thankful for the holidays. It is so fun to celebrate and be festive. It is fun to dress up and spend time with the family. I love how it brings the family together for family time.

Day 22: I am thankful for music. I love music. It is an awesome form of expression. It can help you express your thoughts and feelings. It can entertain you and put you in a better mood. I listen to music in the shower, and when I am driving. Music helps me get a workout done. I like to walk the dogs and hike, with music. It is like a different language that speaks to the soul and helps us do life.

Day 23: I’m grateful for make-up. It is so much fun! It is a form of expression to me. It makes me younger as well. I’m thankful for skin cream as I age. I am thankful for conditioner, it helps me brush my tangly hair out.

Day 24: I’m thankful for board games, and playing cards. These are my favorite past times. I think it brings people closer together.

Day 25: I’m thankful for singing. IT makes me feel better and decreases stress.

Day 26: I’m thankful for dancing. This is a fun exercise for me. It brightens up my mood.

Day 27: I am thankful for swimming. I love swimming. It is so refreshing and fun. It is a great workout.

Day 28: I am thankful for hot tubs, and hot baths. I love to soak my old sore bones in hot water! 🙂

Day 29: I’m thankful for days my days off, I get 3 days off instead of two since I am busy with the kids. I am very grateful to my husband for this. I am also grateful for vacations. There’s nothing better than getting paid time off.

Day 30: I am grateful for coffee! Yes, coffee! I cannot wake up without it!

Sincerley by Michelle gast