Gratitude Challenge

Awhile back, my sister Mary Jane tagged me in a post on Facebook. She was tagged by another friend to post every day for seven days about three things that she is grateful for. I’ve been meaning to start this series of posts for sometime, knowing that it would require me to be present for a 7 days in a row. 

I usually reserve this type of challenge for November. I found this other group online with the help of my friend Joelle, (another yogini friend) called Capturing Gratitude. The idea is to capture a moment, person or object on film (or rather with my camera phone in my case) that I’m grateful for. Sometimes, you don’t even need to elaborate on why because a picture is worth a thousand words…but I’m sure-you already know and feel when a picture moves you from your own experience.

This gratitude challenge is different because I can write a little more about the things I’m grateful for with each post. Like I said, I put it off, but now feels like a good day to start.

It was raining here, for a good portion of last week. There were areas that were flooded, and many people had to leave their homes and be evacuated to higher ground. It was windy too, so some of those people may have even had parts of their houses blown away by the wind. This is all following a huge lights and sounds show that woke me up on Friday morning at 3am. The sky was flashing with lightening and of course, after the lightening came the thunder. I stayed up for about half an hour checked on each of the kids to make sure they had a blankie, and when I was able to settle and tuck myself back into bed with Gelli and Nino, I said a little prayer of THANKS. I was safe from the rain. I was safe from the wind. And I was safe from the harsh elements of such a big typhoon. 

I am thankful for the shelter which my husband has been able to provide for our family. It keeps us more than safe. It is our refuge. Together, Nino and I have made this house a home. I’m thankful for our home which keeps us safe from the rain but more importantly…I’m thankful for my husband.

When Nino and I got married, we were both quite young. I had my girlfriends whom I would turn to in times of crisis (whether it was self made drama or not) and they were my confidantes. I enjoyed the closeness with my cousins, and of course other members of my family because we are so close knit. But what I didn’t realize, is how my husband and I would grow to know each other the only way two people can know each other when you spend as much time together as we do. Since we were quite young when we got married, we have really grown up together. I admire the man he has become…and I look forward to watching him succeed in what he loves doing. He’s a good man. I know I am lucky. I’m grateful for so much of what he does, and how he loves me. He is a good father, and just being near him can heal the hurts of my heart.

But just last week, (as it happens about once a month) I was so super thankful of the relationship and the love that has grown between us. It was when I was thinking about composing this post, (and the 15 others I have going on inside my head and on the screen) and I was so super overwhelmed. I was anxious for some of my deadlines, anxious for all of the things that I knew I needed to get done and couldn’t possibly finish. I needed to cook dinner. I had to plan the menu for the rest of the week and go food shopping. I seriously had a checklist of things to be done for “work” and for the home and children that was so overwhelmingly long it took up two columns on my notebook of “Things to do.”

I was sitting at the computer. I couldn’t type. Sitting in my office, overwhelmed with the mess and my responsibilities as a mom, a wife, a writer, and even a yoga teacher. And in walks my knight…”Let’s order pizza for the kids,” he says, “C’mon, I’m taking you out for dinner and a movie. You’re stuck.”

He knows me. He “gets” me. He loves me. I have never ever doubted his love for me. He has always made me feel just how much he loves me. He has always made me feel secure with his love and support. I know this same love and support is there for our children. 

I didn’t realize that when we got married how much more we would continue to learn about one another…how much more we would grow in our love, into our adulthood, but even more so, in friendship…I’m grateful to be married to my best friend. 

Y’all know I’m grateful for my sisters 🙂 But I’m especially grateful for my sister who tagged me in her post. Mary Jane is my older sister whom I have always looked up to. She was always so beautiful. (She still is 🙂 When we were younger and she was in college, my friends would come over and I remember how all the young boys being enamoured with her beauty. Shucks, she even won a beauty pageant.

I was so honored when she asked me to be Ninang to her only daughter. I was all of 19 years old but I knew I just had to do a bang up job of being a Godmother, simply because she asked me.

Even now, I’m not sure how she does it all…she works full time, manages the household, takes care of her family, and still finds time to fix herself. She is definitely what I would call a “Superwoman,” managing all of these responsibilities and then some.

Thanks MJ. Hope you have time to follow my gratitude challenge here on the blog.