THANKSGIVING IS MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY!! Because it involves my three favorite things: Family, Food and Relaxation!!
In my family thanksgiving is usually celebrated by extended family members gathering at one family member’s house to eat a big meal together. I love quality time with my family. I love food. And someone clearly needs to let all higher education professors know that I do not do work on the holidays! But this blog post is not going to be about how much I love my favorite holiday or a venting session about how I strongly dislike you people who feel the need to celebrate Christmas before December even comes. Instead I am going to take this opportunity to talk about my new coping skill that I have started utilizing. I feel like Thanksgiving is the perfect time to share this with you all.
In the spirit of self care and being nicer to myself I have started counting my blessings. It sounds really simple because it is. In moments when I can feel myself becoming mad/annoyed, or worried about something I stop doing whatever I am doing and verbally list the things I consider to be an immediate blessing in my life. Just like praying and thanking God.
So in honor of Thanksgiving I have dedicated each day of the month to something I am thankful for. Some of the things on the list are superficial and some are extremely meaningful but the idea is that in moments of anxiousness or whenever I am upset about something I have this list to remind me that not everything in my life is bad and I have a lot to be thankful for. Making the list always changes my perspective.
NOVEMBER
Day 1 - Thankful for my car. My car has been the best investment in my adulthood so far.
Day 2 - So thankful for my nieces and nephews. They make me so happy to be an aunt. It makes my day when I get pictures, texts or calls from them. I hate living so far away from them but I love hearing good news about them.
Day 3 - I am thankful for secure employment. I moved all the way from Virginia to Colorado to advance my career and it has worked out great. I love my job as an ABA therapist for autistic children. I have had jobs that I did not really enjoy in the past so I truly appreciate enjoying what I do even on bad days.
Day 4 - Thankful that I am still alive. Waking up without physical pain,sickness or bodily dysfunction everyday is a continuous blessing.
Day 5 - Thankful for my two cousins Donya and Donald. Always great laughs whenever we talk. I am not really able to keep in touch with a lot of family members on my dad’s side of my family so the few that I do know I truly cherish.
Day 6 - I am thankful for my apartment. Having complete ownership of my own space was a step in adulthood I did not know I needed and I am proud of myself for making it happen.
Day 7 - There is good and bad to every group chat and I am so thankful for the mute option on iphones.
Day 8 - I am thankful for my best friend Darius. He is an extremely loyal and dependable friend even through hard times.
Day 9 - I am thankful for my two female best friends Tavaria and Japera. They both are extremely supportive and encouraging. We all live in seperate parts of the country but still could not be any closer. Our facetime venting sessions are always necessary and appreciated.
Day 10 - Thankful for my Dad helping me with travel plans so that I can be with family on my favorite holiday.
Day 11 - I am thankful for both of my sisters, Cinnamon and Love-Asia. They are always checking on me to make sure I am okay. They both are extremely loving and compassionate.
Day 12 - Today is the first day of a new class in my master’s program and my professor is black. I get excited when I have a black professor because representation matters, especially in the field of mental health.
Day 13 - Thankful for food apps and reward points. Chic-fil-a be holding me down when I am trying to stretch a dollar until payday!
Day 14 - Thankful for online flash sales! I was able to purchase much needed sweaters for the winter.
Day 15 - Today is payday! I am thankful for direct deposit! Technology has come so far.
Day 16 - Thankful for counseling/therapy. This personal journey started out rough but I can tell it is helping me to recognize certain things about myself and how to work on making them better.
Day 17 - Thankful to Netflix for giving access to popular Black shows, like Girlfriends and The Parkers. Rewatching these shows made me realize that I should not have been watching it as a kid but as an adult I still thoroughly enjoy lol
Day 18 - I’m so thankful my job staff meetings are virtual now. I can lay in bed and just mute the mic and camera.
Day 19 - Paychecks come and go but at least the refrigerator is full!
Day 20 - I am thankful to have caring friends, like Sam and Denesia, who will check on me to see how I am doing. We do not talk everyday but knowing that I am thought of and cared for is appreciated.
Day 21 - I am thankful for my Aunt Marvolie because she goes out her way to stay in contact with me even though I am not always able to visit my dad's side of my family.
Day 22 - I’m thankful for sweaters and leggings keeping me warm in the snow. Layers!
Day 23 - Thankful for Uggs. These boots are comfortable and keep me warm in the wintertime.
Day 24 - I am so grateful for my step mom. She always subtly asks me if I need anything when I talk to her and most of the time I say no but these days all my money goes to bills. So she sent me two gift cards in the mail to get some things for my apartment and I truly appreciate it.
Day 25 - Today is a snow day! I have never been so happy to see snow lol only because I get the day off which means I get some extra rest after working a part time job all weekend.
Day 26 - Extremely thankful to be able to remain employed during a global pandemic.
Day 27 - Extremely thankful to live through a global pandemic and not be infected by the contagious virus known as COVID-19.
Day 28 - HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!!! I am thankful to be alive and celebrate a holiday dedicated to spending quality time with family.
Day 29 - Thankful that everyone I know who was infected with COVID-19 did not pass away due to their sickness and was able to overcome and be nursed back to health.
Day 30 - Thankful that more people are becoming aware of mental health as a serious issue and becoming better educated about maintaining healthy habits.
Just something to think about:
What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?