Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Things I Am Thankful For


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by The Broke and The BookishThis week's topic is gratitude, and I have a lot to be thankful for. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays...it's about food, and family, and really taking time to take stock of your life and realize how much is good, even if there's also stuff that's less good. This Thursday, we'll be heading over to my in-laws house and celebrating with them and their extended group of friends...the wine flows freely and it's good people, so we always have a lot of fun! Things I'm thankful for this year:

My husband: Getting the cheesy stuff out of the way first. I'm grateful for him in my life because he's the actual best, and also that he's officially my husband and that means the wedding is over, because planning that was one of the most stressful experiences I've ever had (I'd happily take another bar exam before planning another wedding).

Our family: Between my wonderful in-laws and my own adored and missed mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law, I'm fortunate to have so many great people in my life that I love and love me.

My besties: Kailey and Crystal are the best friends a girl could ask for...the kinds of friends that have been there for you since elementary school are the kind you cherish. Our trips are the weekend I look forward to the most every year!

Stanley: Getting our little pugling almost a year ago now was the best thing. He is just a constant source of delight and love.

My health: Apart from a recent unpleasant seasonal flu and my hormonal migraines, I haven't had a major health issue since my gallbladder removal in 2014. I am very, very fortunate that this is the case, many others aren't so lucky.

Having a good job: I have work that I find fulfilling, and my coworkers are all people I enjoy and respect. That hasn't always been the case for me and I'm so glad that it is now.

Reproductive freedom: The development of birth control options means that women can take ownership of our lives and careers without having to constantly worry that we might become pregnant before we want to (if indeed, we want to at all). This is no small feat, when you look at the course of human history, and recent political realities have reminded me how lucky I am that this is the case.

The ability to vote: Speaking of recent political realities...I can feel however I want about the outcome of this year's election (spoiler alert: I do not feel good), but the fact remains that I was able to go to the ballot box and have my say. This wasn't always the case for lady people, so I am grateful to the suffragettes for their work securing the vote for women.

Books: Cliche, I know, but I am constantly grateful that my mother instilled a love of reading and appreciation for the power of the written word in me when I was little. Through books, I get to explore the past, the future, and the incredible variety of experiences that constitute being human.

Living in a post-paper map world: This last one is a little flippant, I know, but I am actually constantly, consciously glad that I live in a world where my awfulness with directions doesn't keep me from getting where I'm going without getting horribly lost all the time.

6 comments:

  1. Happy Thanksgiving!
    And great list! Even if we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Belgium, I still like the idea of taking a moment to reflect on everything we're thankful for. And we should definitely be thankful for the things we uwually take for granted, like our health, jobs, reproductive freedom and ability to vote. And I totally relate to your issues with directions, I'm pretty hopeless when it comes to directions myself ;)

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    1. It's a nice reminder that even though everything might not be great all the time, we still have a lot that is pretty wonderful to celebrate. And that DEFINITELY includes my beloved Google Maps!

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  2. Great list! Happy Thanksgiving (even though we don't celebrate it here in Britain, I love the idea of taking time to consider all that we have to be thankful for)!
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2016/11/22/top-ten-tuesday-84/

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    1. It's a great tradition (as is the feasting)!

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  3. Love this list! Especially the post paper map world - I am the absolute worst with maps and directions in general, so while it might seem like a minor thing, this is huge for me in my daily life!

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    1. I'm right there with you...my capacity for getting lost is unrivaled, so having it just tell me where to turn is AMAZING

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