Gratitude is just a really good all-around state of mind: psychological studies, as I am always telling you this time of year, have proven that the more a person pays attention to what they’re grateful for, the happier that person will be. If thinking in these terms is tough for you, or you don’t feel like anything has gone right lately, then start small: a kiss from a dog; a laugh from a friend who’s impossible to crack up; a $20 bill you you found in your pocket; or maybe just a particularly good slice of pizza. The simple practice of taking note of these things helps. As for what I’m grateful for this year: the Covid vaccine, which has made life—if not quite normal yet—then not quite as bleak as it had been. And I’m grateful that when I got Covid anyway, it was a fairly mild case. I’m grateful for the fact that love came into my life this year, and I’m mighty grateful to the man who brought it. I’m grateful for a sane presence in the White House. And for my mom, who is, as always, an inspiration. And for the podcast, which I love doing. And of course I’m super-grateful for all of you, and the kind and caring community you’ve built here. I’ll be back here the day after Thanksgiving with Black Friday deals, so see you here then. Meanwhile, please do share: what are you feeling grateful for?
thanks for this blog and pod. many blogs have left the building and many i’ve grown out of. but i continue to come back here for really good conversations, ideas, honesty.
I know it sounds weird, but I’m grateful for having beenforced to learn new skills last year after the world shut down. I had to learn how to cook beyond the two go-to meals we would have while the rest of the week, we would eat out or get take out. I have the confidence now to cook for a lot of people at tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner. I’m also grateful that my mom and dad who are divorced get a long well enough for us all to be together. I’m thankful for Kim and Jenn (and Tally, too!) for putting on an excellent podcast. I may not always agree with some of the sentiments expressed, but it inevitably gives me good stuff to ponder for the week. Plus, it definitely makes me feel less alone in this bizarro world of middle age.
I needed this post, today (and am grateful for this blog and EIF). My mom moved into. a memory care facility about a month ago and we are all trying to adjust. While this Thanksgiving will certainly be “different,” I am grateful for the wonderful care she is getting and the relief my dad is able to begin to admit for not being responsible for her care 24/7.
My mom was in memory care and then finally skilled nursing after my dad’s death – turns out he had been her anchor to reality. Glad you’ve found a good place for your mom, and hope you can find value in the time you have with her (at every stage, no matter how difficult)
It’s a strange time of life to navigate, isn’t it? Sending warm thoughts your way, Eloise.
Eloise – I am thinking of you. I am right behind you in a similar journey and it is one of the hardest I have been on.
The usual suspects: family, friends, my health, this blog–which was a lifeline early pandemic. More specifically, watching my nephew this past Saturday (after 2 postponements) declare his love for his now wife, in front of all who love them both. I can’t think of a more life-affirming experience, my heart near burst with joy, love and pride!
I am super grateful for my health. And I’m always grateful for my kids. I am also so grateful that my sweet pup, Betty, continues to be in reliable health in spite of being almost 14 (January 2022). I feel both fortunate and grateful to have a handful of like minded smart hilarious female friends that I group zoom with on a regular basis––they have for sure kept me sane during Covid and beyond. Thank you, Kim, for this blog! And thank you, Kim and Jenn, for your fabulous podcast!
I know the cliche answer is family, and God, I love my spouse and kid, but feeling really grateful this year for my friends–an amazing, smart, and generous group of women that are helping me to appreciate the middle age and mid-career stage of life.
I usually am grateful for small things (wool socks, good tea, good chocolate). This year I have huge things to be grateful for: the completion of my divorce and a much better financial settlement than I’d hoped for —because I kept my wits about me at some crucial points. I’m grateful for my new house, on a block I first saw 30 years ago & said “this is where I should live.” Grateful for my kid, partner, friends, synagogue community, streaming movement classes, long walks in the national park that is a block from my house. Grateful for this blog & commenting crowd whose voices get me through many an afternoon.
You truly have listed three of my favorite things! Drinking tea now.
First, I’m thankful that you are no longer sick, Kim! I’m also thankful that I got my booster yesterday morning and so far (knock wood) haven’t had any side effects, because I still have lots of Thanksgiving cooking to do. I’m thankful for my mom, who has spent her retirement years trying to make Florida a little less awful, volunteering for the homeless and fighting Desantis while working for her local Democratic Party. I’m thankful to live in a state where I trust our politicians and residents, and where, despite being one of the very first counties in the US with a COVID case, we now have all adults 91% vaccinated with at least one dose and I feel like I can go places without fear. And I’m thankful for my husband and sister, who are both annoying but still my best friends and very fun to be around, because they were my bubble for the pre-vax COVID years.
I am grateful for a 31 year marriage and our decision to live “child free.” Also that I got to finally see all my sorority sisters last week after a Covid hiatus. We pledged in 1983 and still laugh and reminisce like it was yesterday!
I’m really grateful to be healthy, that my family is healthy, that my beautiful older daughter has found a wonderful man and is getting married, and that my beautiful younger daughter got a really fancy job AND has her first girlfriend and is deliriously happy and I’m also really grateful that after years of false starts I think I FINALLY found a therapist I like so maybe I’ll stick with it this time. And thankful to the scientists who developed the Covid vaccine so we can actually plan a wedding, and also, today, I am thankful that an overwhelmingly white jury in the deep South did the right thing today and delivered justice.
I’ve been sober for 110 days after 30 years of arguing with myself about my drinking. Grateful that I’m a quick learner, HA.
Good on you, Dawn. Keep it up.
Thank you
It’s been a sad year, with the loss of my dad, but his death brought my youngest brother and me back together – we just don’t talk politics. And I’m grateful for the Door County vacation my hubby & I had with my mom. Continuing on the family theme, I’m grateful that my girls, who live all over, were all able to be together for their grandpa’s funeral, and that we had Rach spending part of her year with us – something I didn’t expect with my 32-yr old! Also, very excited that my baby is coming home from Ireland for Christmas. EEE!!! And, like you, Kim, I’m thankful for vaccinations and for my health after a bout with Covid. And weight loss!
“What you think about, you bring about.” (I lifted that from my fave tarot/astrologer Audrey Alison [https://www.youtube.com/c/AudreyAlison_AstrologyTarot for those interested] but it’s true. It can be really hard to stay positive, I know.
I’m sooooooo grateful both my kids are vaccinated now, and for the opportunity to work with fantastic people on a documentary that just got into Sundance, and for the growth my special needs son has made this year and the excellent support that has come with it. Thank you for the reminder!
That’s exciting, Jen! Share more with us about the doc when you’re able!
Oh, this is lovely, Kim. I’m grateful for vaccines, too, and Joe Biden, and continuing sobriety and a job I love. And a husband I love too, plus good chocolate and expensive shoes.
Clean, running water, and an outdoor environment with nature that still has the power to bring me joy and inspire me. Thank you, Kim, for this platform.
Honestly, kb, we should all remember to be grateful for clean running water once in a while.
I really liked the first comment I read-Taha Z I am wih you. I have had a number of small but irritating health issues over the past few years, finished up with trying to dissolve a blood clot from a trip to Alaska this summer(I didnt walk around enough in the plane). So I am just grateful as anything to still be here. As one friend put it. “I would rather be seen than viewed!Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!
I am thankful for the vaccine which has brought us closer to normalcy. I appreciate all the teachers and staff who make my kids in-school experience engaging and safe. I am thankful that I still “like” my husband after months of isolation. And our cats who provide so much love. I am also very grateful for this community. It’s insightful and fun to be part of it! Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m grateful to have been close to my dear aunt, my mother’s last remaining sister, who died yesterday. She was there for me during my mom’s final days (years, actually), and I was so lucky to have her in my life. And it may sound morbid, but my aunt was in great pain for the last few months, and I’m grateful that she’s no longer suffering.
It’s not morbid, Susanna, it’s healthy and honest to express it. I’m grateful for my family who isn’t afraid to talk about death. I’m grateful for public schools (and I hope they change for the better) and teenagers, a pandemic dog who got me out of the house for a long walk every morning, for science and what we can learn from it, for two open-hearted young adult children, and for female friendship and community (this blog a part of that). Thank you.
I’m also immensely grateful that, as we just learned, the racist killers of Ahmaud Arbery have been found guilty of felony murder.
Yes!!
I’m thankful that I am able to go to a world-class facility for my cancer treatment. I’m grateful that it’s a very treatable type and for the brilliant, diligent people who developed immunotherapy–no chemo, no hair loss, no nausea. So grateful. I’m grateful for a home that is a true haven while I work on getting better. I’m grateful to all my friends, family, and co-workers for looking after me, checking in, and reminding me STARKLY what I live for. The whole point is people (and animals) one way or another.
I am constitutionally a glass is half-empty kind of person, but there is so, so much in my life I am grateful for right now. Focusing at the moment on the guy who called me a couple of months ago on a Friday afternoon, with no warning, in response to a job application I’d submitted. We talked for an hour and on Monday he offered me the job. Best interview I ever had 100% because I didn’t have time to over-prepare and have seizures of anxiety. And the job is good. The call came after months of applying for things and a growing feeling of angst and despair. So: thank you, Adam, for just phoning me up and talking to me like a human and, best of all, for hiring me.
Thankful for the scientists. And for the handyman who installed new light fittings upstairs this summer that make all the difference. Thankful for politicians who agreed to create state and city parks. And for business people who run garden centers and seed stores. And the ones who run wineries. Thankful for all the novel writers. And the people who manufacture reading glasses. It takes the work of all of these to make my life so sweet.
A week after his surgery, my husband developed leg pain, requiring us to go to the ER. So, I was very grateful that it wasn’t a blood clot, but back-related. I’m also grateful that the back stuff can be resolved with physical therapy, not surgery. But, those are cases of swerving away from impediments to everyday life. For everyday life, I am thinking more and more that happiness is noticing and appreciating the drip-drip-drip cumulation. I am grateful for the economy-sized bag of Walgreens cough drops. I am grateful for the young opticians gamely figuring out how to fit me for new glasses when my mask makes fitting hard. I am grateful that the Outlaw Star anime t-shirt I wore caused me to be venerated as a Wise Ancient by the nerdy opticians. I am grateful for the kick I get whenever DeDe calls CW, C-Dub, when Kimbersam indulges in collective noun creation, or when Viajera shows her love of Britishisms in comments (Viajera, hope you are chuffed by my remark.). I am grateful for the sound of rain when I go to sleep. I am grateful for all the people watching I got in before the pandemic: admiring the Korean ladies shopping at Costco who wore arty trench coats with toggles and listening to the lady ahead of me in the drugstore explain to the approving CVS cashiers that the chianti was for the spaghetti supper she was making for friends. I am grateful for being witness to what y’all share. Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving!
Might be the glass of Pinot Noir, but this brought tears to my eyes, D. Love your input on this blog! (And ditto, re: DeDe’s C-Dub comments!)
Also grateful for the poetic musings of D.Morgendorffer and your bon mots, Mamavalveeta03, Viajera’s fantastical posts because I am always surprised at what she writes, and Eloise for fun engagement in the comments. But wait, there’s more–the entire commentariat for posts about clogs (number 6) that read like secret code, my dog for having a face like a blueberry muffin and morning pets, my niece for unabashedly being herself, Her one-eyed, one-eared, black cat who purrs and “MeeYahs” lovingly when I sing to him. Zoomies, the COVID bunny with a temperament like a prima ballerina. Kim France for being so herself, Wedding Imperial tea, Twizzlers Pull, and Peel and bacon jam…….Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Thank you, D., and I am grateful for this site and for you and for everyone else too!! I learn a lot here (I think kimbersam helped fixed my foot …) and it is so nice to have a place where people are honest and there isn’t very much yelling, ever. Hurrah!!! And I am so glad, Kim, that you are feeling better. And D. I am glad your husband is doing well! … … … This is just a thought. I have a young relative, who lives far away, who is having a tough time emotionally. Being far away and not privy generally, I can’t say how much of it is social media and phones. I just worry. And I wonder, what else might or should we be doing to make things better for the youngsters? Besides stealing their phones, which is illegal. The virus is a big part of it probably, but by no means all. Anyhow, sorry for going off topic…
Hey, I was thinking about your young relative as I did the monthly coffeemaker cleaning (first cup after cleaning tastes so good.). I think you should write your relative letters. Tell them you were wanting to sharpen your snail mail skills and thought it would be fun to send them an occasional letter, no pressure in responding. Also, if you can, maybe simple care packages that focus on sensory exploration? I love The Perfumed Court for their perfume sample options, but whatever sensory category that you think fits… In the past, I even had friends send things like pressed flowers and pretty leaves in letters. Of course, that won’t magically solve your relative’s challenges, but it will gently show them that there are still different ways to find connection in this world. Plus, everyone enjoys getting a letter; if anything, the younglings especially enjoy when we share our olden times-artifacts: letters with stamps, phones that stay at home, books with pages you can turn, car windows that roll down manually until they come out of alignment! Okay, not the last one, but you get my point.
That’s a great idea, D.! Thank you. Maybe a care package would be the thing. It can’t hurt! Hmm. … … … And that was a fun reminder about manual car windows! I know exacccctly what you mean.
At the beginning of 2020, after being gifted with a daily planner that I didn’t plan to use for its original intent, I began jotting down a few items each morning of things I am grateful for. Little did I know how important that practice would become for me as 2020 progressed into where we are now. First and foremost, I am thankful for the health and safety of my family, my cozy home, our sweet loving dog and right this very moment, the flexibility to WFH the day before a holiday. I am also thankful I found your podcast. I can’t tell you how much you and Jenn manage to resonate with whatever issue I am addressing in my life at that time. Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi Kim, I know this isn’t exactly what you asked, but I have been hardcore binging on the podcast lately, and I just can’t get enough. You guys are just having some of the best conversations around, and I’m here for it. Brava to both of you!
I am grateful for you Kim and GOA – and your podcast! -making me feel a lot less alone as I navigate my 50’s
You post just confirms to me that happiness in life is just about NOTICING when you are happy (and then being grateful for what you notice). It’s the small things! Remember Alice Walker wrote that God gets pissed if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it?
Yes, I often think of that line too. Goddddd is trying tell me something … (sorry for trying to sing at you! )