Let's Talk About Gratitude
Gratitude: noun "readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness"
Honestly, I know... you knew it. You knew it was going to be gratitude this month. "Kate. Damn. I'm disappointed in you. It's just so glaringly typical."
And you're absolutely right.
AND THOOOO... taking the time to remember what you're grateful for is so ridiculously important. This weekend I got to go to a friends wedding who I've known since 4th grade. That's 20 years. I have loved the same woman for 20 years and she's loved me back. I'm so grateful for that. And I'm so grateful that we've gotten to grow up in different ways and still come back to love for each other even though it looks a little bit different now that it did when we were 9. Her mom still loves me like her own. I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful that I have a car that works that got me there. I'm grateful I could take the time away from the gym. I'm grateful I have a team that makes that happen.
I got to stay at my dad's house in Richmond, VA this past weekend and even though everything near his house out in the country has changed (there's like 4 new stop lights!), I'm grateful to have had a loving childhood experience in that home.
I got to catch up with another friend that I've known literally always... we used to pick flowers together and his mom always let me play with their dogs - like a lot. I've always loved dogs. She still loves me like her own and I know they would both drop anything to help me if I needed it. And I know I'll always be welcome in their home when I do come home to Richmond. I'm grateful for that. I asked my friend why he still liked Richmond so much. He said, "my people are here."
And while I'm so grateful that I have people in Richmond - I'm so grateful that the majority of my people are in Nashville with me now.
It's so important to recognize the things you're grateful for - and, it doesn't take away from the parts that are really hard: it's really hard for me to come home to Richmond - and every time I come here, it's different. Cities change a lot especially when you've been gone for 10 years. My parents got divorced in Richmond. That childhood home isn't the same as it was when we were all together in it. The fall in Richmond reminds me of a lot of driving I did while crying. I fell in love in Richmond and every time I come here it reminds me of that heart break. There were parts of Richmond that I feel like lied to me. The way I grew up in Richmond didn't always teach me about the kind of woman that I want to be - Nashville has helped me with that - and I'm so grateful for that.
So please don't think that the gratitude practice is meant to take away anything that's hurting. Life is not all bubbles and rainbows, and that's ok. That is so ok.
This weekend someone said to me about a girl, "I mean, it's not like I want to challenge myself." And I someone else asked me what my biggest goal in life is. I said, "I think growing is important. So I hope I always keep challenging myself."
Every time my heart has broken in some way or another, I've learned the most. I've grown the most. My world view has expanded the most. That heart ache is not easy - but each time it feels like some sort of mask has been lifted and I can see myself and everyone around me a little more clearly - or even at all. So that's some serious shit that I'm grateful for... maybe not always in the moment... and still some stuff not even "yet." But maybe eventually I'll see it.
journaling prompt:
3 things in the morning you’re grateful for
3 things in the evening you’re grateful for
Get specific here with these
Why am I grateful for this? In what way am I grateful?
The next journal prompt is this:
complete the following -
"I see myself…”
ex: "I see myself surrounded by friends and family who are willing to communicate and grow with me. I see myself telling my wife how I feel when I feel it - I can tell her calmly and with love and on the days that I can't articulate it, I ask her to help me and she does her best."
Write for as long as you’d like.
