Wednesday Wisdom – Gratitude

Phew! This blogging thing bends my brain and captivates my attention in ways I’m not used to!

My goal is to share thoughtful, quality posts consistently on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday basis, and though I am working hard to do so, I can’t seem to keep my days straight. It’s like being in my classroom in Connecticut on M/W/F and continually telling my students I’ll see them on T/Th (which I frequently do) when I teach in Massachusetts on those days. But so far I just haven’t quite gotten it down.

So, we’ll consider yesterday a bonus post (hooray!), and today we’ll do something light and fun. I’ve been feeling really lucky to be working full time this summer on something I’m passionate about, so I want to take a moment to fling some gratitude out into the universe.

5 Things I’m Currently Most Grateful for:

1. Summers Off ~ For starters, I’m just so lucky to have the summer off so I can work in earnest on one of the things I love most – writing. Blogging allows me to practice my word play and exercise my creativity. Novel revision starts tomorrow, and in July, I’ll be working on another story I’ve got brewing. Can’t wait!
2. My Husband ~ Chris is the yin to my yang, the Toph to my Tine (we’re both Chris’s), my greatest supporter, and, as webmaster extraordinaire, my biggest help. He is the reason I have such a beautiful place to share my thoughts, and I’d be lost in the blogging sea without him.
3. Traveling ~ Traveling keeps me sane. I get restless if I stay in one place too long, and I’ve been living in this house for 5 years, the longest I’ve been in one place since I was 19. A lot of our travel revolves around seeing my family since I live so far away from them. Thankfully, most of them live in beachy places like California and Florida and let us crash with them to save money, so we can see them more often!
4. Coffee ~ When I was fresh out of grad school, I took a job at a Starbucks on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, one block from my apartment. I didn’t even like coffee. Now I use either a french press or make cold brew pretty much exclusively. But coffee still makes me smile in the mornings as I enjoy my cup, so I’m willing to embrace the addiction. 😉
5. Teaching ~ Being an adjunct is hard for a lot of reasons, but teaching is still the best job I ever had. I was reminded of this recently when a student of mine who had a rough semester nearly dropped out a couple of years ago. Concerned, I reached out to her and encouraged her to return to school and make up the missing work. Last month, she graduated with a 3.83 GPA and considerable other accomplishments. This is what teaching is all about, and I consider myself lucky to do it as my main source of income.

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday and take a moment in the middle of the week to reflect on what makes you grateful. It’s a great way to get over the hump and begin the slide into Friday and the coming weekend!