Gratitude.

Last night, I made it back to my favorite Wednesday night yoga class for the first time in what felt like ages. Seeing as it was Thanksgiving Eve, my instructor made it a class centered around gratitude. She started the evening by talking about how there are little things all around us, every day, to be thankful for and by noticing them we can change our entire mindset. Yes, it might be freezing cold and dark at 4pm this time of year, but instead of just complaining about it on our walk home we can change our perspective. Yes, it’s cold…but thank goodness I have a warm coat. Yes, it’s frigid…but thank goodness I can get home to a warm, safe haven.

Today is the day that we Americans set aside to pause, reflect, and give thanks. And yet, I think there’s enough goodness and wonder in this life to be thankful so often, and on so many days, that I’ve tried to make gratitude a regular practice. Given all the horror and atrocities occurring throughout the world these days I think it can be very easy to forget how truly lucky and fortunate so many of us are.

As in the past I’ve kept a running tally throughout the year of things I’m grateful for. I keep a legal pad in a desk drawer in my apartment and will write things down as they come to me – I have transcribed them all below in no particular order. Some are huge and immeasurable. Others are tiny little details that make up my one unique life, moments that might not mean anything to anyone else but me. Either way, they are blessings in my eyes and I am eternally grateful and thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving.

1. My health
2. Having a body that will stretch and move and give what I ask of it, day in and day out, with only the rare minor aches and pain.
3. My parents – the two people on this planet who have literally known me since my very first breath and I know will love me always.
4. My friends. My dear and wonderful, thoughtful friends, near and far.
5. Having a good education – it opens more doors and worlds than anything else I can think of.
6. Throwing my backpack “over the wall” with my decision to go back to graduate school. One of the greatest decisions of my life.
7. My teammates and the classmates I’ve met at Cornell this semester.
8. One of my teammates, Sarah, texted me a few days after our first week together in Ithaca just to say hello and see how my week after school had been going. I remember turning to my Mom and saying, “I have a friend at school! I made a new friend!”
9. My apartment – the HOME – I have made there for the past seven years.
10. Boston and my lovely tangled web of connections and friendships I have made in this fair city.
11. My Grandmother and my Aunt and their sweet phone calls just to check in and see what I am up to – even if they acknowledge they can’t keep track of what city I am in and when (neither can I recently!)
12. East Coast living, baby. I realize that us Northeasterners have a bit of a notorious reputation for thinking our part of the country is the best…(but that’s because it is….)
13. Knowing I will be able to pay my rent and my bills each month.
14. Travel, travel, travel.
15. Finding and sticking with a regular yoga routine.
16. Driving through Boston early in the morning before most of the world is awake. It’s a city that’s all my own those mornings.
17. Getting my cat Nolan on a better medication plan and seeing his health improve since our very rocky, touch and go, summer.
18. My friend’s kids and getting to spoil them with Auntie Kelli love whenever I see them.
19. Sunny days.
20. Thunderstorms.
21. Contacts.
22. Good make-up and skin care products.
23. Having a sense of humor.
24. My cat Sophia and her recent habit of curling up right next to me the minute I climb into bed and/or sitting and purring on my lap while I work away on school work at my desk.
25. The many strong, smart, and talented mentors I have had throughout my life.
26. Marie – my horse mom.
27. Growing up riding horses and being in a 4-H club. No doubt it played a massive role in who I am today.
28. New York City. Because it is wonderful.
29. Getting a really great sale on a (clothing) item I’ve been eyeing.
30. Hot showers.
31. A brand new Vogue landing my mailbox.
32. The seasons. (yes, yes…even…sigh…fall…)
33. Texts from my Mom with random news or funny stories.
34. Hearing from that fella you may or may not have a crush on.
35. Laughing so hard you feel like you’ve gotten an ab workout.
36. Long hair.
37. Having a love and passion for reading.
38. Colors.
39. Blue sky.
40. Walking out of a salon with a brand new mani/pedi. Makes a girl walk just a little bit taller.
41. Birthdays.
42. A hot cup of good strong coffee.
43. Catching someone’s eye and knowing you are both thinking the exact same thing.
44. Having made the very smart and very sound decision to travel to Jamaica last winter.
45. When you make plans with old friends who you haven’t seen in a while…and maybe worry slightly you won’t have anything in common anymore…but then feeling like no time at all has passed the minute you hug hello and realizing you’ll just pick up right where you left off.
46. Having a jeep that’s still kicking and that I love just as much as I did the day I got it – 14(!) years ago.
47. Freedom – from want, from fear, of speech, of worship.
48. Surprise phone calls from people you care about and don’t talk with often.
49. My parent’s relatively good health.
50. Fresh fruit.
51. Being left-handed.
52. Keeping the faith.
53. Summer breezes.
54. Martha’s Vineyard!!!
55. Good memories of my childhood and adventures with my little brother.
56. Deep breaths.
57. The rare morning when there’s no alarm set and absolutely no place to be.
58. The Sunday New York Times delivered.
59. Arriving at an airport or train station and knowing there’s a friend or family member waiting there to pick you up.
60. Swimming.
61. Being outdoors.
62. Shutting off the computer, the cell phone, and disconnecting.
63. Saying no.
64. Saying yes.
65. Meaning both.
66. Confidence.
67. Taking risks. “Leap and the net will appear.”
68. Colors.
69. Smoothies.
70. A home-cooked meal.
71. Every Wednesday night, after yoga, treating myself to two salmon/mango/avocado rolls from a tiny sushi place I pass on my way home. (And them knowing my order by heart now so they start to make it as soon as I open the door…)
72. Loves past….and letting them go.
73. Being better off and a better person for some challenges and heartaches thrown my way.
74. Keeping perspective.
75. Massages.
76. A new pair of boots.
77. Spontaneous gatherings.
78. Pine trees.
79. My hometown, my Dad still living there, and still having connections there.
80. Scarves.
81. NOT being a smoker.
82. Adele. (Because, come on.)
83. Inside jokes.
84. Bare feet.
85. Clean sheets.
86. Freshly folded laundry that’s all been put away.
87. Going to a restaurant with a friend or date, deciding to share plates, and ordering the perfect amount of food and wine.
88. Hand-writing letters.
89. Car-pooling back to Boston with a classmate after school weekends, both of us dissolving into hysterical laughing fits as we swap stories about dating adventures.
90. My book club. 8 years strong.
91. Wonder-dog, Bailey.
92. Being aware and in awe of what a big, wide, wonderful, crazy world is out there.
93. Being organized.
94. Bookstores.
95. Standing up for things and people I believe in.
96. At the mid-way point this semester, our team had a check in where we each had to go around and identify each other’s strengths as well as areas for improvement. One of my teammates said: “You mean what you say and you don’t back down or change your decision just to please others. It’s reliable and dependable.” I’m happy that I can be that kind of person.
97. Having been in and completed middle, high school, and college before the dawn of social media.
98. Singing along to the radio in the car.
99. Comfortable unspoken silences with friends.
100. Knowing this to be completely true: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”