Gratitude, Dude. One of the many tools used to fight depression is gratitude. Remembering what there is to be grateful for. This is not hard for me. I’m constantly amazed at how blessed I’ve been in life. There’s been pain, hard lessons learned, but so many great times too. What I have found difficult is picking one thing out of so many! What a great problem to have right?
Well, I’m jumping in.
I’m sitting here with Icy Hot on my back, due to my ongoing war with the weeds that have taken over my front flowerbeds, getting some computer work done in the meantime. My phone lights up and vibrates, and instead of a robo call it’s my niece! She’s becoming a teen in the way too near future. And she’s calling to see if she and her mom and brother can come hang out sometime this week. So trivial for most. For me it is a BOON! I remember as a preteen, and later teen, and even later 20 something year old, visiting my grandparents. So many happy memories. So many deep, meaningful conversations, trips down memory lane, and life advice. My brother and I were blessed with amazing grandparents. Due to loss and distance my niece and nephew aren’t lucky like we were. However, they’re even luckier in a variety of ways.
They have a large support system of adults that would do just about anything for them.
My husband and myself are included in that wonderful list. Them being close and excited to visit makes my heart swell to bursting. How lucky am I? As adults my brother and I are still pretty close. He is a man I may not always agree with (almost never), but I respect. His family is priority one and he’s open and honest about it. He’s money smart, not money driven. He’s a lifetime student and nature is the classroom. He did some not so intelligent stuff as a kid (don’t we all), but he chose his life partner well. Smart, caring, with a twisted sense of humor, my sister in law is the shit. Together they work together to raise two really cool kids.
My niece and nephew are hilarious (when all the adults around you are clowns this happens, early). They’re energetic, curious, caring, chaotic creatures. Much like their folks they are fast learners and usually down for a challenge. They’re kids, not saints, they make mistakes, they fight. But at the end of the day they’re showing all signs of being incredible adults.
And I get to watch it all play out.
My husband and I may not have backstage passes, but we’re cheering them on from the front row with the rest of their family fan club. I’m so grateful for this experience. Even at my saddest, when feeling happy again feels impossible, part of me knows I wanna be around for the next funny comment. I need to hear the next fart joke and the giggles and laughter that goes on for minutes after.
If these two little people can bring so much happiness just being themselves, it’s completely possible you and I do something similar for others without even knowing it. How often do we provide a kind word or even hold the door for someone else? What if it made a difference in someone’s day? If they noticed and did the same? If we all volunteered to test the theory? Kumbya y’all! 😀
Wishing you all the BEST!!! Raven<3
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