10 Random Things I'm Grateful For Daily
Photo Credit: Jessica Brown. Gino has dark fur and Grady has light fur.
I started going to another eyebrow gal because my favorite had to move out of state. When this new esthetician saw me again only two weeks after she first waxed my eyebrows, she said, “I feel like I just waxed your eyebrows.” I complained to her that I will be getting my eyebrows waxed every two weeks because they grow so quickly. To that she replied, “Hey, be grateful that you can grow hair because it’s easy to remove but hard to grow.” I realized just then that having fast growing brows is something random to be grateful for.
In no particular order, I thought it would be interesting to share a daily list of random things that I am grateful for and more importantly, why I am grateful for them.
#1 - Again, fast hair growing eyebrows. After the esthetician pointed out the blessing, not the curse, I realized being hairy at my age is unusually positive.
#2 - I’m grateful that I don’t have to take melatonin to go to sleep. By the time my head hits the pillow I am out. Sure, I have some nights when falling asleep is hard but I appreciate that I am not one of the millions who helped turn melatonin into a household name. Being so busy that I fall asleep from pure exhaustion is something to be thankful for.
#3 - Maybe the reason I don’t need melatonin is because I don’t have an addiction to coffee or caffeine. I thank God every single day that I am not waiting in the drive thru or standing in line at a coffee shop. Recently while in NYC I waited in line for a decaf coffee for my daughter and I wanted to poke my eyes out. It was ridiculous. I waited 10 minutes to order and then another 15 for the coffee. Twenty-five minutes for coffee! When I see the lines at the coffee shops, especially during the holidays, I think of all the things that I can get done in that time. Some people wait in line every day and even if they order ahead, the act of stopping to pick it up is too much for me. On the daily, I am glad that I don’t need caffeine.
#4 - I am so fortunate to be healthy enough to run at least a mile every single day. (see my post entitled 365). Only missing 2 days out of 3.5 years is a total blessing wouldn’t you agree? New running shoes always get me excited for the next round of miles.
#5 - This is the most random daily gratitude ever. When I take my dogs on a walk outside and they poop, I actually say out loud, “Thank you Grady.” “Thank you Gino.” I’m grateful because they could have gone poop in my house and ruin a rug. But they don’t. Instead, they hold it in and wait for the walk. I never used to think about this until we got Gino. Man, that pup had me scratching my head about his bowel movements. So once we got to a point that Gino knew what to do, I was very appreciative and so that is why I say, “Thank you” every time.
#6 - I wrote about my experience growing up with a mustache. Now, even though I don’t have hair above my lip these days, melasma started showing up in the exact spot. So every single day, I use Musely’s “The Spot Cream” twice and then in the mornings before I apply my foundation, I use Beautycounter’s sunscreen. The melasma is my reminder to stay humble. I’m actually grateful for this daily reminder.
#7 - Every day I am glad that I learned about biased news. It was March 2020, a week before the country shut down for Covid. My church was hosting a professor from a local Twin Cities college who was giving a talk to parents about social media. Before the professor began, I remember we all recited a prayer for Covid even though at this point, we had no idea about masks and that we would be quarantining for the next two years. I came to this lecture because as a parent, I was desperately seeking any advice on keeping my kids safe from the dangers of social media. So when this professor began talking about where wisdom came from and how it evolved over centuries from when kings ruled nations, when priests were regarded as the wisest etc. , I was very much perplexed as to why she was talking about this during a social media lecture. However, after the professor’s timeline finally got to our current day and age and she explained how information is being distributed via news outlets rather than from sitting down and talking to elders who have lived thru life experiences, it all started to click. She said parents are so busy with trying to do all we can to monitor devices and restrict certain content but we can be more effective by complaining to those who own and run the news outlets. We can stop all this unsafe content that is being distributed to our children. Those who are controlling the information that airs on TV or on social media are biased, giving one side of the story and getting rich doing so. I used to believe everything I heard/saw on the news. Now every time I see someone posting information that is not credibly sourced on social media I am just grateful that I know about biased news.
#8 - My friend named Linda turned me onto Thrive mascara. Every time I put it on, which is daily, I send Linda a little imaginary positive nod. Not only do I save money avoiding fake lashes, but I also save time from getting lashes professionally done. In addition, I don’t have to deal with the itchiness of fake lashes and I don’t have to worry about over doing the look. Having this mascara saves me from all of that and I’m so grateful. I may give this mascara as thoughtful pinches for Christmas stocking stuffers.
#9 - I’m discovering that over-thinking can actually help “One Steppers” see the broader picture. One Steppers are people that are great at only thinking about the first step - like for example, “Let’s save the planet by driving electric cars.” Or “We should use solar power for our energy.” Both are great ideas and really good first steps. But what about the batteries that are used in the electric cars - where are those made and what happens to them once the batteries can no longer be charged, where do they go? Where do the unusable solar panels go? Is it better to have landfills of items that never break down? So for me, I love that one of my strengths is that I over-think. I think it’s a gift rather than a curse. Almost all of my blog posts are windows into the issues or things that I over-think about. I share them in hopes of spreading thoughtfulness from a different view. I am very appreciative of this trait every.single.day.
#10 - Being in Denver makes me grateful every day that the 49ers took back the offer to my hub for the GM job years ago. I hated the 49ers so much after they pulled the rug out from under us. This picture represents two worlds to me. First, it’s surreal to know that John Elway genuinely believes that my hub is a prize of a GM. And at this event, I heard with my own ears that Kyle Shanahan called my hub “his guy” and I heard the respect that both he and his dad Mike have for my hub made me feel like I was finally vindicated. My hub, had let go of this sour incident years ago. But me? No way! I held onto that bitterness for all those years. On this night, I left that event feeling very proud of my hub and I felt a heck of a lot lighter because I wasn’t carrying around that weight any longer. I absolutely LOVE how life brought us to where we are now and so on the daily I say thank you to the 49ers.
I will bet money that no one else in the world will be grateful for the same ten things that I am grateful for and that is what makes me different from every one else. I love being different and I’m getting more and more comfortable celebrating it every day. I love reading over my list of ten things that I’m grateful for daily because they are so random. I mean really random. One can gather so much about me in this one post. If you could list out things that you are grateful for daily, what would I learn about you?
Pinches,
Barb
