Thankful every day!

I wake up every morning thankful.  I go to sleep every night thankful.  There are plenty of things that could occupy my mind for which I am not thankful but I've made a conscious effort these past months to find and live out my own joy.  Now that I'm getting the hang of it, it's great fun.  And it is the one thing no one can steal from me.  

The more thankful I am each moment, the more things there seem to be to be thankful about.  Now how does that happen?  I have the same job.  I have the same boss.  I live in the same place.  I have pretty much the same looming issues - some of them quite daunting with no real solution in sight.  The simple answer I can give is that I decided to be happy and be happy doing the things I love.

So I focus on all the great things in my life - all the great people in my life - all the interesting projects at work - all the places I get to see.  I'm not ignoring or forgetting about the issues - just focusing on what can be done and being patient knowing things will get done and will be solved with the right attitude.

As a result, I'm finding everything more enjoyable.  Today, I made two new friends in our HR department as we worked on a project.  We had a great time as we got the work done.  At lunch we chatted away about cool things we find in common.

Frustrations that would have weighed me down on another project, were easily overcome in another meeting.  And I enjoyed the process.

Over the weekend with people from all walks of life, I talked with people and learned wonderful things about their philosophies.  We exchanged phone numbers and emails.  And unlike my normal previous self, I will follow up with them.

I'm sure I will have down days and still have moments of feeling overwhelmed.  But I am determined to wake up each day thankful.  I am determined to end each day thankful.  I give you permission to remind me to be so.