It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. Despite my crazy life right now, I love those few “moments of disconnect” that I get – when all the chaos just gets put to the side and I take the time to sit back and appreciate all that I’ve been given.

I’m so thankful for getting to live in such a beautiful place.It’s so colorful during this time of year and I am definitely experiencing a whole different type of fall/winter than I’m used to.

I am so thankful for my job. Yes, there are those moments where I feel like I’m in over my head. Or when I’m a frazzled mess by the end of the day. But I love what I do. I love getting to see my kids every single day. I love that feeling of excitement when a student makes a connection between what we’re learning to something else they’ve read/seen/experienced. I love this job and, though it comes hand-in-hand with a ton of paperwork and a huge decline in my sleep and social life, I know that the challenges I face are making me a stronger, more effective educator.

I am so thankful for this book. 

It’s helping me take a step back from my life and looking at it with an entirely different perspective. I have so much to be grateful for – I just don’t take the time to do it. I think that’s partially why I stop blogging for long periods at a time. Yea, I’m busy. But I also feel so drained and exhausted (and quite frankly…a little pissy) at the end of the day that blogging is the last thing I want to do. I’ve been spending so much time rehashing the negatives of my day when I get home from work: spilling my coffee all over the front seat of my car, my lesson failing miserably and then raising my voice at my students (as if thats going to fix the problem), a co-worker never responding to my e-mails asking for feedback on a student, didn’t make it to the gym because I wrote reports until 10PM…..I can go on and on about what goes wrong each day. But if I do that, I never really take the time to appreciate what’s RIGHT.

Sure, I don’t agree with everything that Gretchen Rubin writes. But there are several things that I could absolutely relate with. I’m still not done with the book but there have already been a few changes I’ve been implementing in my daily routine each day as a result of her project.

The one-minute rule. If it takes less than a minute, do it. Hang up your coat. File a bill. Respond to an e-mail. Because on Saturday morning, it’s so much nicer to not wake up to a pile of clothes on the floor (and table and bed and dresser and kitchen….okay you get it).

Start a gratitude journal. This is something I’ve loved doing. Sure, I don’t blog everyday. But every night I write a couple sentences about what happened each day and what I’m grateful for. To remind myself that life is great. And so what if a colleague pissed me off? In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter.

Tackle a nagging task. Currently working on that right now (well, taking a few minutes break to write this). It’s not the most ideal thing, but I know that once it’s done, I’ll feel so much better.

I’m only halfway through the book so I’m sure I’ll have more to add later. But wanted to post today. Because it’s Thankful Thursday. And because I have so much to be thankful for.

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What are you thankful for?