gratitude

I think it's important every now and again to really think about all the things you're grateful for. It think it's helps a person to realize that they have so much more in their life to be thankful for than they may know.

So to start out, I'm so grateful for my family. My parents, my siblings, my in-laws and all the nieces and nephews. I think they're all so great and loving. I've been raised all my life to have really strong family values and as I get older I realize how important those are to me and for me. They can all be a little quirky and overbearing at different times or another, but overall the love is there and the sense of togetherness is really strong. I'm grateful that most of us live in Dallas so I can enjoy their company frequently and watch as my nieces and nephews grow up and that I can be a part of their lives. I know it is wishing for a lot, but it would be amazing if my sister who is currently living in Philidelphia while her husband goes to med school also ended up in Dallas, and if my other brother who's going to school in Utah ends up in Dallas as well. As for me, I don't intend to go anywhere.

Secondly, I'm grateful for my brother and his wife who are more-than-graciously allowing me to stay in their house and be a part of their family. They're so wonderful to me and always treat me with the utmost respect, it's more than I feel I deserve sometimes. As I've said before, I often feel like I'm not giving enough back.

I'm grateful for some of the amazing teachers I've had while at Richland this semester and last. I really feel like they've help grow my love for learning. I've learned so much from my government professor, and where I was completely apathetic towards politics, I'm very much interested in it now and it has helped alter a lot of my opinions on basic topics such as family, society, and relationships. My history professor last semester really got me loving history and was able to lecture and explore the topic in a way that had my full attention, which almost never happens in a lecture class. I'm sad I coudn't take the same teacher for history2, but at least he planted the seed. A lot of my other professors over my scholastic years have done a really good job and I don't feel like I expressed that gratitude.

I'm grateful for the job that I have now, the relaxed nature of it is a very enjoyable aspect, the flexible hours, low supervision, low stress, opportunity to study, and though it is also relatively low paying, it's still a great job for me.

I'm grateful for all of the friends I have who really treasure my friendship and show it. The friends I have have helped shape me into the person I am today, which is a person I'm very happy with and I wouldn't have it any other way. And even though I sometimes feel a little lonely, it just makes me even more grateful for the friends I do have.

I'm grateful for all the opportunities I've had in my life, some of which I'm amazed I even had at all. I will be the first to admit I've never really worked THAT hard for anything, compared to other people I've seen who have a lot more ambition than me, but still that hasn't stopped me from having access to a lot of opportunity just the same.

I'm grateful for the examples of others, both good and bad, and what understanding I have that helps me create the distinction. They have helped me create and form my own opinions, of which I'm proud of.

And last of all, I'm grateful I live in a country where I'm free to make a huge range of personal decisions with no interference from governmental powers, I'm grateful to be the commander of my own life and that I alone am in charge of my life successes and failures. Hopefully I will make the best of my opportunities and blessings and be able to experience many more.