Gratitude Days 13, 14, 15, 16: Downward Dog, Kids, & Omaha

... I know I'm a leeetle behind on this.

BUT.

Sometimes the fullness of life means that I don't have time to be online. Also, I had a MARVELOUS weekend in Omaha learning from many wise women (and two men). I learned that sometimes after a powerful experience, our minds are racing and processing everything we've learned and it takes our bodies a while to catch up. This may result in forgetting your words or accidentally walking into things. This has been happening to me - which made it hard to imagine writing a blog.
Without further ado, here are some things I am very grateful for from the past few days...

13 (Saturday) - SO MANY THINGS. I got to see my cousin Amelia and her sweet baby Graham. I did some serious (playful) yoga. I got to be alone for several hours (introverts unite! separately. in your own rooms) in the evening thanks to my dear friends Steph and Eric who lent me their house.

14 (Sunday) - I am in the midst of a yoga teacher training program. Sunday, I was so grateful for my teachers, both in Omaha and at home, and for new-found strength. I actually have gotten less flexible (in the legs) since I started regularly practicing yoga, but it's been worth it for the strength. I've also learned to listen to my body and know when I am overstretching. I did lots and lots of yoga on Sunday and am not taking this for granted, thanks to one of my teachers.

15 (Monday) - I was so happy to be reunited with Caleb on Sunday night. He's so great. I was grateful for him all day Monday, especially when he and Jen recommended a small but revolutionary change to the way I do downward dog in yoga.

16 (Tuesday) - Today I got to tutor my two favorite kiddos after work. They are so cool. I hadn't seen them in several weeks. due to schedules and car problems. We went to the library and had a blast. I gave them nicknames - Isa and Forfe. (Use your best Spanish pronunciation!) I spent a long time chatting with their momma and holding their one year old sister. I love them.

I am endlessly grateful for the time and inspiration to write on this blog. See you all tomorrow lovelies! 

Gratitude Day 12: Road trip!

Today, I am grateful for long drives on open highways, friends with the gift of hospitality, time spent learning from wise teachers, and rain falling as I drift off to sleep... which may be happening now...

I am also grateful that there are no tornadoes. During the final part of yoga (savasana) tonight, the teacher's phone started going off with the weather alarm. She let us all know that we were under a flash flood warning, which I will gratefully take ANY day over a tornado...

With the summer sounds of rain and thunder, I bid you all goodnight (or good morning).

Gratitude Day 11: my job

For some reason, I thought this was day 12. And I was all ready to tell you, "On the twelfth day of gratitude, my true love gave to me: new windshield wipers and a cookie. (cha, cha, cha)"

He didn't actually give me a cookie, but it had to rhyme...

Today, I am deeply grateful for my job.

Here's a reason my job is awesome. This is my cubicle on my birthday. I worked in there for almost two days.

I got up early today and hopped on my computer at 7 am for a webinar - an online conference with our colleagues all over the African continent. At work, I learned some new skills and got to attend a beautiful Mass. We prayed for some of the things that matter greatly to me - comprehensive immigration reform, that we around the world who have plenty would walk with those who have nothing, creative ways for women to be more involved in the (Catholic) church.** To finish, I got to make calls to our sponsors, which I love.

The homily at our Mass was about prayer and the myriad of ways we can pray without speaking. I have become more convicted that expressing gratitude is essential to life. We heard the story of Don Jairo* in Guatemala who thanks God for life by standing in his doorway and spreading his arms toward the mountains each morning. As he lights the fire, he expresses gratitude to the earth. As he shares a breakfast of tortillas, sometimes with eggs, sometimes with only salt, with his family, his eyes move around the circle, person by person. "I am grateful for you," he says. "You make my life more complete."

This story humbles me. It compels me. It gives me goosebumps.

This is why I am writing these blog posts. This is why I humbly try to reframe each day in gratitude, rather than let arbitrary memories color my unconscious reflections. I posed this question to you yesterday, but today is a new day. What are you grateful for?

All my love,

ellen

* I can't remember his name. He was certainly "Don", a title more respectful than "Señor", but we'll go with Jairo for right now.
** I want to say that every day I become more aware of how diverse my friends and blog readers are. I feel pretty passionately about being able to have conversations without judging. It's really hard, but I've been working on it little by little. So it's okay if you don't agree with me.

Gratitude Days 9-10: Amanda, Amelia, Carolyn

I had a bit of a struggle initially to think of something to be grateful for initially. But only for a split second, because even though some not great things happened, they do not outweigh the good. This is what I am noticing the more days I do this gratitude thing. 

You may not know this about me, but I do not like driving 90% of the time. (I am grateful I work with my husband and we can carpool most days.) Yesterday, I was driving Caleb's car and it died on the center lane on the highway during rush hour. Today, I was driving my car and got rear-ended. I am fine, the rear-ending was at a very slow speed and my car has no damages (to my untrained eye). I have never been in a car accident before, so I am thankful that this one was not terrible, but it still made me want to give up driving. 

I am grateful for these women:

Carolyn, Amelia, Amanda

Amanda and Carolyn are two of the awesomest friends anyone could ever wish for. 

Amanda is a storyteller and spends a lot of time weaving words together to tell about beauty and hard things. You want to visit that link and read her blog. She also asks really good questions. I have experienced this with her in person and on the phone for many years. We actually used to celebrate our friendiversary (that's like how couples celebrate how long they've been together, except we celebrate our platonic relationship). Our friendiversary is sometime in January 2008. 

Carolyn was my roommate until Caleb became my roommate and I cannot sum up how awesome she is. She is a great listener and problem solver. Also, she helps me be stylish and not look like a hippie all the time. She is fluent in español, and she loves to teach middle schoolers. [Caro, eres la leche.] Also, she is adorable and looks like a model. 

Amanda picked me up after my car mishap yesterday and took me to Carolyn's house, where we ate, swapped clothes, and went for a walk. They made my day so much better, it was hard not to feel anything but grateful for an evening with them. 

Amelia is my cousin and therefore holds the title of my oldest friendship. We played and imagined together for many years and now we're all grown up and she has two beautiful babies. (AND I GET TO MEET THE NEWEST ONE ON SATURDAY!!... not that I'm excited or anything.) 

I remember when I was growing up, if Amelia was not going to be at a family gathering, I was certain I would be bored out of my mind. Did you have relatives like this? She loved all the coolest things: dolls, Barbies, catching frogs, turtles and baby mice, swimming, reading, cooking, dressing up, and convincing our parents to walk out to the pond and protect us from... well, I'm not quite sure what they were protecting us from, but we were not allowed to climb over the fence by ourselves. Also, we were the only two people who didn't like softball or baseball, which gave us an extra special bond. 

So, as you can see, I have a lot to be thankful for today and yesterday. What are you thankful for?

Gratitude Day 8: The little things

Today, I am grateful for some simple things.

1. A free evening at home after being away
2. My bed and the weight of my blankets
3. Living in a country where I can assume that the law and my social circle will protect me. I have been reading this book and realizing what a small percentage of the world has both of these protections. Definitely food for thought at work and hopefully a catalyst for change in the world.
4. Realizing that we live in one of the only integrated neighborhoods in our city. Profound gratitude for our neighbors, even if they can be a little on the noisy side. :)

Gratitude Day 7: Perspective

Perspective

Today, on the eve of returning to work, I am grateful for the perspective that stepping back gives. 

This vacation was especially a good time to explore the effect of a lot of BIG changes at work. I knew I needed a break, and it was even better than I could have imagined. Not that it always turns out that way, but this time it did, so I am full of gratitude and relief. 

I am grateful for hard conversations with friends. Sometimes, in order to not grow apart, you have to carefully have hard conversations, and the mess of it all can be overwhelmingly beautiful. Perspective. 

Gratitude Days 5 & 6

I realize that it seems a leeetle like the easy way out to start my gratitude practice on a week when I am going on vacation.... but maybe it was a wise way to start a new habit. Either way, here are yesterday's and today's:
Yesterday: I am grateful for playing on a beach all day with these lovelies plus our two (non-pictured) men.

Today: I am unendingly thankful for water.