THIS WEEK'S GRATITUDE

This has been another week of emotional peaks and valleys for me, but each peak and valley has a lesson for me to learn. It’s not been easy to stop and look for the lessons, but I know that it is essential to my future.

As I look back over the week, I’m again grateful for the friends who have encouraged me, motivated me and even kicked me in the butt a little bit. That’s the beauty of friendship, one of the most beautiful blessings this life has to offer. Friends can honestly share their thoughts without fear of hurting one another. I’m grateful.

I’m grateful for the blessing of counseling. I’ve gained such tremendous insight from the experience and have grown so much as a result. It is still a work in progress. Sometimes, I feel like I’ve hit a brick wall, but then I realize that it’s just part of progress. As one friend recently put it, even though I don’t realize it, I am at a perfect position in my life right now. It’s true, it doesn’t feel like it, but, I’m grateful for the truth that I’m growing and am headed in exactly the right direction.

I’m grateful for the last decade I’ve spent here in my beloved Birmingham. Though I am not a native, I consider this home. All that I hold dear-friends, a job, a church family and a sense of belonging. I’m grateful for the many memories the last decade has brought to me.

Here’s my confession: Tonight, I was walking through the mall, a bit bummed that I had nothing better to do on a Friday evening, I was texting a friend on my phone contemplating and musing that this is the single life. Certainly, I felt that there must be some lesson to learn. Perhaps it’s just to be grateful for the things that I have, for my health, my friends, and so much more. Perhaps it’s to be grateful for what lies ahead. Perhaps it’s to learn to love and appreciate myself. Whatever the lesson, though maybe not grateful today, I will be. I will be grateful and will grow.