It's that time again.
Nov. 27th, 2014 13:09![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillTime to take stock and appreciate what I have, before I look to what I'd like to have.
I'm grateful for a lot of things this year. My business is still growing, and although it's slow, it's enough to keep me above water so that (most of the time) I'm not feeling money stress. That's always been a huge thing for me, and I haven't had a panic attack over finances in quite a while.
My health still has its ups and downs, but they're mild enough that I can fix or weather them as they come up. The majority of the time, I have enough energy, strength, and stamina to do what needs doing *and* what I want to do. I run up against time constraints more often than health constraints these days.
I'm getting a lot of recognition amongst my peers for my skills and knowledge. It's odd to be the expert for a change.
I'm grateful that I pick up so many skills easily, and that I can gain so much enjoyment from them in so many ways. I have finally found a good place to enjoy my harp, and having built it almost entirely from scratch just adds to the pleasure of it. I'm still progressing on learning cello, one of my only impractical skills. And next week, or next month, or next year, I'll pick up more skills, like milling my own lumber, or how to service a sewing machine.
Most of what I depend on for daily life is solid and, well, dependable. My equipment is sound, my car is a champ, my computers haven't been giving me more than the occasional hiccup, my food and water sources are reliable, and though the fridge sucks, we're coping. The worst thing we've had lately is the plumbing in the downstairs bathroom, and I fully expect to get that sorted very soon; meanwhile, we have a workaround.
(Okay, I realized that one thing I depend on -- internet service -- really does suck to the point of causing me stress, but I have Plans To Fix That.)
I'm glad that the dinner and Doctor Who thing I put together when Jack moved to Oregon is still going strong some three years later, and everybody still seems happy with the arrangement. It means I get to see some of my friends on a regular basis, when it's so easy to just drift apart for long periods otherwise.
I'm grateful for all my friends, old and new, near or far. Even if I don't see you or talk to you for a while, I think about almost all of you frequently.
I'm grateful for my biological family, who have always been here for me, and who have done a stupendous job of supporting me in every way they can even when it's been hard. Taking care of me hasn't always been easy. We're geographically as close as can be, now, and I think that's amazing. Landing that house next door was just a tremendous stroke of good fortune, and it's working out beautifully. I have the security of this house, too, which eases my mind about the future.
I'm thankful for my new family, which sprang into existence like a sorcerer's trick and has been blowing my mind ever since. There's still some rejiggering going on to ensure everybody's needs are met, but I'm no longer in doubt that there's enough of everything to go around. To be included in a group of such generous, caring, clever people is extraordinary, and I feel very lucky.
I'm grateful for the basic frame of the new me, which dates only to this Tuesday, and which I now get to fill in over the next weeks and months. Like a snake shedding its skin, during the last month I've gotten rid of a lot of what was holding me back, and I now get to build myself on a foundation of solid values and a healthy understanding of my own self-worth. This has been a faster process than it usually is even for me, taking six weeks to accomplish what would take me six months alone, and would take most other people six years or more. That speed has been scary and confusing, and I'll have a bunch of catching-up to do once it settles, but I'm happy with the result. I'm more confident, more at peace, more assertive, more spontaneous. And that's just in the first week of the new build.
I'm grateful for people -- including myself -- who have been pushing my boundaries in a healthy way, getting me to question my own safety nets and assumptions. I've been challenging my fears, and opening up as a result.
I'm grateful for food I can eat with people I love in a house I'm welcome in. I'm grateful for old friends who turn into lovers and lovers who turn into old friends. Whatever shape my life has taken, whatever needs I still have that need tending to, I'm happy, more so than I've ever been.
Happy Thanksgiving.
I'm grateful for a lot of things this year. My business is still growing, and although it's slow, it's enough to keep me above water so that (most of the time) I'm not feeling money stress. That's always been a huge thing for me, and I haven't had a panic attack over finances in quite a while.
My health still has its ups and downs, but they're mild enough that I can fix or weather them as they come up. The majority of the time, I have enough energy, strength, and stamina to do what needs doing *and* what I want to do. I run up against time constraints more often than health constraints these days.
I'm getting a lot of recognition amongst my peers for my skills and knowledge. It's odd to be the expert for a change.
I'm grateful that I pick up so many skills easily, and that I can gain so much enjoyment from them in so many ways. I have finally found a good place to enjoy my harp, and having built it almost entirely from scratch just adds to the pleasure of it. I'm still progressing on learning cello, one of my only impractical skills. And next week, or next month, or next year, I'll pick up more skills, like milling my own lumber, or how to service a sewing machine.
Most of what I depend on for daily life is solid and, well, dependable. My equipment is sound, my car is a champ, my computers haven't been giving me more than the occasional hiccup, my food and water sources are reliable, and though the fridge sucks, we're coping. The worst thing we've had lately is the plumbing in the downstairs bathroom, and I fully expect to get that sorted very soon; meanwhile, we have a workaround.
(Okay, I realized that one thing I depend on -- internet service -- really does suck to the point of causing me stress, but I have Plans To Fix That.)
I'm glad that the dinner and Doctor Who thing I put together when Jack moved to Oregon is still going strong some three years later, and everybody still seems happy with the arrangement. It means I get to see some of my friends on a regular basis, when it's so easy to just drift apart for long periods otherwise.
I'm grateful for all my friends, old and new, near or far. Even if I don't see you or talk to you for a while, I think about almost all of you frequently.
I'm grateful for my biological family, who have always been here for me, and who have done a stupendous job of supporting me in every way they can even when it's been hard. Taking care of me hasn't always been easy. We're geographically as close as can be, now, and I think that's amazing. Landing that house next door was just a tremendous stroke of good fortune, and it's working out beautifully. I have the security of this house, too, which eases my mind about the future.
I'm thankful for my new family, which sprang into existence like a sorcerer's trick and has been blowing my mind ever since. There's still some rejiggering going on to ensure everybody's needs are met, but I'm no longer in doubt that there's enough of everything to go around. To be included in a group of such generous, caring, clever people is extraordinary, and I feel very lucky.
I'm grateful for the basic frame of the new me, which dates only to this Tuesday, and which I now get to fill in over the next weeks and months. Like a snake shedding its skin, during the last month I've gotten rid of a lot of what was holding me back, and I now get to build myself on a foundation of solid values and a healthy understanding of my own self-worth. This has been a faster process than it usually is even for me, taking six weeks to accomplish what would take me six months alone, and would take most other people six years or more. That speed has been scary and confusing, and I'll have a bunch of catching-up to do once it settles, but I'm happy with the result. I'm more confident, more at peace, more assertive, more spontaneous. And that's just in the first week of the new build.
I'm grateful for people -- including myself -- who have been pushing my boundaries in a healthy way, getting me to question my own safety nets and assumptions. I've been challenging my fears, and opening up as a result.
I'm grateful for food I can eat with people I love in a house I'm welcome in. I'm grateful for old friends who turn into lovers and lovers who turn into old friends. Whatever shape my life has taken, whatever needs I still have that need tending to, I'm happy, more so than I've ever been.
Happy Thanksgiving.
