Tag Archives: gratitude

January 15th: Fun projects!

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kindness quilt patches

Today, I am grateful for the amazing activity I got to engage my students in!

Part of my role as the school’s guidance counselor is create activities that promote character education.  Our school district has assigned a character trait for each month of the school year so I have created activities and fun projects that correspond to these traits.

January’s character trait is “Kindness”.  I decided that it would be great to have the students use fabric markers to decorate patches of fabric by writing or drawing what kindness meant to them.  I will be piecing these patches together and creating a “Kindness Quilt” for display at the end of the month’s Student of the Month ceremony.

Above are just 4 of the 50+ patches that were created today by the students.  I will be sewing the quilt and posting more pictures and ideas as I work on it in the Craft (Peace) section of the blog!

January 14th: Run!

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running-cheaper-than-therapy-square

Today I am thankful that, despite my crazy schedule and exhaustion, I made myself get out there and RUN.

I was EXHAUSTED all day… When I got up in the morning, I kinda phoned it in and didn’t put on any eye liner and my hair looked sort of like I had styled it with an egg beater.  One of my co-workers took a look at me and asked if I was sick… (Jeez! Do I look THAT bad?!…. Unfortunately, “yes”)  The last thing I wanted to do was do exercise when I got home but I knew it would be the best thing for me.  Besides, I have a race in a few weeks and need to be ready!

Before I had too much time to think about it, I got in my running clothes and headed out for my usual 3 mile loop.  Surprisingly, I was flying!  It was the fastest week-night run I’ve done in a long while and the best part was that I felt as though it had brought the life back into me!  I was more awake, alert energized and ready to go.

Best type of therapy. (And that says a lot coming from a therapist! :))

 

January 13th: Old Friends and New

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old friends

Today, I am exhausted… but I am incredibly thankful that I am exhausted because its the result of the amazing few days I’ve had.  This weekend, I reconnected with friends that have stood by me through thick and thin and have stayed connected to me through phone and social media.  I was finally able to reconnect with them in person and spend some quality time after a year of not seeing each other!  You know a true friend when you can spend so much time apart and it feels like just yesterday when you see each other once again.

I am also thankful that on Sunday and Monday I was able to spend time with newer friends and met new people!  My universe is expanding and I feel so thankful that I am surrounded by so many amazing souls.

Happy girl ❤

January 12th: Give it More! (Dale Mas!)

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bicycle

The weather was gorgeous today so I’m really happy I got to spend most of my time outdoors supporting a friend who was participating in a mountain biking race at a local park.  There were lots of families there, playing with balls, riding bikes, barbecuing and just enjoying how amazing it was out, like I was.

At one point I stepped away from the event and walked through a small portion of the park to find a restroom.  On one of the paths on my way over there, I saw a mother pushing the back of her daughter’s bike.  The little girl was whining and crying, obviously freaked out that her mom would let go of the bike and she would fall.  Her mother got a little annoyed by how whiny she was being and snapped at her in Spanish “Dale! Dale mas.  La vida es como la bicicleta.  Cuando crees que vas a caer, le tienes que dar mas.” Translation:  “Come on!  Give it more.  (pedal harder)  Life is like a bicycle.  When you think you’re going to fall, you’ve got to give it more.”  

It obviously had no impact on the 6-7 year old kid but, I sure as hell liked it 🙂  

January 11th: Washed up Whale

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whale 8

Although it is never a happy moment to see a dead animal, I have to acknowledge how privileged I am to have seen this in person.

Every Saturday morning, I wake up early and run with my group by the ocean.  During these early morning runs, I have been lucky enough to observe all kinds of beautiful scenery and animals such as red foxes, raccoons, cardinals, pelicans, gulls, you name it.  But this whale is a first.

The whale did not die because he was beached.  His cause of death is unknown but she was already dead when he got washed up. Below you’ll find more info.

http://www.local10.com/news/dead-whale-washes-up-along-shore-in-boca-raton/-/1717324/23866398/-/u0ly88z/-/index.html

Jan. 10th: Freedom from Past BS

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freedom

That moment when you get a court order in the mail addressed to your ex and you realize what a loser he still is and how much you should thank your lucky stars that you’re no longer together:

  1. Because even 2 years after moving out he STILL hasn’t changed his address with the DMV and
  2. Because… he has a court order (same irresponsible idiot as always)

I may sound like a bitch but I was actually nice enough to put it in an envelope and mail it to his mommy so she can handle it for him….. 😉  Wouldn’t want karma to bite me in the ass or anything.

January 9th: Kids are so silly

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laughing kids

Today I’m thankful for working at a school because I LOVE being surrounded by children all day. Having worked as a psychotherapist for adults for most of my professional career, the past two years have been a welcome change for several reasons.

Kids aren’t jaded and they aren’t angry at the world.  They usually have no idea how hilarious they are when they are being totally serious and they are incredibly receptive and appreciative of your time and efforts.  I get all kinds of random hugs and greetings from children throughout the day.  They are always sincerely happy to see me and they get excited when they get to spend time with me… Pretty nice ego boost if you ask me!

Today, I ran into one of my little 3rd grade trouble-makers.  She has actually been behaving better this year so I’ve seen less of her lately (which is a good thing).  When I asked how she was doing, she shook her head so I asked her what was wrong… Her response was dramatic, as always, and she used one hand to cover her mouth in order to keep our conversation private and the other hand to point with her thumb.  “This one over here won’t let me get my colored pencils back and when I tell my mom, I’m going to get in so much trouble.”  She kind of sneered and rolled her eyes as she said this.

When I turned to see who she was pointing to, I realized that when she said “this one over here” she was, in fact, referring to her teacher.  I looked over to my co-worker, only to get a look from her that said “Dear Lord, help me.  This kid is driving me nuts!”  (but she said it aaaaaaalllll with her eyes, you know what I mean?) ….

Seriously though, how could I not laugh when this stuff happens?  She obviously got in trouble and had her pencils confiscated but… that little face, the melodrama, the seriousness with which she told me, and the way she was so confident that I would be the ideal person to tattle on her teacher to…. cracks me up!  LOL

January 8th: My sister, Georgette

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me and georgie bellydance

Today, I am most thankful for my sister, Georgette.  She is more than just my sister.  She is my best friend, my confidante, my advocate, my advisor, my biggest fan and my best consoler.

She is the one who shares my same little quirk of sighing after she laughs (which sends our friends into fits of laughter when we do it in unison unknowingly), the one who only has to look at me to know that I have some sort of deliciously cruel comment to say about something that we’ve just observed, the one that is able to finish my sentences after we’ve spent a lot of time together and the one who totally gets me (even if I don’t “get me” at the time.)

The relationship you have with your sibling is the longest you will have in your lifetime.  Who else can so deeply relate to you than a brother or sister who was possibly there when you were born, played an integral part of your earliest memories and will, hopefully, be there with you into old age after your parents are gone?

I love you lots xoxox.

January 7th: Super Yogi!

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superwoman

Today I am thankful for tricking myself into going to yoga class through my usual quirky and bizarre antics.

This morning it was cold…. Well, for the rest of the country 45 degrees isn’t cold but, for me, thats arctic.  As a result of the frigid elements, I decided I needed to layer.  Living in South Florida I, of course, don’t own long johns so the only thing I could think to wear under my pants were my running/ yoga capris…. and, since I had already gone so far as to wear the capris, I decided that I’d also go ahead and switch out my standard push-up for a sports bra. I stuck a dry wick shirt and a pair of flip flops in my yoga bag and headed out as usual.

Basically, the plan was that I’d rush over the the yoga studio the minute I clocked out from work and would arrive there minutes before the 4:30 class.  But, due to my clever planning, all I’d have to do is pull a “Clark Kent” and there, underneath my nerdy school uniform would be my rockin’ yoga outfit ready to go for Hatha Vinyasa, baby!…..  unfortunately, it was only until the 1 1/2 hour long class had finished that I realized I had been wearing my yoga pants inside out all day….  Not so cool.  “A” for effort, though?

January 6th: Back to the Grind

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download

Now, don’t think that I’m some kind of weirdo workaholic when I tell you this but, I was actually looking forward to coming back to work today after my two week winter break.  I WASN’T looking forward to getting up at 5:50am or driving almost an hour on the Turnpike to get there but, I was looking forward to getting back into my daily routine.

I enjoy feeling productive, feeling that I’ve made an impact in someone’s life even in the minimalist of ways.  I like that I can be creative daily and that I have flexibility to try new projects and ideas with the kids.  I also had fun catching up with co-workers and friends.