Grateful

Yesterday’s Day of Fs ended with Fuel and what Fires shall we use the Fuel to…well, Fuel? This leads me to my word today:

Grateful

I am a very lucky person. I have a great deal for which to be Grateful. I have a job. One that pays and comes with benefits. Is it ideal, and is my pay enough for me to completely live with no help or anything like that? Absolutely not, which makes me even more Grateful that I have that job. I shudder to think of what my life would be like if I didn’t have that job, and its benefits. Benefits that are offered as a group plan – I’m in public education – so my preexisting conditions (that I didn’t know about for the first 27-ish years of my life) cannot make it so I am denied insurance. My preexisting conditions are ADHD, OCD, and TS. I am Grateful for all of these conditions because they help me to understand other people on so many extra levels that I would not be able to connect if I didn’t have these three neurological conditions.

Technically, the medical field terms ADHD, OCD, and TS as neurological disorders. To me, disorders indicate that something is wrong with you. There is nothing wrong with me, nor with anyone else with these conditions, so I don’t use the term. I prefer ‘different orders.’  Without having the experience of actually having my version of alphabet soup, I wouldn’t necessarily think of them as different orders, rather than disorders – very powerful connection, and a very powerful perspective that I am very Grateful is part of my life.

My work in public education gives me a large number of reasons to be Grateful – on a daily basis. I work in an elementary school, and get to see so many educational miracles take place. From watching a student who proclaimed on the first day of school that he hates books and can’t read and will never learn to read and will never like reading (ooh! Personal challenge!) who – a few measly years later – comes up to me and tells me that I had been right when I challenged him that first day, and he loved to read! Students who come in barely communicating in English who learn to read, write, and communicate in their second language – wowza! There are so many examples of reasons to be Grateful at my work – and so many are due to the beyond amazing work of my coworkers as they guide these young minds to not only think, but how to think, figure things out, make decisions and connections, and then apply them to so many parts of life. WOW!

I have a wonderful family – including some amazing nieces and nephews (thanks to my siblings and their spouses for supplying me with those)! I love each of those amazing people, and the cool thing is that I like every person in my family. I know, right? Who gets to be that blessed?  The answer? This gal, right here!  See why I’m so Grateful?

Most people don’t believe me, but I’m a major introvert with a sometimes side of extrovert goober-wackiness.  I have the gift that I get to nurture that side of myself outside of work, and can save those urges for weirdness to hone my love of sharing books with students and staff.  While it is sometimes annoying that many disbelieve me when I express how I’m so introverted, I’m actually quite Grateful for their disbelief, because that means I’m playing the needed part at work well enough that the vast majority thinks it is the only side of me. Dang! I’m a darn good actress! J

I’m sticking with one thought for my G-Day, because there is so much for me to be Grateful for, my brain – and heart – decided to stay on the one topic. For me that is quite the shocker, so I think I will just enjoy it while it lasts – with Gratitude.

What in your life makes you feel Grateful?

See you tomorrow for the day of Hs!

JBB