Gratitudes
This week many of you will gather around a table with friends and family and begin to reflect on all that you have been grateful for this past year. It’s the time of year when we take a whole day to appreciate others and express all that we are thankful for. Yet I believe that we need to pause daily and appreciate all the little things that we are grateful for on a regular basis. The holiday is awesome for amazing food, and gathering together, yet are we telling our loved ones we are grateful for them often enough?
This holiday season I am truly grateful for my husband who has spent so much of the past three and a half months helping me heal from my biking accident. I really don’t know what I would have done without his generosity and selfless heart that allowed him to put my needs first and manage more than his share of household duties. I’ve really tried this season to notice all the little things and verbally acknowledge all that he has done. I started to walk for the first time this week…and although painful and I get tired easily…I am very blessed to be able to start walking again after what could have been a much worse outcome.
Friendsgivings
This year I attended a friendsgiving with my women’s networking group. It was held at a lovely Victorian house that was converted into an event center. We all brought a Mug and placed it on a table…then proceeded to choose a mug from the selection that we wanted. We created a sweet holiday treat at the hot chocolate bar, and enjoyed incredible savory entrees and conversation. I got to meet many women I had never met before and started setting coffee and lunch dates to get to know some of them on a deeper level.
Tonight we are headed to a neighborhood Friendsgiving with over 175 people. I had to make green beans with bacon for 25 people (that took a little work). The people who host this event organize it like a wedding, and everyone is given pans that fit into chafing dishes. They line up all these chafing dishes on both sides of a huge island and everyone goes through buffet style. This is quite the shindig! We did this last year, and didn’t really know too many people. This year will be much different as we have spent the past year trying to get to know many of our neighbors and developed some lasting relationships.
Thanksgiving
I hope you are all ready to experience a special time this Thursday. The holidays are about memories, traditions, and creating new traditions when old ones no longer work, or family is separated in different places. This holiday will be small and pretty quiet at the Nelson house. Only one of our kids will make it here. We also invited some close friends who don’t have family here and we’ll probably eat way too much, laugh, tell stories and play games celebrating the Joy of this day.
Whatever you do, may you be filled with Gratitude and remember the importance of letting go of small stuff to embrace more time, fun and laughter over the holidays.