I’ve been reflecting lately about the act of feeling grateful and appreciative, and I believe it’s a very important thing to strive for if you don’t already do it. I also feel that it’s the reason why after a decade of being together I’m still so happy with Joe. I feel grateful every day for how well we relate and everything we have together.
Often people begin to take the people in their lives, and even their possessions, for granted, and stop appreciating them, but I believe if you choose to purposefully reflect on your blessings on a daily basis you become more satisfied with your life.
I see a lot of people around me who are never happy or satisfied with what they have; they always want more. I know people at work who are constantly getting new phones, for instance, because they have to own the latest technology. I’m still thrilled with my iPhone 3GS and marvel at how useful it is in my daily life. That’s not to say I won’t eventually upgrade it, because the reality is Apple will continue to post iOS updates that will eventually either slow down my phone too much or they’ll stop adding new features to it, so clearly I’m not immune to that feeling of wanting more sometimes, but I find as I get older that it happens less frequently. I find myself more satisfied with what I already have. Perhaps it’s something that comes with age and/or wisdom, like feeling secure with one’s self. For example, even a year ago I would have felt insecure at the roller rink we went to last night because I would have worried what all the younger people were thinking about me, but now I honestly don’t care. It’s quite freeing to feel that way, but I digress…
I don’t mean to come across as preachy or anything, but this is just something that’s been on my mind and I wanted to share it. I love it when I’m sitting on the couch doing something as simple as watching TV with Joe and one of us will make a remark that cracks us up and I just think to myself “wow, this is so great. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have had this for the past ten years”. I hope everyone has a special person in their life who fits so well in it that it’s not work to be with them, because I call bullshit on the saying that relationships take work. I’ve never found a good relationship to be work and I’m not so arrogant to think I’m the only person who feels this way.
Anyway, I don’t really know where I was going with this entry, other than to share my resent thoughts in writing, so I’ll leave you with a funny text exchange between Joe and me from before Christmas on a day I was working from home and Joe was waiting for a package with one of my presents to arrive. To give you a little back-story, I always joke if there’s a kitten in my presents since it’s the one thing I want more than anything, even though I know I can’t get one at this time due to E’s allergies.
My text is in green and his is in grey:
