Gratitude

As we prepare for Christmas, it is easy to get caught up in the stress of the holiday and forget to enjoy the magic.  Last night I had to run into the grocery store for a couple of items I forgot on Tuesday night.  In the 15 minutes I was in there, I saw both EXTREME hatefulness, probably out of stress and frustration of letting the stress take over, AND acts of AMAZING kindness!  Let’s talk only about the latter. 🙂

One of my favorite employees there was wandering the aisles helping shoppers find anything they were having trouble locating, and she is just the nicest woman and always has a cheerful smile on her face.  You can’t help but be drawn to her and smile with her.

Another young female customer saw an elderly gentleman struggling to get something off of a bottom shelf and she quickly went over to help him retrieve his favorite noodles.

At the checkout, I overheard 2 women talking about a fellow employee where they worked, about how she had been dressing in all her GAUDY Christmas clothes all week.  I’ll have you know that as I type this, I am wearing a red sweater, Christmas light bulb earrings, and leggings with Santa Clause and Christmas Trees on them, so I found them extremely offensive!  At first.  But then I felt bad for them, as I realized that they just don’t understand how it makes US feel.  It is hard for me not to smile as I look down and see Santa’s smiling face.  And if I am smiling, maybe I can bring just a little joy to someone else who thinks that they have nothing to smile about.  Be Weird!  If people are laughing at me, at least they are smiling, right? And maybe THAT smile will produce another one and another one and another one…Until it becomes a habit that they didn’t even know they were forming. 🙂 

And I have a LOT to smile about this year.  Sure, it has been stressful, and not everything has went even close to “AS PLANNED”, and we became even more buried in debt, but I have a job, a house to go home to, a car to get me where I need to be, a wonderful husband, and family and friends who have supported my dreams, as I worked on a disgusting little building, and am transforming it into Phoenix Fitness with Body By BrendaT(with a LOT of help from my wonderful contractor, Dave Eversden and his grandson Jake).  All while having some amazing friends who stuck by me even when I was a basket case and a bundle of nerves!  Over the past few weeks, I have received some gifts that show me just how much I am loved, and they all mean the world to me.  I battle with reliving bad things in the past and getting stuck with those old feelings of unworthiness.  But to have a handful of people in your life who remind you that you are worthy of love and good things in your life, is an AMAZING gift that I am forever grateful for!

So please, if you are doubting that you are worthy of having an AWESOME life of your own, I am here to remind you that you ARE an AMAZING person!  You ARE worthy!  You ARE loved!

Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas!  Love to you all! ❤