Thankful Thursday

I've noticed a rapid upswing of grateful people around me lately, and inspired both by my yoga teacher asking us all what we were grateful for today, as well as by a friend from college, I'm going to institute Thankful Thursdays. Why not Fridays, the end of the week? Because I often forget to blog on Fridays, in my hurry to get home to a warm robe and my glass of wine. Or I write something lame. So: Thursdays. When I'm thankful that the week is almost over. Hah. On that note:

1. I'm thankful that the week is almost over. No really, the hardest week of the year I'm pretty sure is this one, when holidays are over, the gyms are too crowded, and people are grouchy to be back in the office. Also it's cold, and I've given up espresso.

2. I'm SO thankful for Nolan. He is the best part of my life and every day I get my daily dose of laughter to keep me healthy. I guess the rumours that marriage gets old after awhile aren't true, because I'm more IN LOVE with him than I thought I could be almost 4 years ago when he picked me for his wife. How is it possible that two people can have so much fun together?

3. I'm thankful for my yoga class. It helps me relax during the work week, meet people, and genuinely feel like I'm not getting stiff and flabby as I get older.

4. I'm thankful for my awesome friends and family! I have the best group of people around me a person could wish for. And both of my families love each other, how blessed am I?!

5. I'm thankful for my job. Really and truly, I know how amazing it is to have a job you genuinely love in this crazy time.

6. I'm thankful for my relationship with God. Though admittedly a rollercoaster ride (whose spiritual walk isn't, seriously), the times I doubt are the times that make me truly appreciate His hand in my life. It's this rock that I thank for the rare SF sunshine and run to when I'm down. How did Relient K put it? "It's the beauty of grace that it makes life not fair."

I try and remember that those things I'm not so thankful for are the things I learn to not regret, because they make me who I am today. To quote my most recent favourite:
"There is neither happiness nor unhappiness in this world; there is only the comparison of one state with another. Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss. It is necessary to have wished for death in order to know how good it is to live.....the sum of all human wisdom will be contained in these two words: Wait and Hope." - The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas