Thanks

Every year at Thanksgiving, we all make a list of the things we are thankful for. And this year is no different. So much to be thankful for really. I have such a wonderful family. I am so happy about the newest member Eliana and am excited that I will finally be seeing her, Tova, and Daniel soon-ish. And I am happy for Jesse who has a new job and a new apartment and new possibilities ahead of him. And I have an amazing set of friends (old and new) in so many places. I am doing well, in a job that I really enjoy, in a part of the country that has lots of beauty to be found. I could go on and on.

I really have very little reason to ever complain about anything. Though trust me, I find plenty of excuses. From the movie Grand Canyon (if you haven't seen it, put it in your Netflix queue, amazing) "But that's how you get yourself in trouble. By thinking how nice it'd be to be happy more." So how about a different kind of thankfulness instead. Every night before going to bed I'm gonna try to be thankful for the day I had. Because no matter how bad it was, someone else's day was worse. And every morning I'm gonna try to be thankful for the day ahead. Because somewhere, someone didn't wake up today. When you put it in perspective, the vast majority of us are incredibly blessed, and few of us really did all that much to deserve it. So be thankful, not just today, but every day.

Time to Make the Donuts

Everybody goes through ups and downs in their lives. It's no secret or surprise that after Deb passed it was a very tough time for me. The mantra that I got from a lot of different sources is "fake it until you make it". That is, keep going through the motions until it gets better.

At the time, I was finding it difficult even to get out of bed in the morning. But there was work to be done and things to do. It made me think of an old commercial by Dunkin Donuts.



Wow. That's old. Anyways, that's what I told myself every morning I woke up not wanting to face the world. "Time to make the donuts." Basically, it didn't matter that I didn't want to get up. I had to anyways. Those donuts weren't going to make themselves.

I wish there were some great wisdom in that but sometimes you just need something to hang onto until the storm has passed. Here's another favorite (and more current) version of the same idea. "Move Along" by The All-American Rejects.