Challenge extended....Challenge accepted

32 days to a more thankful/grateful me. In an effort to blog more (ok, blog period) for the next 32 days I will document something I am grateful/thankful for. (And what a coincidence, day 32 is Thanksgiving day) Some will be important and substantial and others may be small and insignificant. But in the end I am blessed beyond measure and big or little it will do me good to acknowledge and remember them all.






Day 1.
Today I am thankful for friends. In the words of John Lennon ♪"I get by with a little help from my friends"♫ I love the give and take of a friendship. Sometimes you've got it together and can be the giver but we all know sometimes we're the taker. And that's ok. None of us are perfect. We all have our struggles and our friends have a way of making everything just a little easier to get through. I love that some of my best friends are family members. I love it when friends tell you "you can do it", even when you think you can't. I love having friends who are genuinely happy for me when good comes my way. I love having friends I don't see often but just thinking of them make me smile. I love friendships that inspire me to be and do better (even if it is just because they are fabulous at things I feel inferior at). I love that I have people in my life who I haven't known forever, that I don't call one of my best friends, yet still know when I'm having a bummer of a day and say and do things to lift me up. I love that I have friends who keep it real. You know, the ones who confess to having a house that sometimes looks like a crap hole, who scream at their children, who have to have a cafinated beverage just to get through the day, who don't shower everyday, who's children aren't the cutest and smartest around, who text while they're driving (despite signing Oprah's "No Phone Zone" pledge), who cook their family dinner only sporadically, who's husband's aren't the hardest working, best looking, most helpful or fantastic listener. Don't get me wrong, the importance of positive thinking and speaking is critical in life. But the brief moments when we let our hair down and speak candidly about our life is just plain refreshing. Friends know the good and the bad, they lift each other up when down, they listen without always trying to "fix it", they know the real you and love you anyway. As with life, friendships have their ups and downs, they have to be worked at, and we get out of it what we put into it.