I’m sure you’ve seen this on Facebook, heck I bet you may have even participated in the 30 days of gratitude. As I read some of my friend’s post, it got me thinking. What am I thankful for? Do I really need the holiday season to get in touch with all the wondrous life around me? I need to confess before I write anymore…I am an optimist. Don’t get me wrong, I can complain, whine and throw it down with the rest of them, but overall I think life is good. Just don’t ask me that question when I’m experiencing PMS. I’m touched as I read about their lives. But I can’t help but wonder, do you really think “Negative Nellie’s” are using this time of year to get in touch with their soft side. As you write your gratitude’s, what have you done to touch someone else’s life? I even challenge you to think about how you treat your family on a daily basis. Because what really touched my heart several years ago, changed my life forever, and for this I am thankful. As I was knee deep in dirty diapers, crying boys, working, heading up a mom’s group, serving as a captain for a tennis team and doing everything I could to be the best mom, wife, friend, employee, leader and whatever other roles I put myself in, I read an article about how most people will treat strangers better than your own family. Think about it. You’ll stay up all night baking dozens and dozens of cookies for the school bake sale, you deliver meals to a friend in need, your boss asks you to take on another project that only you can handle, you’re the team mom, pick up your friend’s kid to take to practice, clean your house, pay your bills, help your kids with homework all the while you’re yelling at everybody in the house, “Pick up your clothes!” “I’m doing this for you, why can’t you help me?” “You need what by tomorrow morning, GREAT, another night with no sleep.” But now the phone rings, or there’s a knock on the door, as you huff and puff to the door in a frenzy, you take a breath put a smile on your face and greet with a warm and welcoming hello. This article goes on further to remind you that after you’re gone, it is the people within your walls who will always miss you. The closest example I can come up with is when one of my best friends moved away. For the first couple of weeks everyone asked me how she was doing, and as time faded so did their inquiries. Now I’m hard-pressed to find anyone who remembers her. But I’ve never forgotten. I changed. I can’t always say no, but I can select. My family does deserve the best of me, and while I not always successful, I’m always easily forgiven. I can’t be everything to everyone, but I can be everything to the people who love me the most. This holiday season, greet your family with that warm and welcoming hello and see what happens.
