Gratitude

I am currently reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I whole-heartedly recommend it, and have found some very enlightening insight in its pages. I have been meaning to blog a little about some of the points I have found most useful and interesting, but I am sick, and don't feel quite like getting into all of that now. However, I am reading a section on gratitude and couldn't help but comment on it. I would really like to take a moment to say how inexpressibly grateful I am for my family. Of course growing up, it is pretty standard to bicker with your siblings, and to "hate" your parents for your early curfew, assigned chores, etc. Now though, especially being so far away from them, I am so thankful for my entire family. I have become so aware of the fact that they all will do anything to make me, or anyone of us, happy. My old boyfriend and I are trying to coordinate him coming out to Hawaii for Thanksgiving, which includes finding a place for our dog for the duration of his trip. I felt sure I could count on my brother, sister, and parents to help. It might sound a little "assuming" to think I could just unload my dog on my family for ten days, over Thanksgiving. But that is exactly what I am so grateful for. The fact that I know my family would do whatever it took to take care of the puppy so I could have a friend out here with me for the holidays. When I called my brother, sister, and parents (all individually) they each had the same reaction. They didn't dwell on details of how Hailey (the dog) would be taken care of. They each said, one way or another, they would make it work. No problem.

I have always felt this way about my family. Probably never took enough time to tell them. And for some reason with us, it always feels a little embarrassing to say mushy things like this, but I feel so lucky to have the brother, sister, and parents that I do. And I think the chapter in The Happiness Project really reiterated my deep feelings of gratitude toward them. So much so that I felt strongly compelled to heave my sick-self out of my bed to grab my computer and type up this blog post.

There. I feel better. I had to get that off my chest : )

Love and miss you guys!