Attitude of Gratitude | December

This month is usually the month of over stimulation in my life. The holiday shopping can get a lil' crazy sometimes and being in the stores is not at all my favorite place to be at during this time of year. However, December is also my birthday month and of course the month where we get to reflect on Christ's arrival to our humble little home planet. There is much to be grateful for!

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In our twenties we think we know what we want out of our little lives, but nothing hits us in the face quite like life does. We graduate with our degrees only to realize a few years later just how not fun work is. We marry our husbands and think we have it all figured out, until we realize how hard marriage actually is. We scare ourselves into believing that kids are not for us, only to realize a few years into our marriage that something somewhere deep in our evolutionary genetic soul, children is exactly what's missing in our lives. Then life plays evil tricks on us like, disease, infedility, divorce, infertility, miscarriage, baby loss and the pain of life sets into our hearts. People are hurting. Today there are people, women, beautiful women my age who are down so low and in pain. My thirtieth birthday has gifted me the life experience to realize this truth and the tools to help inspire healing in the broken hearted. Today I am thankful for the gift of empathy in my thirtieth year of life.

Friendship

We had the privilege of spending some time in Florida with my high school bestie this month. I remember helping her pack her Arizona things right before she moved to Florida to be closer to her fiancé. I tend to hide my feelings well and am a naturally optimistic person, but that night I cried the whole ride home. I couldn't believe I was actually so hurt about her moving away. Yes I was happy for her, but I also felt a huge loss. I have never been the best at calling my friends, so I really thought it would be the end of our friendship all together. I am very much a realist and I was almost certain we would drift apart slowly until one day we'd just grow so sadly apart. To my surprise, quite the opposite happened and I am so thankful for the blessing of our friendship. We may not call each other weekly and sometimes I might forget to text back, but we are always there for each other when it counts.

2017

Let's be honest, 2016 was not the best year for many of us. Through God's strength, I can be hopeful for the New Year. Below are just a few of the things I am hopeful about for 2017.

• My Reproductive Endocrinologist Our journey after baby loss has been a maze of Dr. Visits, blood tests and complete discouragement in the American medical system. All of this changed after my first visit to Dr. Couvaras' office. This man took me as a patient even though I don't have infertility issues and was the first Dr. ever to not dismiss my stillbirth as a closed case or to tell me to come back after I'm pregnant again. (As far as most allopathic doctors are concerned, it apparently makes no sense for a woman to want to 'prevent' her future baby from dying in the womb unexpectedly and all medicine is only retroactive in America. There's something terribly wrong with this idea!)

• Marie Kondo's KonMari Method Hubby has been reading The Life changing Magic of Tidying up. It's really a great book, and to a natural organizer like myself its been one of the best books my husband could possibly read!The last chapter does get a little too - animistic though just FYI. I have been trying to get him to learn the art of being organized and putting things away in their rightful home since we got married. Sigh. Therefore, I am very hopeful about the two of us Kondo-ing the heck out of our house in 2017!

• Travels to come We already have a few trips planned for 2017. My son's birthday is coming up and we think we may make a weekend out of it by driving up North to the snow. He'll be old enough for some skiing lessons in February, we'll see. Last year Hubby and I took a Valentines Day trip to the tucson Gem & Mineral show and I think we may do this again. One trip I'm super amped about is our Europe trip with great friends. We don't know all the details yet, but we know there will be a lot of cross country driving through the Italian country side, Swiss Alps and French Riviera. I also had another sweet opportunity to visit Peru for some speech therapy work at a local orphanage. My great business friend invited me along, but due to timing and our Europe trip I had to decline. I am hopeful that maybe at another time I will visit her Peru for sure. Obviously we cannot wait to see what travels lie ahead and with God's will, we will have many great adventures this spring.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Attitude of Gratitude is my way of sharing what I'm currently grateful for and the things that have aided me in my own personal practice of Stoic Christianity. These two things have played a large role in my path to healing and spiritual recovery within the last year. Each month I will do my best to post the top three things that I am currently grateful for.