I am grateful to say that I just paid a bunch of bills. Or, to be more accurate, grateful that I was able to pay a bunch of bills. The fact that some of them are late no longer troubles me greatly. I do the best I can to do things in as timely a way as possible; but when I can’t I do my best to take care of things as soon as I can. It is a strangely good feeling to take care of these obligations, though it requires a great deal of creativity and dexterity and careful timing, and I am far from finished for the month. I am not extravagant for the most part, so for the most part my bills cover basic necessities. Recently when I tried to figure out how I can cut expenses to help save money, I realized that there were very few places I could cut and they wouldn’t add significantly to my savings. Nevertheless, tonight I am grateful.
I am grateful to be working. Although it is temporary, contract work, and I’m not sure how much longer the contract will last, I am glad to be using some of my skills and earning a bit more than I made collecting unemployment benefits. I remind myself as I listen to the news that I am more than a statistic.They list the various statistics that apply to my situation: those who are unemployed; unemployed for longer than a year; under-insured (at one point during my unemployment I was totally uninsured) meaning I can’t really afford to get sick but I’m a little better off than I was… There are many others, but I can’t keep track of them all and I don’t bother. Because the truth is, statistics notwithstanding, I still get up every morning, throw off the covers and get on with my day, like so many of us data points do.
Tonight I don’t have any particular great wisdom to share, just simple gratitude for a good day’s work, relatively healthy dinner, time spent playing with my dog, paying some bills, watching a few short YouTube videos that got me chuckling, and now spending a little time sharing with you about some of the things I am grateful for. This has been a good day. And I take every good day, each good moment that I can and savor it. Thank you for reading. I hope that you enjoy spending time reflecting on the things you’re grateful for every time you visit this blog. As always, I invite you to comment on your own experiences with gratitude.
