22 Things I’m Thankful For

It’s November, and the big event in everyone’s mind is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving isn’t as huge a thing at my house as it is in other places, but I wanted to take some time to focus on what Thanksgiving should really be about: being thankful. In honor of that I’ve decided to share 22 things I am thankful for this year.

1. My awesome family. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love my family. They are awesome and amazing and supportive and fun and goofy and just the best.
2. My fantastic friends. I have a group of friends I’ve known since high school, and I am still good friends with them. Plus there are friends from other parts of my life – elementary school and college and grad school – that I hold near and dear and love very very much.
3. My career path. I am done with grad school officially on Tuesday. I’ve been done with my masters degree since August. I’ve interned and student taught. I love teaching, and I can’t wait to secure my first teaching job.
4. My health. I’m in good health, and I’m grateful for that every day.
5. My home. Yes, I still live at home with my parents. And yes, I’m a little bit ready for a place of my own. But, I am so grateful to have a roof over my head. Especially now that the weather is getting progressively colder and wetter, I am grateful that I have a place to call home.
6. Food! Anyone who knows me knows that I love food. A lot. And I’m grateful that I don’t have to worry about where my next meal is coming from.
7. Writing. I love writing. I’ve always loved writing. And I’m grateful that after all this time I’m still writing, that I still love it, and that I’m still pursuing it.
8. Passions. I am grateful that there are things in my life that I love and that I’m pursuing. There are things in the world that interest me. There are things in the world that I want to do.
9. Opportunities. I am grateful that there are opportunities in my life, not just in regards to teaching, but in general. There are opportunities for me to meet people, go places, and do the things I am interested in doing. And that’s pretty awesome.
10. Family Vacations. I love my family, and I love doing things with them. I love when we go on family vacations. I’m grateful that we are able to go on such adventures and that we get along well enough to have a good time when we go on those adventures.
11. Transportation. I am grateful that I have a car that works and that I am able to drive. I don’t have to worry how I’ll get from place to place. I’m really grateful for that.
12. Coloring. I have the maturity level of a small child sometimes, and that’s OK. I love unwinding at the end of a long day by coloring. I’m grateful that that’s something I’m able to do.
13. Reading. Before I have real memories, I know I loved reading. It’s something my mom introduced into my life somewhere around Day 1. Just like I love writing and I love coloring, I love reading. I’m grateful it’s something I’m able to do on a regular basis.
14. My coworkers. Between my internship last year and my student teaching this year, I’ve met and been able to work with some wonderful amazing people. I am so grateful that they have been willing to help me, guide me, support me, and befriend me.
15. Technology. Technology is a huge part of life in today’s world, and I’m grateful that I have ready access to it. I’m grateful that I can use it. It’s a huge advantage in my profession, and I’m grateful I’m able to use and utilize it.
16. Snail Mail. I love snail mail. I’ve always love snail mail. I am a firm believer in snail mail. I’m grateful that it still exists and that I’m able to utilize it on a regular basis.
17. My faith. I am grateful that I believe there are bigger forces at work in the world than simply me. I am grateful that there is a greater force I can voice my concerns to. I’m grateful that I have something to believe in.
18. My students. I am grateful for my students who have taught me so much already, and who I am confident will teach me so much in the future. As much as I teach my students, they teach me, and I am so grateful for that.
19. My education. I am grateful that I’ve received a great education from all the institutions I’ve attended, and I’m grateful for that. Education is important, and I’ve received a solid foundation to work with.
20. Seasonal Weather. I love that I live in New England and that we have seasonal weather. I love that the leaves change colors in the fall, that it snows in the winter, that it gets warm in the summer. I am so grateful that I’ve been able to experience all of that.
21. Quality family time. I love my family, and I love that even when we’re not on vacation we spend quality time together. I think family is so important, and I love spending time with mine.
22. You, my readers. Finally, I am so grateful for you, my readers. The ones who have stuck by this blog when there weren’t a lot of posts, and the ones who pop in and out. This blog wouldn’t exist after all this time if it weren’t for you, so thank you.

BrittanyM

Random Acts of Kindness

To be perfectly honest, random acts of kindness (RAK) aren’t something I thought about for a significant chunk of my life. It’s not that I didn’t do nice things for people because I did. I held doors and said my pleases and thank yous and did many other nice things. But I didn’t consciously think about doing nice things for people. I didn’t make it a priority to go out in the world and do nice things. I just did nice things when the opportunity arose and did my best to pay kindness forward when I could.

Then I started grad school. And one of my professors was really big on the idea of RAKs. One of my assignments for their class was to go out into the world and do 3 RAKs. So I did, and I felt pretty good about it. It was nice to have really thought about something nice to do and then go out into the world and do it. But still it didn’t quite make a huge enough impact on my life to really work its way into my day to day.

Grad school continued and I took another class with this professor. Again I was sent out into the world to perform RAKs. I also built an entire project around the idea of RAKs. It was a pretty fabulous project that I did with some of my students from my internship. That’s when RAKs started to make an impact on my life.

When I started my project I really began to think about RAKs. I thought about how they’re something that’s really rather important. It’s important to be nice. It’s important to do nice things and not expect anything in return. And it’s important to talk about these things, to encourage others to do these things, to really actively go out into the world and do RAKs. It’s an idea that I really fell in love with and really believe in. It’s something that I want to bring into my life and into my classroom when the time comes for me to have my own classroom.

And here is my challenge to you. Go out into the world. Perform an RAK. Tell me about it in the comments.

Go out and make a difference. It’s a wonderful feeling.

BrittanyM