3 Things I Am Thankful For Today

I love learning to be more thankful. There are so many things that I never even thought to be thankful and I am finding that small things are popping up throughout the day. It's really easy to focus on the bad things, but there are a lot of good things.

10. Learning. I have always been one that enjoyed learning new things and I still love learning. I spend a lot of time researching topics I have questions about and finding answers. However, even more than i love learning new things I love it when my kids learn new things. Today (and yesterday), my four year old daughter had me write down "I love you" and then names of her family so she could write it on a piece of construction paper, draw a picture, dictate a message to me, and then mail them out. There's one for her Grandma, and one for her Grandma and Grandpa, and one for some of her uncles and now she's working on one for her aunt. It's cute and sweet and I love that she's learning how to write.


This is actually how far I got yesterday when the day derailed me. I let the things that happen get me down and I just couldn't seem to focus on the things I was thankful for any more. This is something I need to figure out how to over come. :-P

11. Online Television. Somewhere like five years ago we got rid of our TV. We moved into a super small duplex (650 square feet for the four of us) and the TV didn't fit. Plus we had two computers and we had Netflix and then Hulu. Now we watch all of our TV online. It also makes for humorous discussions when cable or dish salespeople try to convince us that we need to spend big bucks to get all the TV we want.

12. Reading Eggs. For most this sounds like a crazy thing to be thankful for, but I am none the less. We are homeschooling our children. Last year was really hard because our son was a reluctant reader and I was an impatient mom. Together it made for a mess. We had a great book, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It really is a great book. However, I just didn't have the patience to deal with the reluctant reader who was sure that not only did he not want to read, he couldn't learn to read and would never be able to. Last fall when we were getting ready to start school I looked at our options and found Reading Eggs. This is an online program that goes through cute, colorful, and easy lessons to teach sounds, words, and reading. There are a 120 lessons and that reluctant reader is through 95 of them. Plus he now knows he can read and has started enjoying books. It's been wonderful. So, I am very thankful for Reading Eggs.

So there you have it. Learning to be thankful and to think about the good things takes a lot of work, but I really do believe that it results in Gladitude. :-P How about you though? What are you thankful for?

Pursuit of Happiness

We believe we have the right to pursue happiness and it is that thought that has us all messed up. We think of getting to happiness as a journey. We think it is something that we have to work toward. However, that's not how happiness works.

If you are looking at it as a journey then you are thinking you will be happy after you accomplish whatever it is that you see as success. The biggest problem is that we are never satisfied with our success. Once we accomplish one success we find a new one. If happiness is always on the other side of success we will never get there.

Rather than thinking we need to pursue happiness, we need to think of happiness as something we can obtain now. Something that is completely separate from whatever our definition of success is.

Happiness shouldn't be a pursuit, but rather part of who you are. Yes, it is a process, but it isn't one that needs to be you seeking after it.

3 Things I Am Thankful For Today

There are only 19 minutes left to today so I need to hurry up and get this post out there. :-P However, there are a lot of things that I am thankful for and that should make this easy. Right?

7. I am thankful for when things go well. A year ago our lives were changed forever when an accident involving two semi trucks and my mother-in-laws' car killed my two youngest sister-in-laws who where 17 and 13. We started a petition to help make the roads safer with big trucks. The first several days of the petition didn't move along so quickly. It was really hard because I really didn't know how to get things moving. A TV interview that my mother-in-law did yesterday moved us forward. By this morning we had more than 500 signatures and then Care2 (the petition site) picked up the petition and started to promote it. Now it has more than 5,000 signatures. It's awesome to watch things going well. (If you want to check it out I would love for you to do that. Go to http://www.annaleahmary.com to find out why we need to stand up for truck safety).

8. I am thankful for the Internet. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true. I am so thankful for the Internet and there are a lot of reasons why I am thankful for the Internet. I am thankful for the Internet for things like the petition listed in number 7. I am also thankful for the opportunity to make money from the Internet. It's not easy, but it does offer a lot of really cool opportunities.

9. I am thankful for coffee. This is one of those things that sounds crazy, but I am really thankful for coffee. Coffee has been a big part of my life. I have enjoyed drinking coffee for a long time. As a child I drank black coffee at home and I had special coffee at my Grandpa's house full of cream and sugar. As a teen I learned more about coffee and started enjoying lattes and cappuccinos. No I am lucky enjoy to enjoy coffee that my husband roasts, grinds, and brews in an Aeropress. It's wonderful and I'm thankful that its part of my life.

This learning to be thankful thing is great. I really do feel more thankful and I do think that's oozing into the rest of my life. The great thing is that it's only three days in so it's certain to get better from here. :-P What are you thankful for today?

3 Things I am Thankful For Today

In order for The Gladitude Project to work I need to be consistent and write everyday. That requires more discipline then I usually have so I am thrilled to be back here on day two with three more things I am thankful for.

4. Two Cars. It's a pretty simple thing and most families across America have two cars, but it is something I am really thankful for. Here's a bit about our vehicle history and why I am so thankful to have two cars. Three and a half years ago we bought a second car. We had owned our 1989 Nissan for almost 5 years. The new car was a 1996 Toyota and I was really excited to have a car to drive while my husband was at work. I didn't get the chance to use it much because we were packing up to move. When we moved the Nissan had to be parked on the street. It was only a couple of weeks later when a drunk driver hit the Nissan and totalled it and we were back to having only one car. Last year my husband's family gave us a 1989 Oldsmobile. Well...we have had a hard time keeping it and the Toyota running (at the same time) over the past year. Now we have both cars up and running and today was the first day my husband had to work and I got to go shopping while he is at work.

5. My Mom.
This is another one that most people add. For me it's a lot more complicated than that. I have a bad history with my mom. It's not like it's been horrible or anything, but we dont' do well when we live close. My mom lived with my husband, our son, and I for 16 months. It was really hard and it emphasized how much we really just can't live in the same household. Now that she lives in Michigan and I still live in Texas it is a lot easier to get along and I really love my mom and am thankful that she's in my life.

6. My In-laws.
While it's another cliche type of thing to be thankful for I am very thankful for them. I always worried that I would have that nightmarish mother-in-law and what not, but that's not the case. Instead, I have great in-laws and I am appreciative of each and everyone of them. :-D

Well, there are a lot more things to be thankful, that's all for today. How about you? What are you thankful for?

Gladitude Thought of the Day

I am sure that I could leave it at, here are the three things I am thankful for, now let's be glad, state, but I want this project to go a little deeper than that. :-P So, here's today's Gladitude thought.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more." Melody Beattie

In America (though I am sure it's that way in other places around the world as well), we really aren't taught that what we have is enough. Most of us build our whole world on wanting more and feeling that we need more. I am certainly no different. However, if we work on being thankful for the things that we do have we will find that we are more content with where we are in life and the things that we have. :-D

3 Things I am Thankful for Today

I have no idea why the magic number is three. However for some reason all the experts who are writing to teach others how to be happier and to be more thankful recommend that you take the time to find three things that you are thankful for each and every day. I am a little worried that I will run out of things to be thankful for so I am going to start with those big ones that most people say when asked what they are thankful for. :-P

1. My Husband. 
I am very thankful for my husband. He's a wonderful man. My Dad was an alcoholic who didn't take very good care of his family. I always worried that those stats that say that daughters marry men like their father were going to hit me and I would be stuck with a loser. However, my husband is far from that. He is a wonderful provider. He does an amazing job taking care of me. He really is much more than I ever thought I deserved.

2. My Son. 
Just today my son read two books to me. I am thrilled with his progress, but above all I am thankful that he is mine. I remember when he was first born people told me to appreciate every day with him because time flies. I couldn't wait to sleep through the night and to be able to get away from dirty diapers and regular feedings, but as he approaches eight I stand back in shock. Time really does fly. So, I am thankful for him and for the time that I get to spend nurturing and raising him up. I know it won't be long before he will be grown and life will be completely different.

3. My Daughter.
I can't spend a whole paragraph thinking about how grateful I am to be my son's mother and not also feel that way about my daughter. Of course, explaining how I feel about her feels more difficult. :-P She is the strongest willed person I have ever met. She has the biggest imagination and she is the most challenging experience that I have in my life. Often she pretends that she is other people (and animals) so you don't know whether or not you are going to get in trouble for calling her by her name (or the name of one of her imaginary friends for that matter). She also tells everyone she's from Mars and has a whole family there including a mom, a dad, 10 sisters, and 5 brothers. There have been times when she has been mad at me and screamed, "My mom on planet Mars doesn't make me do that!" In all of that, I am amazed at how much she teaches me and how much she warms my heart when she says things like, "I love you Mommy." I am glad to be her planet Earth Mom. :-P

And that is day one. I will be back tomorrow to share more things that I am grateful for and to share with you this process...this gladitude project.

How about you? What are you thankful for today?

And the Gladitude Project is Born

They say that a life of thankfulness is a happy one. That gratitude leads to gladitude which fills up every aspect of your life. I often struggle to be happy with where I am at today because I spend so much time hoping, wishing, and dreaming about where I really want to be. I want to change that and The Gladitude Project is born.

I thought about getting a nice notebook to write in. This was a little tempting because I do like to write things down. I figured a nice one, that I actually spent more than 17 cents on (we always buy tons of notebooks during school shopping time so get them really cheap) would make it so I was more likely to actually use it. I thought about spending money on a gratitude journal that is put together by a guru who writes about happiness or thankfulness or something similar, but the truth is that these seemed over priced and not very well related. Many contain quotes and feel good paragraphs to read before you write out what you are thankful for. Most have small spaces to write and that seemed like it would be a pain.

In the end, I choose to put it out there on the net because it's somewhere I spend a lot of time with and I think that blogs are awesome. I am not sure how many people want to read about my boring life or who want to stop in and check out what I hope if a transformation from a pessimistic woman who tends to make herself miserable because she isn't where she wants to be into a happy, can't stop smiling, happy woman who spends enough time being thankful for what she has today that all of life is good. I want my thankfulness to spread into a gladness that fills every dark corner of my life. :-P

If you are here for the ride, welcome. If you are lost, welcome. Stay and read a little, comment here and there, and remember that there is always something to be thankful for.