NaBloPoMo!

You are probably wondering about the strange title - yes, if you are not "in the know," it's National Blog Posting Month -- which is a challenge to post something everyday to share with those you care about.  Some of my crazy Mom friends have cooked up this crazy idea that we should participate in this challenge, and crazy me, I accepted.  Unfortunately I have already missed days one and two, but I had a good excuse.  Our littlest guy got a nasty case of bronchitis and the worst of it happened over the weekend, so off we went to the ER - in a foreign hospital - which turned out to be perfectly fine, with a very kind and gentle doctor, so we were thankful for that.  Our little man seems to be feeling better today and no more scary coughing fits and high fever, so we are thankful for his recovery (though I wish it would speed up a bit).  In case you missed the word thankful in here -- that is my theme for NaBloPoMo - and how apropos with Thanksgiving and all!

So grateful for these handsome guys!

Why have I chosen this theme?  I think with my work and lifestyle, I have witnessed and been exposed to the very difficult lives that millions of people on this earth have to deal with, and I marvel, truly marvel, at how I have landed in the circumstances I am in, to have such a life of relative comfort.  Not that it was an accident certainly.  My grandparents and parents fled war-torn Europe to come to the U.S. and make a better life for their kids.  And here I am with opportunities and freedoms and financial stability unthinkable to my grandparents after they immigrated.  It's hard to get my head around, why things have turned out for me this way, when others through no fault of their own have such incredible hardships.  I don't know.  So I'll use NaBloPoMo to ponder this and further explore the idea of gratitude, and why it is so grounding, and so good to ward off useless navel gazing.

And this is not some amazing original idea I had, by the way. Thinking about gratitude reduces stress and makes you a more content person -- just ask our regional shrink.  What?  Yes, our regional psychiatrist - who visits all of us out in the field periodically to ensure we have not gone off the reservation -- and seriously, to provide any counseling or mental health services that folks may need. Anyway, in his last visit, just about a week ago, he gave a brief talk about how to be less stressed -- one of the things he recommended was a "gratitude exercise," which you should ideally do daily, for 15-20 minutes, and take time to write down, or just mentally make note of all the things you are thankful for -- it's not just for Thanksgiving Day!  Anyway, I was thinking about this before his recommendation, but now I have professional validation that it works....so there you go.  Try it.
OK. Done with my first NaBloPoMo post.
Hope to add a short post later with some pics of our latest beach trip (speaking of grateful!)