Be Grateful for the Small Things

Be Grateful for the Small Things

It’s a tradition at Brand Yourself to write a blog about thanks, blessings, gratitude, etc. around the end of November. I’m assuming it has something to do with the holiday in a couple of days, but who can be sure 🙂 And while I’m not going to be providing you with some blow your mind stats about LinkedIn or teaching you how to check your Facebook Insights, I hope this post still offers some value.

I’ve thought a lot about how I want to put this blog together this year. Should I list off all the things I’m grateful for like I did last year…family, friends, a job that I love…blah blah blah. Or should I take a different route and really thing about gratefulness and what it means.

When we think about being thankful, we usually think about big things…family, friends, a job that I love…blah blah blah again. But what about the small stuff. The little things in your day to day life that make you smile. I think we often spend so much time thinking about the impactful people and moments that we forget about the little ones. The moments of calm. The moments that make us laugh.

So I’ve decided to make a list. A list of 12 small things, one from each month that happened throughout my year that made me happy. Because most of the time, it’s those things that add up to so much more.

In December…
Rob and I went to see Mannheim Steamroller live. It was a bucket list item for me. When it was over, we tried going out for a bit. But ended up back at home in our sweatpants within an hour. We’re old, and that was way more fun.

In January …
Rob ended up in the hospital after an infection from surgery he had in December. While we were there, an older nurse told me how cute she thought he was. And she wasn’t wrong!

In February…
One of my best friends from college flew back to Minnesota for the weekend. She was planning on surprising another friend who DID NOT want to go out to dinner. Her husband forced her too, and when she saw us sitting at the table waiting for her, she was shocked!

In March…
My heart dog, Allie, turned 6, and we celebrated by buying her a fluffy toy that only she gets to play with. Our other dog always seems to destroy Allie’s favorites, so this one was all hers.

In April…
We put our house on the market and had multiple offers within 48 hours. While this may seem like a big thing to be thankful for, the reason we picked the new owner was because of a note they wrote us where they mentioned the post-it notes that Rob put up for me on Valentine’s Day over a year ago.

In May…
We spent an entire week in Puerto Rico. Rob walked to go get us coffee, and when he got back, he casually mentioned that everybody “had their boobs” out. Rob and I casually refer to our dogs as “boobs,” but obviously, this caught me off guard.

In June…
Tucker started taking swimming lessons. He was scared to get his face anywhere near the water, but as he got used to it, he got a lot better! Until I attended a class and sat on the edge of the pool instead of being in with him. His instructor moved him down a level that day.

In July…
My best friend got free box tickets to see Khalid in concert. We felt like the oldest people alive. He draws a young crowd. We still had a great time.

(This is the only one I don’t have a photo of…forgive me!)

In August…
We took Tucker to the “Great Minnesota Get Together” for the first time. He didn’t like cheese curds as much as I thought he would. But don’t worry, he does now!

In September…
We took Tucker to the zoo with his grandparents and cousins. We all rode the merry go round, and Robert sat on a horse by himself. Tucker loved watching his dad ride up and down, even though he was too scared to join him.

In October…
We drove an RV down for our annual Iowa State Homecoming trip with friends. Our tailgating lot was closed (we had no idea), so we considered parking next to a haunted forest complete with chainsaws and screaming. We changed our mind and slept at a hotel. It was much more restful.

In November…
We went to our first parent-teacher conference. Tucker’s teacher told us he is the first to dance whenever a song comes on. And he will ask/force his friends to dance with him.

And there you have it. No shocking finish or call to action. Just a list of small moments I’m thankful for. I hope you have a fabulous week, a ravenous Thanksgiving, and a plentiful Black Friday. And I’ll see you again next month when I inevitably write about how to actively engage with your audience.

Actually, that’s a great blog title. Be on the lookout for that.