Grateful List 2.0

Anyone who spends time online or reading magazines directed at the female population has noticed this trend. Its a good one, far more useful than owning a pile of Beanie Babies or getting a tattoo or wearing jewelry made from Grandma's silverware.

During the rare times I log into Facebook lately I am met with Gratitude Lists. They start with, "I am thankful for..." and list, gosh, just about any kind of positive, almost positive and barely positive items the author can dig up.

I grabbed an O magazine recently (it had been left on a chair I wanted to occupy) and there it was, a tutorial on how to be grateful. Step One, make a list...


And since it's the week of Thanksgiving (remember Thanksgiving? It's that holiday squeezed between Halloween and Shop Til Your Credit Cards Melt) I'll share my list with you today.

Of course there is the fun stuff, like Handsome Husband, Fine Sons, warm socks and pumpkin pie.
There is another list too. We'll call it Grateful List 2.0

I am grateful for

Rejection  It helped make me stronger. Well, okay, it hurt like H-E-Double-Toothpicks and I can still cry if given half a chance, but it did help me recognize a weakness or two. Or three.

Fear - I felt it and did it anyway. Well okay, not fear, like that dream where you're naked in a hallway at your Junior High School and can't find your locker. More like the kind of fear an entrepreneur feels when their toes have left the edge of that cliff.  Or, more honestly the fear of landing after leaving the edge of that cliff.  My landings may not have been beautiful, but there were no broken bones.

Hard Knocks - Well, okay, it's not like I got hit hard enough to leave a mark, but things didn't always go my way. I got pretty good at picking myself up and starting again.

The Grind - Like a good cup of coffee, you don't get there without some grind. At a certain point, like one of Pavlov's dogs, you begin to salivate just a bit when you hear those cogs engage.

How about you?  Is there something beyond that bowl of cherries that you are grateful for?