Grateful, blah, blah, blah?

So what is with all this "you need to be grateful" stuff bombarding us everywhere we turn? I had to stop today (and almost) screamed STOP THE MADNESS! Then I stopped to really ponder this "grateful" push.

I started thinking about places I have worked, and the people there. Several names and faces came to mind - I smiled and got nostalgic, then I thought of the whiners. You know, those people who always have something bad to say?! They hate their job, the boss is stupid, their peers were morons who "couldn't think their way out of a paper bag." Sound familar? Then I started to think about how I felt around them. I started to hate my job too! Then I found that if I had been around them at the end of the day my bad mood followed me home. And spilled into my personal life.

Then I started thinking about friends who were whiners about life. The ones who complain about their boyfriends, of husbands, but stay with them. The ones who bitch about how much weight they have gained, but they don't work out... they make me feel shitty too!

Naturally I found myself wondering if I was ever the whiner? YES! Eek!

I want to practice being grateful. I want to take every negative and make it a positive. What better way to do that then be grateful for what I have?

So, here goes...

I am grateful for;

my son - his humor and health
my ex-husband - he is a great guy and a terrific Dad
my parents - God bless them for everything!
my sister - finally, I really, really like her!
my brothers - even the one I don't like cause he reminds me of who I don't want to be (good, huh?)
Cats - they make me realize how much I love dogs!
the ability to work out
great legs that work
my big boobs (even though they need a "restoration")
my old boyfriend; heck, my old girlfriend (yes, one)
broken hearts (strategically placed under the old flames) - they make me realize how good love really is

blah, blah, blah - what are you grateful for?

grateful for the unexpected...

Today was fairly uneventful - though it has significance. I did not sleep well as I was worried about my friend Jeff. Jeff is an old boyfriend - we dated for 5 months from June to November of 2008. While we did not break up and immediately become friends we have managed to forge a friendship.

Jeff recently broke up with the "replacement" girl (I use that term to describe the woman who tried to replace me in any man's life - though admittedly the "replacement" may be more significant than I ever was). He is broken hearted and reached out to me for help. And, throughout the weekend I have spent hours on the phone listening to his hopes for getting her back, including editing the "please take me back letter" for him.

Now, while I am a life coach, I am a human foremost. Talking to Jeff about his desire to get her back hurt, bad. I think there is a part of every human, man or woman, hetero or homo sexual who wants to know an old flame wants them back. Here I am listening to my old heart throb describe his desires to get the "replacement" back.

So, are you asking me why I did this?

Last summer was BAD for me. Bad things happened, from two life threatening freak injuries, to arguments with the family to losing a job. Jeff was there througout it all. He was the one that stuck with me. There were also friends who came out of the woodwork to help me when I was incapacitated after surgery...people whom I would never have expected to help.

I learned that it is not always the expected people who will be there in an emergency. Sometimes the best friends are the ones you don't even ask for help - they just show up and do things you didn't even know needed to be done.

I helped Jeff because I care, and because I can pay forward what he and others did for me last summer.

While it hurt, it felt good. I am learning to live through gratitude. While I am a coach and I "preach" this concept - it doesn't always get "lived". Yes, I admit it. I like to think that is what makes me good at what I do.

I am grateful an unexpected friend thought of me when he needed someone.