71. Thomas’ Light Multi-Grain English muffins
72. Getting unexpected packages in the mail
73. Thank-you notes
74. Top-down days
75. Flip-flops
76. Lefty’s gorgonzola-and-pear flatbread pizza
77. Whole Foods
78. Beautiful stationery
79. Crate and Barrel
80. Scented candles
81. NetFlix
82. New York cheesecake
59. Zucchini-carrot and pumpkin muffins from Summer Thyme
60. Cookbooks
61. The Internet
62. Organic produce
63. Farmers’ markets
64. Full-length mirrors
65. Bellinis
66. Blinis
67. Caviar
68. Grapefruit/red currant soap
69. Hand cream
70. The magic that Kim Vo does to my hair color
51. Unexpected snowfalls, especially on Friday nights
52. Chequebooks that balance
53. Memories that make me smile
54. Mediterranean genes
55. The New York Times crossword puzzles
56. Caller ID
56. Voicemail
57. Soy meatballs
58. The mimosa tree outside my office window (and the hummingbirds that come with it)
20. Having a best friend right in the neighborhood. That hasn’t been the case since I was a child. (Jan, this one’s for you.)
21. Really good sushi
22. Dogs
23. Remembering every rule of grammar and punctuation I ever learned
24. Barack Obama
25. Being required to take Latin in prep school
26. Brilliant novelists
27. The quality of conversation you can have on a long walk
28. A hot bath on a cold night
29. Warm bread and dipping oil
30. My new Ugg boots
Picking up where I left off yesterday, here’s more for my list. Disjointed, yes, but that’s just how it is.
9. The opportunity to develop a real sibling relationship with my big brother
10. Kim’s blog, which is just like her: real, honest, and utterly delightful
11. Comments on my blog from morethananelectrician
12. A tailor who makes house calls
13. Lipstick that doesn’t come off until I take it off
14. Skinny jeans that are actually flattering
15. Music
16. Avocados
17. White peaches
18. Under-eye concealer
19. My BlackBerry
My friend Kate gave me a little desktop book of daily teachings. Today’s words of wisdom are about using gratitude to shift your energy, and the suggestion is to write down 100 things you are grateful for each day.
I’m not sure I can do that. I have visions of myself frozen at my computer, terminally stuck on Tuesday’s number 15, paralyzed for the rest of the week, the month, the year.
But I’m going to try.
I am grateful for (in no particular order):
1. My friends. I have the best friends in the entire world. I have friends I could call at 3 a.m. and say “I need you,” and instead of asking why, they’d just reply, “I’m on my way.”
2. My husband. He’s brilliant, funny, attentive, kind, generous, and the most extraordinary partner on the planet. Life is infinitely richer with him.
3. My kids. Even though they’re young men now, they still call me Mommy. I love that.
4. My career. Sigh…writing books absolutely feeds my soul.
5. The peace of financial security
6. The comfort of living in a beautiful home
7. My health and fitness
8. The two furballs who keep me company in my office every day (and religiously try to steal my chair)
There are lots of scary people in this world–weird, thoughtless, rude, and certifiably crazy people. At the risk of being totally negative (something I can be very good at), their numbers are way too high for my comfort level. I see people do dangerous things, like blow through stop signs and drive like they’re on a racetrack. I see people do rude things, like allow their kids to get in other people’s faces because little Granola must be free to explore her world. I see people do unimaginably cruel things, like say frightening things to children just to prove that they’re right about something. And I see people do abominably self-righteous things, because they just don’t give a damn about the others with whom they share this planet.
The past week or so, it’s as if all the negativity escalated. Perhaps the contamination of the smoke has contaminated people’s psyches, as well, but whatever the reason, behaviors seems really out of hand. I discussed it with my friend Vicki today, and she immediately jumped on my bandwagon, because she has witnessed it, too–a subtle, insideous, then downright explosive display of truly bad conduct.
So we decided that the best way to beat it is by sending out some of the most positive energy we have. Airy fairy? I think not. We have to combat the negativity with all things positive–from forgiving the morons to conjuring up compassion to expressing gratitude for the good things we see and the wonderful people who occupy our lives. We have to embrace a half-full philosophy to get past the empty-headedness that is so rampant. And even if our gratitude gets no further along than “I’m so thankful I’m me and not you,” it’s a start.
Ageless Style 