Last year around this time, my life was a bit complicated, so I sat down and thought about what I was thankful for. Yeah, cliche, but it helped me a great deal. So I decided to do it again this year. It’s a shame I only force myself to think about what I am thankful for in an organized fashion once a year. Kinda like how I formally review my goals at the beginning of the year. Well at least both happen regularly. Maybe I will add to my goal list to increase the frequency… Regardless, here are my publicly sharable list of thankful things for right now (feel free to not read, gets a bit sappy):
– My family – they are numerous and crazy, mostly don’t share my world view, don’t appreciate good restaurants and live in the suburbs. But they are so amazing and I am totally head over heels in love with all of them, so much that I can overlook political, religious, ideological and all other difference (as much as possible).
– My siblings – holy crap, they are great. I am the oldest of 5, all of us with completely different personalities. But we are all so close and there for each other through good and bad, no matter what.
– My parents – I love the relationship we have as adults. They love me as much as I love them and I am so happy.
– My new nephew – OMG, he is amazing. I understand that others have felt this before and now I understand. He is so cool and cute and great. Not sure on the smarts yet, but I am gonna go out on a limb and say he will be brilliant. I love being an aunt and can’t wait for my siblings to reproduce more.
– My dog – Linus is the best dog. Many agree with me. I am so glad he travels well, because this gypsy lifestyle would suck without him.
– My friends – As a professional networker by habit, I know a great deal of people. But the people I choose to call “my friends” are really the cream of the crop. I have “crews” in the different cities I travel to, some of them vacation buddies, some of the them weekend dinner friends, some of them baby mommas/daddies that I steal time with when our schedules permit. But I am truly thankful for each and every of them and glad they are in my life.
– My job – I love National Geographic Animal Jam. I love Smart Bomb. I love Salt Lake and DC. I love my team. I feel very lucky to be able to work with them each day and do the cool work we do. We rock and the kids are starting to realize that too.
– My industry – I heart all you folks. You are all so passionate about kids and their happiness and safety. We fight the good fight (and sometimes the bad fights and nasty fights) but we keep our heads up and focused on the light at the enbd of the tunnel.
– My drive/ambition – Yeah, it’s huge and scares even me. But it has brought me so much over the years that even though I am getting tired lately, I keep going.
Cool, that’s a happy list. File it away til next year… 🙂
Joi Podgorny 