I am Grateful for Me!

November 5:

Ok, today’s post is a hard one for me. I am challenging myself to put things I like about myself out there publicly. I will be the first to admit that I am my own worst critic. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure I am not alone in this department. Why are we so hard on ourselves?

So here goes, 4 things I am grateful for about myself.

I am grateful for my hair – I have a lot of fine hair with a little bit of natural wave. One of my favorite memories of my mom, when I was younger, was her running her fingers through my hair. It has been deceiving for many stylists especially when I get it highlighted. The foils always take longer than first planned. I now tell them upfront that they will need close to three hours to highlight & cut my hair. I sit, try to relax and catch up on work via my phone. My stylists have told me your hair is beautiful, I love working with your hair, I wish I had your hair, and so on. I have tried several styles over the years. I am not afraid of big hair or hairspray! Because you know the saying…

The bigger the hair the closer to God!

Back in the day, I loved the root perm! Am I dating myself? I had long hair for years; I love long, flowing hair – think Farah Fawcett (dating myself again). It seems like my hair will not grow long anymore. Once it gets to my shoulders it refuses to grow any longer. These days I am sporting a short & sassy shag look. I can always trust the shag; I keep going back to it!

My hands are not perfect but have learned to hold on to what is important.

I am grateful for my hands – I am proud to say I have my mother’s hands. While I have no pain and thankfully have not been diagnosed with any type of arthritis, I am starting to form Heberden’s node, a bump on the first joint of my index fingers. My hands are not as smooth or as pretty as they use to be but as I grow older, I see my mom’s hands. I love every scar, crease, wrinkle, age spot, you name it. They are strong, but not masculine. I can open jars and such that others in my house cannot. They tolerate heat. I can hold, move around pots & pans on my stove with ease. Potholder? Who needs a stinking potholder?! I use my thumb as a cutting board when I am slicing vegetables and make my nephew nervous. I hold the veggie in my hand and quickly slice, knowing when to stop and not let the knife go any further so I don’t cut my thumb. Just like my sister and just like my mom. My hands have packed many boxes, dug in the dirt, given hugs, wiped tears. My hands are not perfect but have learned to hold on to what is important.

You can tell a lot about a person by their handwriting. – Pete Doherty

I am grateful for my handwriting – I have always liked my handwriting. I have even received my grandson’s approval! People tell me that it looks unique, I will take that as a compliment! When I was younger, my writing was slow and methodical. I wanted it to be perfect! Well, we all know that perfection does not exist, but I was always very conscious of my handwriting. As I got older, I let up on my “carefulness” and now I just write. I enjoy everything about penmanship – give me a nice pen and quality paper and I am a happy camper! I enjoy writing out greeting cards. People have requested me to address their Christmas card envelopes and I have been paid to do so. I hope they never stop teaching how to write cursive in our schools. Have you seen my logo? My signature is part of my brand and I think it looks great!

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. – Walter Winchell

I am a good friend – I am very protective of my friends & family which I will never apologize for. When it comes to protecting them or having their back, I can be relentless. Hunter affectionately calls me his “Crazy Grandma”. I always say I am a good crazy, the kind of crazy you want on your side when things get tough! He gives me a look like what the heck are you talking about? I just tell him “Someday you will understand, you’ll know what I am talking about.” I have three older brothers who, when I was younger, were crazy protective of me so I guess I grew up with it. They have let up throughout the years. I am sure they think I am Oz’s responsibility now! Ha! Enough said!

This exercise was hard, but it is valuable to take stock in ourselves. Today’s post took me a lot of time. It did not have that much more content than other posts. I believe I was creating obstacles so I would not have to post something about ME! I kept getting sidetracked & trying to multitask, which I normally do not do. I ran into technical difficulties with my server and had to bring in the big guns. That is why this is getting out later than I originally planned. I felt like it was more difficult because I felt like I was bragging about myself.

How about you? I challenge you to find things about you that you are grateful for. If you feel like sharing, please share it in the comments below.