Yes, Thanksgiving is a month away, but I have had the idea of what it means to truly be grateful on my mind lately. It seems to keep coming up in both conversation & situation. I complain about being less financially sound lately, and then I remember how very lucky I am to even have a roof over my head. And when I feel so overwhelmed and cranky at work, I think about my amazing, strong, wonderful Papa (my dad's dad) who is so bravely battling cancer and having a series of 3 surgeries to correct tremors from the chemo that is saving his life. And these surgeries are working! And his tumors are shrinking! For this, I am so truly grateful. And I am grateful for my family, friends, and amazing boyfriend that I adore, and for Miranda's tiny babies who are growing so fast. There are miracles all around, and this post is serving to remind me of this today- I am BLESSED beyond belief. So maybe my little stresses aren't so big...

Gretchen over at The Happiness Project helped me realize this with the below post, and also points out that there are always things one can do to change the way you feel about a situation:

"One of the most important principles I’ve learned from my happiness research is that although we assume that we act because of the way we feel, often we feel because of the way we act.
Therefore, if you don’t like the way you’re feeling, take action in the opposite direction -- it sounds simplistic, but it’s almost uncannily effective. If you’re feeling poor, give something away. If you’re feeling powerless, take control of something. Also, one of the quickest ways to make yourself feel better is to be GRATEFUL. It’s hard to feel grateful when you’re thinking about your 401K’s drop in value; thinking about giving to people who are worse off will remind you of how much you have to be grateful for."