Take Two on Question 4: What are you most grateful for in life

• I am grateful for the friends and family I have that are here to support me when I need it, and especially the times when they know I need it, but am just too stubborn to ask for it.
• I am grateful that I have a beautiful daughter who is challenging and infuriating to the point that it makes me rip my hair out.  But she is also strong, driven and incredibly bright.  She is caring, silly and makes me laugh.  I guess when it comes down to it, I wouldn't have her any other way.
• I am grateful that my daughter stopped being a vegetarian. I know it's a horrible thing to admit, but I missed my bacon.  Besides, she did it more out of a dare from a friend than actually for any real reasons, so I don't feel as bad about being happy about it.  We will continue to eat more meat free meals, though.
• I am grateful that despite my dire financial straits, I still have a home, food in my cupboards and working transportation.  I at least know that my basic needs are intact and I can build on the rest.
• I am grateful that I have the ability to see the big picture when I'm struggling and have been learning to appreciate the small steps forward to keep me going.
• I am grateful that I have a stress relieving tool in working out.  Between Zumba, running and whatever else I do exercise why, I have found that strengthening my body helps strengthen my mind.  I especially find a peace in running that allows me to clear my head of all my worries, even if it's just for an hour.
• I am grateful that I learned to like dogs.  I had to go waaaay out of my comfort zone to even agree to one dog and I'm glad I did it.  They're wonderful creatures. And there's something to be said for unconditional love.
• I am grateful that neither my daughter nor I have had to deal with any major medical issues.  (Hopefully, that didn't just jinx me!)
• I am grateful that despite everything that has been thrown at me over the years, that I have been able to pick myself up again (eventually) and keep moving forward.  It hasn't been easy, but I always think about the advice of my old drill sergeant to "suck it up and drive on."  Sometimes that's all you can do and sometimes that's enough to at least get you to the next day.
• I am grateful that I developed a better relationship with my brother.  We never got along as children, but some point along the way as adults we realized that we actually liked each other.  =)  It's good to have him in my life.
• I am grateful that I have started to learn to rely on people, rather than keep things bottled in. I still have trouble letting people in, but I'm trying really hard to do better with it.
• I am grateful that I have an opportunity to make my life new. I went through a lot of bad times and rather than beat myself up any more on my past mistakes, I am going to try to focus on starting over and making it better.  I don't know where that will lead, but I am ready to try to do something good. 

A red letter day...

I found something that not even the promise of bacon would tempt me to eat...

By the way, I do have a new blog post kicking around in my head, talking about my first real massage ever...  So, be prepared.  I also will be returning to my gratitude list soon now that I'm in a much better frame of mind (despite the above picture trying to spoil it for me...).