Gratitude on the go! 9-29-12

Today I am grateful for:
-MPLS. I have friends all over the country. And one thing I love to do is go visit them. However, it also makes me realize how much I love my homeland. And I love how much my friends love their homeland. It causes problems because it means we'll never all live in the same place, but I digress. MPLS is truly beautiful. Today was simple gorgeous! The leaves on the trees have almost all turned different colors, the weather is still warm (81 degrees!), and everyone seems to have a pep in their step because of it. I sometime forget this feeling when it's the middle of the winter when all I want to do is curl up in my bed and never leave. When I just want to escape the cold that will hit me like a ton of bricks once I peel back the covers. But even in those days their is beauty to be found. So thank you MPLS. For all the joy you bring to so many people. Here's one pic that really encapsulates how much I love my city:

Mr Elf and I have three things in common:
1. We're both short
2. We both love MPLS
3. We're both voting no!

-laughter
-getting my period. My emotions were out of control the past two days. I think a huge part of it was because I was pmsing. Today I feel soo much better!
-this quote: "follow your own path and let people talk."
-inspiring blogs. I love reading other people's thoughts. It's a little insight into who they are. Also a lot of times people can express themselves with words in a way I never can. But being able to read how they feel and see that its (sometimes) the same way I feel makes me very, very grateful. I'm not alone.
-Finding strength
-breathing
-letting things go.
-Talking to Zarah on the phone. I was feeling really down at the end of the day and, after much debate with myself, I decided to call her. She just let me talk and she really listened and said exactly the right things. She was being truly empathetic. It was wholeheartedly wonderful. By the end of the conversation, I was no longer in a low place. I felt lighter. Now, I have to admit something. In the past, I have struggled sometimes with my friendship with Zarah. I know others have not always understood why I'm friend with her and there have been moments where I've thought that too. In the beginning. In college. However, Zarah is and has been a great friend. She's listened to me in times of need and has shared and taken part of wonderful times of laughter and joy. I'm truly grateful for her friendship.
-the basics
-a bit more laughter
-As always, my friends

Side note:
Speaking of inspiring blogs, I read the following process in a blog entry (which I'm about to share) earlier today and I am so grateful someone has put such simple words to how I've been processing my journey of "waking up."
It's called the Oh!-Om!-Ouch!-Ooh!-Process. It goes like this:

Oh! I get it. That makes sense.
Om. I’m practicing what I’ve learned. I’m breathing and becoming mindful.
Ouch. I’m feeling it. It hurts.
Ooh. I’m grateful. What an amazing process.

This is exactly what it's like for me right now. Well. Kind of. It's not exactly what it's been like. It's a bit more drawn out, not in that order, and it's not complete yet. But the overlying process is the same.  For me it's more of an Oh!-Ouch!-Om.-Ooh process. Specifically, its like this:

Oh! No...that's not what's wrong with me.
Oh! That is what's wrong with me.
Oh! I don't know if I want to hear this.
Oh! I don't know if I can hear this!
Oh! Okay. Okay. Okay. I can hear it.
Oh! I get it. This makes sense, but I'm afraid.

Ouch! I'm feeling it.

Ouch! This really hurts.

Ouch! This really, really hurts.

Ouch! I’m afraid. Make it stop.

Ouch! Can’t breathe. My heart feels like it's breaking.

Ouch! I’m so tired.

Ouch! I don't think I can do this.

Ouch! Okay. I can do this. Breath through the pain.
Om. Okay. I'm trying to practice what I've learned.
Om. I'm practicing gratitude.
Om. I don't think it's working.
Om. Still not working.
Om. Hey, I think this might be working.
Om. Breathe
Om. I think I'm becoming mindful.
Om. Breathe
Om. Practicing gratitude is really helpful to becoming mindful.
Ooh. Being mindful of the pain helps me through it.
Ooh. Gratitude really helps me through the pain.
Ooh. Reaching out for help from others helps me through the pain.
Ooh. Wait. What's happening? Things still hurt sometimes, but everything looks and feels different.

I'm not through to the other side yet. In fact, I'm just starting to see the Ooh part of the process. Most of the time I'm still in the Ouch phase. Slowly but surely I'm working my way through though. Who knew waking up could be so complex?