Random Thought Wednesday: Thankfulness

I have a friend from high school who, each day in November, posts something she is thankful for on her Facebook page every day. I look forward to the posts, as it always makes me think of what I'm thankful for, too.

One of my favorite personal development gurus, Darren Hardy, writes in his great book The Compound Effect that keeping a gratitude journal can impact your life by turning a negative outlook into a positive one.

Here are a few things I'm grateful for this morning.

1) My son's appetite
While I'm extremely concerned about the forecasted grocery budget for the next 12 years, it makes me so happy to see my son devouring all kinds of food I wouldn't have even glanced at when I was his age. Last night I fixed "The Fancy Dinner" -- sauteed tilapia filets with a simple balsamic reduction. He didn't have it on spinach like Zach and I, but he absolutely inhaled his fish, squash, corn, and bread.

On the side is acorn squash and chickpea raisin salad.
We're talking delicious, here, folks.

It's funny because I always have some apprehension when I announce that we're having fish or a tofu dish, when in reality I'm just transferring my own past prejudices onto someone who has no idea that most people think tofu is weird and gross. All he cares about is how it tastes! It's very refreshing

2) My daughter's pickiness
My appreciation for my son's appetite is only heightened by the depths of my daughter's pickiness. See how I turned a negative into a positive, there?

I guess I can forgive pickiness in someone so cute.

3) The Internet
I know that the Internet is chalk full of twisted things and evil people, but it's also full of awesome things and great people. It's because of the Internet that I'm able to do this job -- to work from home and stay with my family. It connects me to people all over the world who I otherwise would never meet.

The other day I got the nicest note from one of my Beachbody customers that really made me feel good about what I'm trying to do as a Beachbody Coach. It gave me encouragement and a renewed motivation to keep on working toward my purpose.

"I want to thank you for taking the time to give your support and advice to us. I started Shakeology and P90X about 5 months ago. I was 211 lbs and taking a blood pressure pill every day. Now I'm at 182 lbs and I've been off my blood pressure medicine for 2 months. I've gone from a 36" waist to a 33". I feel better at age 40 than I did at 30. This has been a life change for me that I greatly needed and it is starting to carry over to family as well."

Just a day later I got this comment on my Pumpkin Pie Dip posting:

"I've been looking for a recipe like this. THANK YOU so much for posting it!! I've only been able to find ones filled with cream, more cream, cream cheese and sour cream. Thank you for a healthy, and most importantly for me, dairy-free recipe. I'm gonna try it! :)"

That nice young lady is a missionary in the Czech Republic. How cool is that? Because I went into the library one day and picked up a healthy cookbook and posted a recipe that caught my eye, someone in the Czech Republic is going to pick up some pumpkin and tofu and try a new dip. That is awesome. And even more awesome is that she took the time to let me know that she was thankful for the recipe.

What are you thankful for? Today, take a minute to express your gratitude to someone. You never know when that simple act of kindness will be the thing that keeps them going for the day.

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Workout of the Day

P90X One on One, Vol. 3: UBX (Upper Body X)