Day 8: Favorite Color

I love colors. 
I love them so much, in fact, that I do not have a favorite one--I just can't choose. It changes on an [almost] daily basis. 
So, I thought a picture of my color-changing snowflakes would be appropriate. (Thanks Aunt Beth!!) I love that they are as fickle as I am in their choice of color; I could probably stare at them for hours.
I'm drawn to colorful things. Even the pens aisle at Staples reels me in effortlessly.
It's such a simple thing, really, but the presence of color in my life makes me happy. Don't get me wrong, I love 'I Love Lucy' reruns, and The Andy Griffith Show can only be watched in black and white--the absence of color in those situations is purely acceptable, required even. But I'm so grateful we don't see like that.
And I'm grateful that I'm surrounded by colors.
I'm grateful that I can paint my nails crazy colors (regardless of the fact that lasts only two days)
I'm grateful for my snowflakes.
I'm grateful for colorful flowers.
I'm grateful that colors add dimension and vibrancy to ordinary things in life.
I'm grateful that there are myriad shades of different colors.
I'm grateful for COLOR. 

"The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most."

~John Ruskin  

Day 7 (kind of): Funny Things

Yes, it has been several months since I began this endeavor.  No, I did not live up to the declaration that I would post something I'm grateful for everyday. 
 I'm turning over a new leaf, now.

These pictures make me grateful for several things: 

      ONE, that I had my camera out at this choice moment.

      TWO, that my roommate had the guts to give her boyfriend a purple-nurple.

      and THREE, that they still make me laugh--every. time.

Side-splitting laughter is my favorite, and if you can make me laugh- I mean REALLY laugh-then I'll hang around you forever.  Fortunately for my friends (or unfortunately...that's up for debate...), it's not too hard to accomplish. 

The old adage, "laughter is the best medicine," is one that I believe whole-heartedly.  Nothing can change a mood or lighten a burden quite like a laugh can, and as a wise woman who spoke at BYU once said, "If you can laugh at it, you can live with it." Laughter, especially when shared with someone else, morphs into a unifying force that can conquer the troubles heaped upon us; laughter isn't only a bodily action, but a facilitator of attitude change.

So, I am so grateful for the funny moments in my life that ground me, and bring me back to reality when I  blow circumstances out of proportion. 

 I'm grateful for the attitude boost they provide, and the perspective they offer during hard times.

But most of all, I'm grateful for the people that provide such funny moments for me, intentional or not.  They have no idea how much strength I derive from them.

 

Day 6: Books

I've always loved books.
I've always loved the smell of books, and the calming effect it seems to have on me. (Go smell one before you judge me, please)
I've always loved getting lost in a story and escaping for a little while.
But since coming to college books have taken on a new meaning and played a different role in my life.  Not only are college books expensive, but the material they teach seems to suck time and stamp out all possibility of me reading the books I, myself, choose.  I don't read for fun as often as I used to, or as often as I would like anymore, and perhaps that has increased my gratitude for books and novels and authors who painstakingly and diligently sit down to write them--gosh knows I never could. 
It may sound silly, but books have gotten me through some rough patches in my life.  They've allowed me to outrun, whether for good or for bad, my own problems, if only for a short amount of time, and let me exist in a different world.
So, thank you, books.
I do still enjoy reading my textbooks most of the time--particularly since I'm taking more classes for my major this semester--they provide great insights and tidbits of info that I love finding out about.  BUT I'll always love the tales and escapades more (and biographies...I've recently discovered my fondness of them).

"FEW THINGS LEAVE A DEEPER MARK ON A READER THAN THE FIRST BOOK THAT FINDS ITS WAY INTO HIS HEART.  THOSE FIRST IMAGES, THE ECHO OF THE WORDS WE THINK WE HAVE LEFT BEHIND, ACCOMPANY US THROUGH OUR LIVES AND SCULPT A PLACE IN OUR MEMORY, TO WHICH, SOONER OR LATER-NO MATTER HOW MANY BOOKS WE READ, HOW MANY WORLDS WE DISCOVER, OR HOW MUCH WE LEARN OR FORGET-WE WILL RETURN."

-CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON

Day 5: The Morning Sky

I've always loved mornings, but let's get something straight before I go any further: I'm really not a morning person.  I really only ever get up "early" when I must, and when given the opportunity, I'll usually always sleep in.  I just WISH I was a morning person.  
I don't know what it is about the morning, maybe it's the promise of 24 more hours to do and be whatever you want in, maybe it's the notion that you can make that day exactly what you want to, but something about the morning sky reflects that, for me.
The sun shines a little differently in the morning, as if its trying to infuse the hope of the day into the very objects it shines upon. So, along with my gratitude towards the morning sky and the hope it brings, I'm going to make a resolution--get up earlier. See that morning sky that I love so much more often.
The sky alight with the morning sun is exhilarating and a bit inspiring--it seems to breathe life into my lungs, and to motivate me to be active and verb-like during the day, alerting me of the possibilities each hour can hold, and the feeling of accomplishment that could be my companion once the sun sets.
Too often I think that I do not have enough time in my day, until that one day when I do manage to get up early. I realize the productiveness that seems to shadow me through the morning hours is a great gift when compared to the small price of rolling out of my warm bed a bit sooner than desired.
So here's to the morning and the sky that keeps watch overhead--it is a natural beauty I will never tire of viewing.

Day 4: Leaves

Unfortunately there aren't any vibrant fall leaves this time of year, because that's the state in which I appreciate them the most.
I don't know a soul who doesn't enjoy the colorful leaves of Autumn, or watching kids jump into a pile of them as a reward for the raking they've done. They are by far their most majestic when their array of colors replaces the uniform green of the summer, and I've been spoiled by the unrivaled New England fall for all my life.
It's the change of leaves with every season, though, that I've come to realize my gratitude for.  Without the repetitious slow fade from an unfurling bud to the brown crinkles that float to the winter ground, I'd get increasingly bored of my surroundings.  I love the fluidity of nature, the never-ending changes that promote a constancy all the same, and the way it so symbolically mirrors life.
I love that I live, and have always lived, in a place that has all four seasons; I can't imagine permanently relocating anywhere else.  I'm a four season kind of girl, any less will not suffice.
I'm grateful for the inkling of life that leaves promise in the spring, the shade they provide in the summer, the scenes they create in the fall, and the renewal they foreshadow during winter--I'm just grateful for leaves.

Day 3: Happiness

Finding happiness.  Isn't that the never-ending journey that every human being embarks upon in their lifetime?  Some start when they are young, some older, some find they need to be redirected every once in a while, or a lot, but we all seek it.  
I've come to learn, mostly from the wonderful examples I am blessed to call friends and family, that the illusive "happiness" really is just that--a never ending JOURNEY. True happiness comes in the small joys along the way--like winning five bucks on a scratch off.  True happiness is our willingness to appreciate and notice the small rarities, or the everyday happenings, as precious gifts.  The error of over-looking these is all too common, and I'm grateful that I have been taught--and shown--how and why to love the little things. 
There are so many quotes I've jotted down about happiness, I could smother you with them. But I think I'll settle for this simple one:

WHILE IN THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS ONE SHOULD STOP, AND BE HAPPY

I'm grateful that, right now, I'm happy.

Day 2: Smiles

I would like to point out the fact that smiles, I believe, are underrated.
Not the forced grin that graces everyone's face when someone behind the camera yells "cheese," but the real deal. 
What better medicine is there than provoking the corners of a kid's mouth to turn up and hear a giggle escape? Or how about that smile that lights up someone's face when you see them for the first time in too long a time? Even the smile from a perfect stranger promotes a sense of human togetherness--it may not be the full fledged smile that crinkles the eyes, but it's warm, and comforting. 
So, I am grateful for smiles.
There is a framed poem in my room, one of it's stanzas saying:

...the hug can break the language barrier

and make your travels so much merrier...

I'd argue that the smile is even more advantageous.  Hugs are great, too. I love hugs. But a smile is so much easier to pull out.  Everyone--race, culture, language aside--understands a simple smile.  It is happiness, laughter, enjoyment, friendship, well-wishes...any or all of the above, and more. The expression of a smile is limitless, but always, if it is sincere, it means well to whomever it is bestowed upon.  And I'm grateful for the fact that I can smile at someone, and they'll know just what I mean.