Sure, we are all thankful for our friends and family, spouses and children year after year. However, its quite a broad statement (and since I don’t have 2/4 things listed above), I decided to dive a bit deeper into my tiny and very crucial moments of life to share with you what I’m truly thankful for this year, and always.
If you haven’t noticed already, I tend to be fairly private here on MeridethMorgan.com, not sharing much about my personal life. You may have gained some insight from this article or this article, but today, I’m opening up. If you ever have wondered, “who IS Merideth,” this is an opportunity to learn a bit more about who I am, the person behind these weekly words and photos. Here are 10 things that you most likely didn’t know about me!
I’m thankful for…
1. My relationship with God. God and I are tight. I consider myself a God fearing woman and attend Catholic mass every Sunday. Through Him, all things would not be possible. The good and the bad, my faith is what keeps me positive on a daily basis.
2. Being exactly who I say I am by living my truth. I embrace who I am using my uniqueness to try and make a difference in this world. It’s an amazing feeling knowing exactly who I am and not pretending to be someone I’m not.
3. Opportunities. This year I quit my full time job and started working for myself. It was scary and still is (and probably will always be), but I’m so grateful for the opportunity to do so! It’s a goal of mine to continue the pursuit of being my own boss for the rest of my life. I’ve also been afforded the opportunity to have worked with some of the largest companies I’ve ever worked this year and had opportunities to meet some incredible people along the way. I credit #1.
4. Being unequivocally happy. I have always said happiness is a choice and unfortunately a lot of people do not recognize this. It’s one of the simplest tricks in the book. Grateful people are happier people.
“Gratitude is to happiness, what words are to stores, love is to marriage and breath is to living,” Ken West.
5. My mistakes. They make me wiser and soooo much stronger regardless of the pain I felt at the time. I feel unbreakable! And always, without a doubt, a learned lesson comes from it.
6. Gratitude. “In everything we give thanks.” Thessalonians 5:18. In everything, I give thanks. When I go to church, I spend most of my time praying by giving thanks to God. Not asking him for anything (except to help me become a better person). My prayers include thanking him for making me who I am (#2)! I thank him for showing me the light when I needed to end a relationship, or thanking him for an opportunity he has given me. I remind myself daily to not take things for granted and to feel gratitude towards the mundane and the monotonous.
7. Basketball. I might love this sport more than anything else in this entire world. I played collegiate basketball, was the team captain my senior year, then spent 5th year as the assistant coach. Back then, we were so crazy about the sport and our memories attached to it, that for graduation, we decided to gift each other little jewelry pieces with our school and team name printed on them (visit the site for an example). Something to cherish for a lifetime. Currently, I’m still able to make it up and down the court in my league at Chelsea Piers, where we just won the Fall season Championship! I won’t be able to sit and talk stats of college or NBA players and I don’t follow a team (does this delegitimize me?) but growing up in a Massachusetts household, by default I was a Celtics fan. Now, I just prefer to have any game on and watch good basketball.
8. Plans that went askew. When I did quit my job back in January of this year, I had plans to go into partnership with a woman who committed to helping me start my own private client styling business. After working with her December, January, February and a bit of March, she backed out without telling me she changed her mind. No apology, no nothing. My livelihood was not her concern. I reminded her of our commitment to each other and that I quit my job for this opportunity. She responded “you didn’t like your job anyway.” I say all that to say, thank you! I am so grateful that it didn’t work out as it was a reminder from God that I don’t need her (or anyone!). Barely keeping above water financially this year because of this situation, I’m making it work!
9. Good gluten free options! Back in September 2015, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I spent the following few days at my parents house trying to come up with a game plan on how to make the changes needed for this new lifestyle. It meant no bread and no pasta, perhaps my two most favorite things to eat! They took me out to dinner for the first time since being diagnosed and I looked at the menu and quickly had tears running down my face. There was nothing for me to eat, or so it felt. All the normal things I would have ordered I no longer can eat. I quickly had to accept the fact that my life was going to change. I have found my favorite gluten free restaurants and have found some incredible gluten free foods that now fill my cabinets.
10. Love. The thought and possibility of having this feeling excites me. Even though I have never been in love I am still thankful the possibility of one day having it. I’ve thrown the word around in high school and college thinking I knew what it meant. As an adult, someone who knows thy true self, has such a different perspective on what it truly means to love someone. My very first boyfriend was when I was in middle school/high school. I attended a private school a few towns away and he attended the local public high school. Unbeknownst to me, he had an entirely different girlfriend at his school. This was my introduction into relationships and as a child, this was a horrific experience. Things haven’t changed much as I’ve gotten older. I haven’t had a boyfriend who has been honest since, but this doesn’t effect my spirit or my optimism. I do know that when love finds me, its going to be out of this world.
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