Karla’s Korner: Thankful

I am proud to introduce a new column to Madame Deals! I think we all need a touch point a place we can go to be inspired. Karla is my children’s teacher, a good friend, and a person with a heart of gold. I hope that her words will inspire you to do more. We are only as good as the people we surround ourselves with. It is important to listen with your heart and proceed with your eyes open. Enjoy!

With the arrival of November and cooler weather thoughts begin to turn toward the holiday season. Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away and in the blink of an eye Christmas will be here. Being an active participant of social media, I have jumped on the bandwagon of writing thankful status updates on my Facebook page every day for November. At first it seems that everyone is thankful for their children, their spouse, their homes and their jobs. These are all great things to be thankful for and if we are creative, we will be able to find just enough “thankfuls” to fill up the entire month.

As I sit here in the very early hours of a Sunday morning in an oversized chair with two of the sweetest kids I have ever known watching Dragon Tails in their living room listening to their giggles and waiting on the news of the arrival of their new little brother I find myself with tear filled eyes and a heart full of joy. We have been waiting for this day for nine long months. In this calm before the storm of the day’s activities I ask myself why is it that we wait until November to begin our thankful journals or share status updates of thanks. Does it mean that the other eleven months of the year we are not thankful for anything? I believe it is because we do not take the time to acknowledge those things in which we are thankful for. I also believe that we sometimes overlook the small things thinking that they are not important enough to give thanks.

We all want to be able to share our “thankfuls” publically when it is about our wonderful husband and all the great things he does for us, or our beautiful amazing kids who bring us so much joy and unending love. But what about the little everyday things that should be acknowledged with the same kind of thanks? Lately it is the little things that seem to bring me the greatest joy. It’s the phone call at the end of a long day from my daughter just to check in; or the text from a friend sharing with me the results of her latest doctor’s appointment. Thankful is going to work every day knowing that your life is better because of the people you work with and the students you teach and their families. Thankful is watching a pair of cardinals eat their dinner every night on the window feeder and remembering your grandfather who shared his love of birds with you. Thankful is the friends you have in your life who love you in spite of yourself and love you enough to tell you when you are wrong or that you have spinach between your braces. Thankful is going to bed every night feeling safe and warm without fear. Thankful is clean drinking water and having enough food to feed your family. Thankful is the sun shining through the window giving the cat a warm place to sleep and a dog that barks with glee when you return home every night. Thankful is having a dependable vehicle to drive, comfortable shoes on your feet and a coat on your back in the cold winter months. Thankful is the little children who laugh out loud when you read them a story or stomp their feet in anger when they don’t want to follow your directions. Thankful is the teenaged boy you have to practically drag out of bed every morning for school because he’s yours and you love him in spite of his inability to get up without twenty minutes of prodding every day.

Being thankful for all of the small ordinary things in our lives is just as important as those big things that blow along our life road once in a while. What you thankful for? Take a minute every day and pick just one thing that makes you grateful. This year I have decided that I am going to write in a thankful journal every single day instead of just the thirty days in November. Can I find something to be thankful for every single day for an entire year? You betcha; and while I am sure there will be some pretty big ones along the way this year (like the birth of a baby) I am even more sure that the little ones will be the ones that pop up out of nowhere and touch me the most.

So today as I begin my thankful journal I share my first entry with you: “Today I am thankful for new babies who bring a smile to my face and joy to my heart!”

Peace,

Karla

Check out all of Karla’s Korner articles here.

Also, please visit Karla’s Lifetime Moms page and read her articles.