I know what you’re thinking, “Oh my god it’s Thanksgiving and this crazy psycho isn’t thankful?!” Now just wait a minute, don’t judge a book by its cover:) I got your attention huh? Let me explain. I AM VERY THANKFUL today, but not just today, each and every day I wake up and take a breath I am thankful. I am thankful for family, a good career, a world of new opportunities and experiences, choosing to be happy, and the list goes on and on. I see so many people only showing and demonstrating thanks on this given holiday and then tomorrow it’s back to complaining about each and everything in their life. From jobs to not making enough money, from being overweight and thinking you’re fat, to flipping off the jack ass who cut you off in traffic then dwelling on it the whole day. From wishing you had a better life to bitching about the fact you didn’t get a $400 60 inch plasma at Best Buy. My career has allowed me to open my eyes to exactly how god damn lucky and blessed I am, this particular job especially. I work with the older population and yesterday it was heart breaking to me how most of them don’t have families that come and see them, or they are medically unable to leave the facility. From the old man in the wheelchair who was ecstatic to take 3 steps after not walking in 6 months, or the young woman who had a stroke and finally was able to stand up for 30 seconds. These people are THANKFUL. Yet today, someone around the world will complain and be pissed off about the fact that the Cowboys lost the game in the last-minute. Four of my co-workers are from the Philippines who have some form of family effected by the typhoon and lost everything. Those people would be thankful for a piece of food or clothing today, or to have that family member they lost. This is the first time in 29 years I will not be with my family for Thanksgiving, and yes I miss them tremendously, but I am so blessed and honored to have an extended family in California whom I can spend this day with because I know many people have nowhere to go. Everyday is not perfect. I have bad days and have to catch myself complaining about stupid shit a lot as well, but the change I’ve made is always thinking how much worse it could be. I don’t have all the money, the looks, or perfection, but I have a damn good life and am grateful today, tomorrow, and everyday moving forward. I love and appreciate everything life has given me as well as my family. So please, tomorrow when Thanksgiving is over, don’t change your thoughts and feelings you have today. I will still be thankful tomorrow for the same things as today. Carry them over to each and everyday of your life. Wake up and live everyday like it’s Thanksgiving and PLEASE choose to be awesome dammit. 🙂
Abby 
health
Just because I’m alone, does not mean I’m lonely
Since I started this travelling gig, I have learned to be alone. I have learned to go into unfamiliar places and to depend on no one but myself. I go into a city not knowing a single person. I have the ability to make friends and talk to people no matter where I’m at. I have the ability to put myself out there and discover new things. But sometimes, I want to just be alone. Am I depressed? Lonely? Sad? Nope..I just want to be alone! At 29 years old, I am finally starting to figure out the person I am, but I will never stop learning or discovering things about myself. Life is always a journey. For those that don’t know about me, I have been divorced over a year now. I basically took a huge leap of faith and completely changed my life. So far, it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made. Back to my point, I will put it to you this way, I actually like being alone. It doesn’t scare me and it doesn’t bother me. I honestly think that people don’t spend enough time alone, reflecting and learning to grow as a person. Now, do I think as humans we need interactions with others as well? Of course I do, but I think that there is no shame in wanting to spend time with yourself. I know it has allowed me to become a better person and truly discover what I want in life. I don’t have to be around people all the time. I can go out by myself and experience things without the need of someone else. Sorry, but I’m not missing out on something in life because I don’t have anyone to do anything with. If you truly want to live a happy life, you have to be dependent on yourself, trust yourself, and not look for the dependence or approval of others for things you want to do. Happy Sunday everyone.
Abby
Wasted Time…
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So, this week I’ve been experimenting. Often times we find ourselves saying, “I’m so busy, I can’t find the time to: Workout, start a project, clean, cook healthy, call a family member, do this, do that, and the list goes on.” I, myself, find that I tend to say I don’t have the time to do certain things. I wanted to see how true this really was. Each day I marked down how many hours of wasted time I spend during the day. What do I consider wasted time? Well even though I like doing some of these things, I actually do consider them to be a waste of time knowing I could be doing something more productive. My list included:
- Facebook/Instagram/Social Media-Yes I know I know, but trust me, the world will not end if I can’t get on Facebook for one hour to see who’s life is miserable, who hates their job, what someone ate today, what someone looks like at the gym, or the latest post of someone I have no clue managed to get on my friends list because I have no idea who they are.
- Television-Yep I’m guilty. I watch the drama filled lives of others on Reality TV and live vicariously through Housewives, the Big Brother House, and others.
- Napping-I don’t take a nap every day, but sometimes if I get the chance and I’m in a position to do so, I will nap. However, I tend to take longer naps than I probably should.
- Surfing the Web-This does not count social media. There are some things I need to look up to find out information for, but I also tend to wander the web and find myself at very interesting places to say the least that really have nothing to do with me or what I was attempting to get on the internet for anyways.
- Sleeping-This does not included napping, this includes that extra hour or two in the morning I hit the snooze alarm 50 times when I could have just gotten my butt up out of bed and had a 2 hour start to my day. OR the hour or two I spent tossing and turning and unable to fall asleep when I could have been doing paperwork or getting something productive done.
These 5 things I thought where my biggest time wasters this week. After a week of this I figured that on average I wasted roughly 4 hours per day. When I actually looked at this on paper and realized each week I could be wasting 28-30 HOURS! Are you kidding me!?!? That’s a lot of time I could be doing things that I love, exploring new passions, getting little projects done, knocking things off my bucket list, learning a new skill, calling family, reaching my goals faster, and the list goes on. It’s incredible when you really look at all the time we “waste” during the day, but then later mention that we just don’t have the time to do certain things. Now with this being said, I’m not saying I will stop getting on Facebook nor give up my dose of Housewife drama, but I will decrease the time tremendously that I’m doing these things and set aside specified times for those certain things as well.
Be more aware of where your time is going to. Try my experiment for a week. Write down what you feel are “time wasters” and how much time per day you spend doing these things. Take a look at the list after a week a then I bet you can’t say to yourself, “I just don’t have time to work out, I don’t have time to go back to school, I don’t have time to visit or call my family, etc.” I learned through this experiment that in fact I DO have the time to do a lot of things I say I can’t, but it’s about MAKING the time. My question to you is, do you REALLY need to get on Facebook right now for 30 minutes when you could be working out? Do you REALLY need to watch the latest episode of reality television on FOX instead of doing your school work?  I promise that when you start to FIND the time to do the things you’ve been putting off, you will feel more accomplished, you will feel a sense of freedom, and your goals will get reached MUCH faster, and life will just be much more awesome!
Abby~
Living Awesome Project 