Today I went into work with a clear mission in mind--Mission Reorganization. The Teens' room is really haphazard because they are building a new teen center next year and thus...the current room falls by the wayside. However, I decided there were a few things we could do to spruce up the decor---tablecloths, center pieces, picture area, two lounge areas, and of course...my febreze addiction. I'm really hoping to get things going ASAP. This is when it is hard for me to stay in neutral...the moment I decide I want something done...it needs to get done, this is problematic 99% of the time. I wish the world operated on my time table...not the other way around.
Unfortunately, the Games Room staff is still gone and won't return until Monday..thus I had to leave my Teens Room project and continue my role as ultimate game time coordinator. This means, I must excel at Four Square, mediate all tantrums, hug away wounds, scold misbehavior, and referee like a professional. I really respect how talented all the staff are in their specific area...you really have to be a child at heart to get your hands dirty playing these games like sharks/minnows, ghosts in the grave yard, four square, and duck duck goose. Believe me, I have no problem learning as I go. Today was Staff vs. Members, so I decided my "talent" would be at Air Hockey. I only lost 2 games out of 30...2 1/2 hours of straight Air Hockey and my shoulder is killing me..but I can only laugh. I really love my job and I can't wait for Spanish Club to start again on the 21st--it's fun to interact with the other kids outside of the teen area; there is a definitive difference between the warmth of 1-4th graders and 6th +...they just want a big hug and your attention--I'm more than willing to give them that and more.
I also started thinking about where I am at currently versus last January. Although I was in Spain...my personal life was far from where it is today. I feel so blessed to have such solid people in my life. Although sometimes I wish I was financially independent, I'm very lucky and grateful that my Mom can support me financially and mentally as I go through graduate school...that gratitude I may never be able to fully vocalize. Also, Jamie has really been my flotation device since I've been home--she's an amazing friend--we have a bond that is difficult to articulate, we just get it--this knowing look thing.
Jason is...monumental. I've never met someone who made me want to be so much better. Not in an altering my character sort of way--but in a --I want to make his day that much better. I think of things that I could be doing for him, that I should be, even the smallest of things like surprising him with a bottle of wine and massage after a long day. He makes me want to be the best version of myself..although that isn't always the easiest road to take.
I know that things aren't exactly "perfect," or maybe they aren't "ideal" but it is really, truly, good. I'm at a job where I think more about other people than myself (which is a very humbling and necessary experience) and in a situation that causes me to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. I'm a work in progress...and the journey has been pretty amazing.
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.
Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.
Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.
The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.
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