{Thriving this Winter} Day 9: Joy

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On Sunday my family celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving, which was wonderfully tasty, fun and comfortable. Nothing seemed pretended, nothing seemed “put-on”. Yes, we had a big meal and Cogsworth did A LOT of cooking and work, but it didn’t seem like a show that we would all have to recover from afterwards. (Well, except maybe losing the 5 lb.s we gained). 

This family celebration led me to thinking about the next family celebration that we will be having. You know the one.... Christmas. I like to really start early for christmas preparations, so I usually use Thanksgiving as my cue. 

One of the things that really struck me this year was how the whole point of Thanksgiving is celebrated. It is always around this time that I am struck by the true bounty of what myself and my family enjoys, I am thankful for the things in my life that are good, and I can reflect on the true goodness of things that initially seem awful. There is a true undertone of gratefullness, and our family is good at remembering to remember this. 

I also love the ease of this holiday. Thanksgiving isn’t a whole month long and even if I did decorate it would more likely be with leaves from outside, pumpkins and gourds and simple candles. In fact this year for our pre-thanksgiving, I made a super simple centrepiece with a vase half full of mixed nuts and a tea light. It was all stuff we already had, simple, and perfectly reflected the mood of thanksgiving. Simply enjoying what we have. 

{Thriving this Winter} Day 8: Accept

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Today I am sharing something that I have been thinking about for a long time. 

The way things work for you, is probably different than other people. I don’t mean its completely different that everyone else, but not the same as some people. Or maybe it’s not. Or maybe it is. 

It really doesn’t matter. 

Comparing ourselves to others is one of the most damaging things we can do. The green-eyed monster gets more and more deceptive as we age. When we compare our work performance with our co-workers, our relationship sucess with our siblings, or our monetary status with our friends, we are being the toddler who wants everyone elses toys. Sometimes we simply compare ourselves to the idea of something. We are seeing that green, green grass and hoping it would make us feel better. 

{Thriving this Winter} Day 7: Go

Today is going to be a really simple post. 

(Photo: February 2010, Mt. Doug, Victoria, BC)

Go do something about that.

{Thriving this Winter} Day 6: See

Yesterday we had our engagement photo session.... after only 5 years of marriage. Ha! It was lots of fun, and the sunset behind us was beautiful so I am sure they will turn out great. Today I am talking about fun, so naturally I want to talk about how we deal with photo's in our life.

Sometimes it is really nice to have a professional take some pictures, but all the photo's on display in your house do not have to be professionally done. Photo's are there to remind us of our experiences, so looking at photo's that mean something to you can be more important than the photo being a true art piece. Mix the two together for a authentic view of your life!

Our latest "yearbook"

{Thriving this Winter} Day 5: Listen

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So I already wrote this post. Twice. It was a long and wonderful primer on going to sleep. Then it was a short and wonderful primer on going to sleep.

But it kind of stank. And it was all about you guys listening to me, not about you listening to yourself.

You see, I spend a lot of time looking up other people's ideas on how to improve myself, my life, my health, my family. There are a million ways other people do things. And some of them are brilliant, some of them are silly, and while some of them are great they might just not work for you.