Day 366 -- 1000 Days

Here it comes, the long boring post I promised.

What have I learned on this 365-day journey?

I've learned that it's been immeasurably, annoyingly good for me.

Did it cultivate gratitude in my life?  Yes.  Every day I became subconsciously on the look out for things to post about.  Even when certain things would happen, Colby would comment, "Well, there's your post for today!"

I've learned that this growth was not something that came easy.  There were certain days when I absolutely, positively, did not want to post.  If it had been a particularly rough day,  like a petulant child, I did not want to thank God for the difficulties, sadnesses, frustrations, or despair that I was experiencing.  Especially toward the end, there were many obstacles placed in our path that would have made it very easy to throw our hands up and say "forget it!"  I think Satan knew I was close, and was doing everything he could to prevent me from finishing.  My miscarriage and resulting hospital stay, the overwhelming depression that followed, and the illness I have experienced this last week I believe were partly an attempt to prevent the successful completion of this project.

I won't act like I was perfect.  I couldn't always follow through.  It has only been by the grace of God that I finished at all.  And I'm not just talking about recently.  But, his instrument has been my husband.  More often than not these past weeks, it has been Colby who has urged me to write, even going so far as to do it himself when I needed a proxy because of pain or physical exhaustion.  I have been so thankful for his help, his gentle reassurance, and his refusal to let me fail. 

Which leads me to mull over the types of things I have and had to be thankful for.  It appears as though my immediate family takes first place for volume of posts.  I have known that my kids are something to be thankful for, certainly, but doing this has shown me the specific character traits that I so love in my kids that I might not have been fully aware of otherwise.  Now I know their intricate, unique quirks and tendencies by heart.  I am thankful for them and for this ability to know them more deeply.

Step one circle of influence back from my immediate family, and you have my extended family and friends, who I haven't always given the props they are due, either.  Throughout the year, it has come to my attention that their love and support is responsible our well-being more than I knew.  From bailing us out of situations where we couldn't pick up our kids, to making us meals when we were busy, loaning us things we needed, watching the kids so we could go on a date, or helping us finish a project, our extended family steps us for us without fail or obligation.  We are blessed beyond measure to have this support, and I truly believe it helps Colby and I to be better parents than we would be without them.

I was surprised by the number of random, seemingly insignificant things that I found to be thankful for, too.  Who knew that posts could be dedicated to grilled cheese sandwiches, lip balm, windshield wipers, or a clothesline?  Also surprising, though maybe I shouldn't have been, was the number of times I was thankful for food.  I do love to eat.  I counted 22 posts that were dedicated exclusively to a specific food, drink, or restaurant.

I got a little superstitious along the way too, as many of the things I was thankful for would be ruined soon after posting them.  I called it the posting curse.  Here are a few examples.  The Return of Goofy the Fish, Day 144 was followed by his demise the next day.  The same goes for Apple the Christmas Tree, Day 75.  I was thankful for my nose ring wasn't lost on day 163...less than 3 weeks later I lost it for good.  I tempted fate when talking about my kids' stuffed animal "lovies" on day 280 by saying, "I worry about the ramifications of losing one, but mostly I'm thankful that my kids have something that brings them so much joy on a daily basis."  Later in the year, Shubby (Dharia's bear) went missing and is to this day.  The curse really spooked me for a while, and even made me a bit careful about what I chose for subject material.

The posts ranged from thoughtful to not-so-thoughtful, from creative to lame, from deep to superficial and everywhere in between.  I never ran out of material, even with the self-induced ban on repeats.  Here are some self-proclaimed awards for my posts:

Most Superficial Post: Day 198 -- Tan; a girl's gotta love her own tan skin, I guess.

Deepest Post: Day 117 -- Leaves, Not Swords; my inner theologian/philosopher unleashed.  It's not pretty.

Most Random Post: Day 313 -- Palindrome; seriously, who even thinks of that? Just stamp "dork" on my forehead.

Most Obvious Post: Day 171 -- The Last Day; instead of writing this post I could have just put a link to the school's calendar.

Most Questionable Post: Day 330 -- Awkward Family Photos; is it sacrilegious to be thankful for something that is making fun of other people?

Lamest Post:  Day 226 -- Out of the House; I was thankful for not having to be at home with nothing to do but train for triathlons?  Are you kidding me?  This post makes me want to slap my former self.

Most Creative Post: Day 3 -- Garbage Skittles Therapy ; a nice little rhyming ditty, if I do say so myself.  A close second was Day 36 -- Ponytail Haiku.  I even looked up the criteria for a legitimate haiku that day.  As you can see by the day numbers, my creativity got tapped out early in the process.

And here concludes my post, although I have yet to address the title.  Are you sitting on the edge of your seat?  That's funny.  Falling asleep in your chair waiting for this post to end is probably more like it.  Regardless, here it comes...

I'm not done.

One year isn't enough to be grateful.  I will be grateful for 1000 days.  For the next 644 days I will acknowledge one specific thing that I am thankful for.  Repeats are allowed this time as well as 2 "Unspokens" per year.  I define an unspoken as something that I am thankful for, but I don't have to name specifically.  There were several times this year that I wished I had something like this.  Just imagine something you might be legitimately thankful for, but have no wish to declare publicly online...you feel me?

So there it is.  I feel led to do this, so I will be obedient.  It's been nothing but good for me anyway!  I am thankful for this opportunity! 

Here we go again!  Thank God!

Lord, thank you for helping me through 365 days and for your strength to get me through another 644.  Let me honor and glorify you through this.  Help me to grow and change and to become more grateful for the blessings you provide day in and day out.  In your name I pray, Amen.