“Gratitude is an attitude.”
I heard that so long ago, I don’t even remember where I heard that. I find it easy to spiral-if (big IF) I’m not on my game. How do I keep on that? Perspective.
It was something that was lost on me in my early years of being a Stepmom. So.many.damn.perspectives. Why didn’t mine matter?
It did. At times. Not enough, in my opinion. Not that anyone asked.
Back to gratitude. I’m grateful for all of those hard times at the beginning. I mean, absolutely, I could have gone without them, but I appreciate them now. My marriage is stronger. My life is better because of it. My perspective of life has most definitely changed.
The biggest thing that helped? Growth. Personal growth. Not attending every battle you’re invited to. Learning that sometimes the best response is no response. Who cares what people think? You don’t need to correct their perception of you.
Another big thing is a patient husband. I remember my husband telling me, “sometimes you’ll have to wait for me/us to catch up to you. Sometimes I will have to wait for you to catch up to me/us.”
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As much as this may not be a popular opinion, I am grateful for 2020. My daughter and I went to see friends in South Africa. We got back three weeks before the borders shut down. After that, our state pretty much shut down. I took a paid leave from work. My husband did, too. This is the longest we have ever physically been together-our job requires travel for work. We went from spending half the week together to being together 24/7 for almost 11 months. My stepson was doing “online” school…only to have it oscillate between online, in-person, and a hybrid. What a wild ride all of that was.
As corny as it sounds, I’m grateful for the small things. Our house. Where we live. Time together. Heat/electricity/water in the winter and AC in the summer. I’m grateful for our health. I’m grateful that we are still navigating all of this time together and not driving each completely mad. I’m grateful for the season-although winter isn’t my favorite, it still has its beauty. I’m grateful most of the hard seasons of stepfamily life are in the rearview mirror.
I’m grateful for time. Regardless of how fast or slow it seems to go, it still goes. I’m grateful that I have this time with my daughter/stepson/husband. This is time I will never be able to get back. Money can be made. Any day of the week. Time? Once time is gone, it’s gone.
Don’t forget to stop and be grateful.
