GRATITUDE... turns what we have into enough.

It seems like the chasm between extremes continues to grow ever wider, and it's harder and harder to slow the momentum of bouncing from one extreme to the other . . . It's easy to feel a supreme frustration about not finding enriching work (in terms of satisfaction and compensation), while simultaneously feeling guilty for such a 'first world problem'. Or to feel intense sadness and rage over injustice, but feel totally helpless for how to right it. Or to fall prey to the comparison to other people and what is happening in their lives, but feeling shy to celebrate the triumphs in your own. And of course there is the mounting power of FOMO (fear of missing out) that can turn every joyful experience into a doubt about how you could have better spent your time / money / energy.

It's a challenging, yet necessary practice to sit back and reflect on the things that are most important to you - not to your parents or your peers or your own idea of where you think you should be in your life. What is important to YOU? Right now. How do you want to be spending your time? Who do you want to be spending it with? What do you value? What do you want to learn? What do you want to accomplish? And what steps are you taking on a daily basis to make the things that you want to happen come to fruition?

When we answer these questions we can then take stock of all of the things in our lives that contribute to our well being. It can be the weekly correspondence with a particular friend or the warm beverage that you get to enjoy every morning or your favorite vendor at the farmers market or the neighbor that collects your mail when you are away. It can be the random compliment that someone pays you or the smile that someone sports when you compliment them. It can be making a quilt with your grandmother while hearing stories about her childhood or meeting distant relatives. It can be making new friends or realizing that we are all - no matter from where we come or where we are going - sharing this human experience together.

There are, indeed, many things about which we can be sad and angry and disappointed and frustrated. But gratitude turns what we have into enough.
 

Cheers,
Taylor & Dorothy
Co-Founders, Good Food Jobs