Happy Thanksgiving!
We really should reflect every day on all of the Blessings we have in our lives. Even if you have reached a moment in your life where some tragedy has hit, there is probably a glimmer of good in your life somewhere.
Of course it is easy to get bogged down in the stuff that is not going well. So, we all take this holiday to stop and remember what is going well.
I have not written a blog post since August. There are so many reasons why. There have been days where I have told myself that I broke a promise to myself (to write once a week) -- but all of my reasons for not writing are a deep part of the same reasons that I am most grateful.
First, I had to get my kids back to school. And this year had new elements.
New Element #1: COVID.
We had to talk through the social distancing, the cohorts, quadmesters and all kinds of new rules. Masks and mask breaks. Social distancing. Ride the bus or not ride the bus. And while my kids are older, that didn't mean that they weren't nervous or anxious about this new world. And I was here to help them. That leads me to the next element....
New Element #2: I'm here.
In the 17 years I have been a Mom, there have been a very limited number of times where I have been home when my kids get home from school. More often, they would be with a sitter or (when they were old enough) home to start homework before we came home. Now I am here to help them. To talk to them about their days. To brainstorm project ideas. And while all of this talk would have happened, there is something very heart-warming about being here in the moment. This seems especially true with the COVID world.
I AM GRATEFUL THAT IN LOSING MY CORPORATE JOB, I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET MORE TIME WITH MY KIDS!
I am grateful for my husband and kids every day. But since April when I lost my job it became even more apparent just how lucky I am. It is always surprising to me that when things seem the bleakest, these 4 are able to show me just lucky I really am.
Another reason that I have been unable to write my blog is that suddenly people have heard of my business and want to talk to me about what I can do to help their business. And it is like things are falling in place. Writing the blog, I hope, allows people who are looking for help to get a smile or a way of thinking about things that they had not considered. And since my entire business model was based on helping people, the blog plays an important part. I am loving hearing the stories of the businesses who want my help. I feel so appreciated, even though some of my advice, is "normal accounting stuff". And what is great is that I have even stretched myself in new industries and I am learning as I am teaching. This is exactly what I wanted to do.
I AM GRATEFUL THAT I HAD THE COURAGE TO TRY!
I have almost talked myself out of this many times. This is crazy. Scary. But I have a window of opportunity to take some risks. And the scarier it is, the more rewarding it is when it goes well. And I encourage anyone who is not sure if they can do it -- try. It takes courage but it is so worth it when it works out.
There are 10,000 other things that I can list that I am grateful for. But, I wrote this blog to acknowledge that I am not writing at the volume I had first committed to myself and to highlight to anyone who finds this blog while googling for inspiration to start an at-home business to know this:
It will give you the time to enjoy your family. The dress code (at least in my case) is more favourable. There is a benefit to (if you can) being your own boss.
Investing time in your own business pays back in ways that working for someone else may not.
I would love to hear your own stories of what you are grateful for.