Sometimes & Thankful Thoughts

On Friday night I posted a photo of myself with the following words on Instagram:

Sometimes I have a hard time adjusting to new routines. Sometimes I'm much too much in my head. Sometimes my list feels like it's going to swallow me whole. Sometimes I forget to be thankful for a million little things. So that's what I'm going to do this weekend - for every worried/panicked/negative thought I have I'm going to counter it with a thankful thought. Starting now. 

And I did it (and those sentiments seemed to resonate with many of you on Instagram too). 

I opened up a blank page in one of my Moleskine's and started my list:

And it worked. At least a little bit. I ended up just writing things down as I thought of them - not necessarily in response to a negative thought but rather just as they came to mind. 

Of course it doesn't take it all away. My list is still my list. My brain is still my brain. And I've been feeling under the weather this whole last week that I'm sure isn't helping. Cough + fatigue + mentally out of sorts = challenges. It's hard to feel zesty and on top of your game when you're tired and having coughing fits. 

I also remembered, as I was writing out my list and as I was thinking about my upcoming photo workshop, how much of a positive impact photography has on me in terms of bringing joy via the process of looking through the lens. When Aaron and I took a walk on Sunday morning I snapped a couple flower shots and gave thanks for that as well. 

And then I came home to an email from my Mom which included this poem that my sister had recently sent to her which pretty much sums it up: 

So here's to a week of crossing things off my list. Here's to a week filled with a perspective of thankfulness. Here's to a week where I get to see some special friends this weekend. Here's to a week of remembering what matters most. 

Those little "remember" 1/2 circles are from my Half-Circle Sentiments package.