Live in gratitude & be happy even if the rest of the things on this list never happen

Today I’m grateful for…

a family recognizing me at Five Guys
I go there all the time on my lunch breaks. The staff is always extra nice to me. They say hi, ask about my day, and never charge me for drinks. One time, the manager even gave me my whole meal for free. Anyway, yesterday I walked in and a family said “Hey, it’s the Apple guy.” The little girl even remembered my name! It’s nice to have regular customers who appreciate my hard work.

Today I’m grateful for…

working the phones
I was kind of mad at first: for some reason my manager insisted that I not work the floor today. Anyway, it’s absolute nuts on the sales floor and the phones are pretty quiet, so I’m glad to sit in the back and work the phones. I even had someone call in who remembered who I was and was glad to talk to me. I get to write my gratitude journal entry for the day and chill a bit. :-)

Free coffee and a good book from the library
I go downstairs from the courthouse to the little Southlake library. It is a nice little place. Southlake is such a rich town that they can afford a very nice library. I paid for a card, but I get to check out new books. They even give you free coffee!

a good night’s sleep
I took my brown pill last night. It makes me sleep like a baby. I even got up on time even though I slept through all of my alarms. I didn’t sleep well the night before. It makes a big difference to get a good night’s rest. I’m grateful.

friendship
I’m not particularly outgoing. I score medium-high on extraversion and medium-high on agreeableness, so finding and maintaining friends has always been challenging. I’m glad for the friendships that I’ve managed to forge.

for my personality
I like my openness to experience most of all. It’s my defining trait. I love to think about complex things, to learn about anything, to visit museums and art galleries, to read books and watch movies, to listen to NPR

Today I’m grateful for…

waking up early
I slept in yesterday, so I’m happy to be up early enough today to do my ‘happy hour’ and go to the library.

Good stuff at the library
Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde, Jeff Buckley, Neil Young, and the Roots. I love the library’s request system. I can get stuff I really want without traveling to other branches.

only a dream
I had a yelling argument last night. It was only a dream. I’m glad.

Today I’m grateful for…

getting my CDs in the mail
Amazon.com is a brilliant website. I bought discs by War, Parliament, and Bootsy Collins. Joy!

Coming home to a clean room
I guess I was busy on my days off. The floor is vacuumed, the bed is made. Life is good.

my Bose headphones
Creedence Clearwater Revival sounds really good though these things. They are good enough that I’m re-ripping all my low bitrate CDs at a higher bitrate. I bought them when I got my tax return a few months ago.

money for lunch
I don’t get paid until tonight, but I found $12.00 bucks in my old wallet. Plus I have a free sandwich card from WhichWich.

breakfast
I bought cereal and soy milk last week, but I haven’t eaten much of it so far. I think I’ll make coffee too.

finding my art pouch
I have a great mechanical pencil, a bunch of Prismacolor markers and a bunch of other art supplies. I hadn’t thought to look for my pouch until I was flipping through an old journal yesterday. I’m excited about using them today.

Today I’m grateful for…

my hair
Sure, occasionally the ends will break off because my dreds are too thin. Sure, I have to use special shampoo or else I get dandruff. But, I love my hair. It’s fun, it’s quirky, it’s cool. I like how I’ve added wire to some of it and how the sun has turned much of it a dark red. It’s very easy to maintain and I get compliments all the time. I am grateful for my hair.

1000 songs
I’ve added 995 songs to my iTunes collection since the end of April. From Alice Coltrane to Zero 7. A great collection of funk and soul music, including 93 James Brown songs, Curtis Mayfield’s first 3 solo albums, Songs in the Key of Life and Talking Book by Stevie Wonder, Micheal Jackson’s Off the Wall, some great jazz funk, and a collection of rare and unreleased Aretha Franklin recordings. I’m grateful for the libraries that are so close to my house: the Fort Worth Public library right down the street, and the UNT library twenty miles away. I’m grateful for Amazon.com. I’m grateful for my curiosity and love of learning that make discovering new music so enjoyable for me.

having an energetic day yesterday
I’ve been off of work for a few days. Yesterday was an especially good day…I spent it cleaning, exercising, reading, and hanging out with Kim. I think this “Happy Hour” business is really working. I had so much energy and positive feeling compared to the previous few days.

Today I am grateful for…

nice customers

pretty photos I took long ago

an hour lunch break

free bottles of water

hot summer days

Today I am grateful for…

Wikipedia
I go to wikipedia at least five times a day to look up random facts. I sat in Taco Diner with Kim and learned why cold drinks give you a headache. I wandered through a bar and found out that Dire Straits is NOT a country band, regardless of what a cute brunette claims. I looked up the Radiohead discography, and an article on quasars during the same lunch break. Wikipedia has got to be one of the coolest uses of the internet invented yet: come on folks, a collaborative encyclopedia that is as accurate as Brittanica, with ten times the articles?

my lecture on mental illness and art
Sarah Harder is back in town, and she and I struck up a conversation about mania and art. I got to tell yet another person about Kay Redfield Jamison’s awesome books, and the brilliance of Peter Kramer. I used the word “hypomania” at least five times last night. I’m grateful to have friends who appreciate my intellectual bent.

air conditioning
I keep whining about my folks turning the air down. It struck me today that I ought to be grateful for our central AC. Growing up, we didn’t have central AC, so Texas summers where not fun. Plus, we’re finally getting our remodel at work and they are putting in a giant air conditioner. It makes life in Texas comfortable. AC shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Today I am grateful for…

my iPhone
It’s my first iPod (not counting the shuffle I lost in San Francisco.) I have the equivalent of 150 records in my pocket: from Abbey Lincoln to Zapp and Roger. Plus, I can check my e-mail, stay connected to my friends and family, make phonecalls, play games in line at the grocery store, tune my guitar, and take photographs. Cool gadget!

gum
It’s my vice. I like Cinnamon flavored gum especially.

being alive
I have not been alive for most of the vast epochs of time since the universe began. Such an odd and shaky series of events led to my birth; the fact that I’m alive at all is astonishing beyond belief! The worries that woke me up this morning are tiny compared to the vast gulf of eternity that separates my existence from my nonexistence. So I’m grateful to live and breath and hear Stevie Wonder in my headphones.

Today I am grateful for…

Two oatmeal cookies
I buy the day old cookies from Nestle. I never get more than one oatmeal cookie, and it’s my favorite one. There were two today.

Lunch with Alex
We ran into Dana while we were eating at Wendy’s. It was a nice change of pace, since I usually eat alone.

Listening to Ornette Coleman
I played Change of the Century while driving to work today. I’m glad that I can go from my house to my car without changing music, since it’s all on my iPhone. His music is soulful and bright. And he gave his first few albums ridiculous names.

nice people at work
I like the people I work with…they are a smart, fun group of people. I don’t have any close friends from work, but many people who are friendly and seem to care about me as a person.

the fantastic products my company sells
It takes vision, excellent engineering, and clever marketing to bring products of this quality to the public. Apple pulls it off with style. There’s a reason that there are Apple fanatics. I’m happy to work for such a good company.

Adventures with friends
I know some great people. We have more fun than necessary. I’ve never had a circle of close friends, so it’s fun stumbling into one.

James Brown
“I don’t want nobody, to give me nothin’. Open the door, I’ll get it myself.” Genius funk. It really doesn’t get better than this.

A clean room
Hanging out with Kim inspired me to clean my room again. It was already neat, but now it’s even more so. I’m adding the goal “be neat” to encourage me, gently. It would make me happier, as long as I did it cheerfully. It would make me feel more conscientious and appear more so to other people.

Seeing beautiful people with style
I get one or two people coming into Apple every day who have a cool sense of style. This gorgeous guy came in today carrying his dog “Einstein”. Hey pulled off his printed v-neck t-shirt and blue frame sunglasses nicely.

Dax
Jordan’s fat, dumb, friendly cat. He believes he’s a person. I love him. He’s almost as nice as Jordan (but not as nice as Jordan’s boyfriend, whose name is also Jordan.) Anyway, grateful for the whole crew.