Thankful

I think I'm struggling a lot with thankfulness these days. Not only my own, but what I think other people should be thankful for.

I sometimes forget to really look at my life and remember all that I've been blessed with. I have days where I'm anything but grateful and I have to remember that there's more to me, my life, my family, than IF.

It's really difficult for me to interact with women who seemingly don't appreciate what they have. It's not my right to decide for someone else what they should be thankful for and my perception is admittedly skewed. But even still, how can I not take it personally when a friend complains about morning sickness to me? How am I supposed to hand hold and coddle a new mom who complains about lack of sleep all of the time? I know that it's not rational and that someone else's experience has nothing to do with mine and who in their right mind would be thankful for those things, but that doesn't make it any easier for me to listen to it. I am expected to be a good friend who says "oh man that sucks" over and over when I really want to say "Oh my fucking God. We GET IT already. You just can't stand all these completely-expected-and-normal things."

So I guess I should take this moment to appreciate what I already have and what I will (hopefully) one day be thankful for.

I am thankful for my beautiful daughter.
I am thankful for my loving husband.
I am thankful for my home, my job, my health.
I am thankful for my friends and family.
I will be thankful for every single bout of queasyness.
I will be thankful for all of the stretching and pain and swelling and uncomfortable clothes.
I will be thankful for the sleepless nights.
I will be thankful for a new kind of tears.
I will be thankful for the overwhelming feeling of life with more than one child because the alternative, my reality now, isn't something I'd wish on anyone.