30 Days of Thanks: My Dad...The Veteran (Day 11)

Today is day eleven of my "30 Days of Thanks" short post series and it's also Veterans Day here in the US. More than anything else, today I’m truly thankful for the courageous men and women who have served in the military, putting their own life on the line to protect us.

This is one of my favorite photos of my dad, it’s not clear so once I find the original I’ll try to update it. Nonetheless, thanks Sgt. Gray for stepping up and protecting me and so many others.

30 Days of Thanks: Patience (Day 10)

Butterflies, today is the tenth day of my “30 Days of Thanks” mini post series and today I’m extremely thankful for the little amount of patience I have, it definitely comes in handy. I’m going to start by being totally honest and admit to my struggles with patience, I tend to get annoyed/irritated more often than I probably should. For me it’s a daily struggle to be patient; being patient with disrespectful/disobedient kids, rude elderly people, and flat out ignorant folks can be very challenging at times. I mean, people can be the absolute worst at times. At home, at work, at the supermarket, and on the highways, having patience is a big part of our day to day lives and it’s definitely vital to you coexisting with others.

On day six I talked about letting go, I think being patient is also part of the letting go process. Have you ever been so frustrated and/or pissed off because someone disrespected you and all you can do is cry to avoid losing your job or going to jail? Let’s just be honest...it happens, but the adult thing to do is to let it go and move on, both figuratively and literally if that’s what it takes to keep your mental in check. I’ve noticed more recently that older people can really be some mean assholes. I don’t know if it’s something that happens to you as you age or if older people just think it’s ok to not filter their mouth because they’re old and they can get away with it, whatever it is it’s not cool and it takes all my might sometimes not to lose it and say something I’ll regret. How do you practice patience?

30 Days of Thanks: Inspirationalist (Day 9)

Until recently, I never really thought about how impactful inspirational quotes are to me and how a lot of my inspiration comes from music and books. I have them on my screen savers, posted around my work-space, included in my home decor and tattooed on my body; inspirational quotes have gotten me through so many tough days and so I must say I’m definitely thankful for inspirational people everywhere. Some of my favorite quotes/sayings are: 1) "Think Happy Thoughts", 2) “Life is a journey not a destination, there are no mistakes...just chances we’ve taken. (India Arie - A Beautiful Day),  3) "Live-Laugh-Love", 4) “Life is short, it’s up to you to make it sweet.” (Sadie Delany), and 5) Knowledge is Power. What’s your favorite inspirational quote, phrase or saying?

30 Days of Thanks: My Independence (Day 8)

On today, day eight of my “30 Days of Thanks” I’m thankful for my independence. I think the way I was brought up combined with my introverted ways has a lot to do with how self sufficient I am but nonetheless, I’m extremely thankful for it. It’s sad to say but, I know more than a few fellow millennials who can’t or don’t even try to do for themselves. Me personally, I love figuring things out on my own and being able to do for myself. I mean, I’m not against asking for help, you should definitely ask for help when you need it but don’t take advantage of it or become dependent on it is all I’m saying. At the end of the day everyone is going through something, be it considered big or small and they might not mind helping you once or twice but eventually you will become a burden and well...the first law of nature is self preservation.

30 Days of Thanks: Financial Literacy (Day 7)

Hey Butterflies! So I got a notification from one of my finance apps this morning, just checked it and found out my credit score increased by 10 points (after dropping 20 points in September). Yay! I started my financial journey at the end of 2014 after watching The Gambler, since then I have increased my score by over 100 points and I didn’t have to pay anyone to fix my credit. I did it all on my own; I did my research, made a plan and stuck to it. My ultimate financial goal is to be debt free and in the 800 club, I still have a little more work to do but until then I’m just thankful to have gotten this far on my financial journey.