Planes, Trains and Preference by L’Oreal Hair Color

[Evelyn Kalinosky]

This week we celebrated World Gratitude Day, which was launched in 1965 at the International East-West Center in Hawaii during a Thanksgiving Dinner hosted by meditation guru Sri Chinmoy. Those in attendance, including delegates and high-ranking officials from more than a dozen countries around the world, pledged to celebrate gratitude and to count blessings from their home country every September 21 following.

 

In point of fact, I work really hard to be grateful each and every day, and not just on a globally-sanctioned-media-extravaganza-hoopla kind of day, but the holiday served as one more reminder of the underground river of thanksgiving that runs through my heart.

 

So here’s my short, but oh so sweet, list of what I’m grateful for (taken from my 1500-page gratitude acclamation – okay, I’m exaggerating, but only a teeny-tiny, little bit):

 

12 Things (Plus 1) I’m Grateful For Today (And Every Day)

• Starbuck’s Skinny Chai Latte (because they use Tazo chai tea, with just the right blend of sweet and spicy).
• L’Oreal Supreme Preference Hair Color – Medium Auburn 5MB for those months when I bypass my hairdresser because, like many midlife career women I know, I’m too busy to make an appointment (and because I’m worth it – just ask L’Oreal).
• Planes that fly between Zurich and Philly, bringing my daughter and her family back “home” for the necessary visit.
• Friends who go the distance (and those who recognize they can’t).
• Key Lime Pie from the Key West Lime Pie Co. in Key West (where else?).
• A husband whose 20-year track record with the Marine’s has made him a living, breathing example of their motto: Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.
• My son’s quirky, slightly off-color sense of humor, and the way he never forgets to tell me he loves me at the end of every conversation.
• Women who challenge, inspire, and lift me up like Brené Brown, Julie Daley, Danielle LaPorte, Ashley Sinclair, Jen Louden, and the list goes on and on and on… (honestly, I could thank one woman a day for the next year and still not come close to the end of my list).
• Grandchild times three (nuf said).
• My favorite ball point pen that’s not only filled with my just right shade of purple, but an infinite supply of words and phrases that magically appear when I touch point to paper.
• Medical advances that may give me another chance to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro or stand on the Khumbu Icefall on the slopes of Mt. Everest (or on stage at a TED conference).
• You (c’mon – you know who you are).
• Being Alive. Even when it hurts like hell.

 

What small (or big) things are you thankful for? Who are you grateful to? We don’t have to wait until next September 21st to offer up our gratitude. Let’s share it right now. Right here.