Monday, January 20, 2014

Gratitude for good fortune

I have to be honest – I am a very fortunate person. Sometimes I forget & need to take a step back, look around, & remember. Whether you call it luck, the result of good planning, karma, divine (or not) blessings, or being in the right place at the right time – good things come my way.

I hesitated to write this post because it seems a bit braggy. That isn’t my goal. My goal is to articulate my gratitude for the events & people in my life right now.

James & I have wanted to relocate to Missouri for some time. It has been on our 5 – 10 year plan for a few years. We have a lot of reasons, for now we will boil them down to “why not?” We got a wild hair this summer to actually bite in. So we spent our summer vacations house shopping. We looked at a lot of houses and eventually found one that we love. And so we bought it. We figured we could rent it out if we didn’t find jobs.

Gratitude moment – We are in a wonderful place that allows us to own 2 homes and afford the mortgages. We did a lot of planning & work in order to get that to fly, but I am well aware of what could have (still can) go wrong. I am grateful for the leeway we have.

Ok, step one – house bought. Step two – jobs…

I started searching for jobs shortly after we closed on the house. It was slow going at first, winter is not a good time for hiring & I was being picky. Because we had the option to rent the Missouri house, I was not going to apply for or accept a job that I wasn’t going to be happy with. I sought out companies that have mission statements I can believe in. I applied at multiple places, eventually one called back. An institution of higher learning. Within 2 weeks of applying they hired me. I am still practicing my vocation (accounting), still earning a necessary wage, and I get to be a member of an organization that (I feel) works toward the greater good.

Gratitude moment –I am exceptionally fortunate to have the luxury of being choosy about my job. Not everyone is in that position. I am grateful for that flexibility. And I am fortunate that I was hired so quickly. I didn’t have the long wait between first contact, first interview, second interview, and eventual hiring.

Currently, we will be living apart for approx. 3 – 6 months. We want to rent our current house out, which means some fixes. And James needs to train his replacement. Without going into detail – he can’t leave until he does.

Gratitude moment – We haven’t lived apart since our early 20s. It will be a chance to remember who we are as individuals during our transition. And I will be home every weekend, so there will be a lot of chances to make quality time with each other. This also gives us a chance to pare down possessions at a more comfortable rate. We can actually evaluate our possessions before deciding to keep or send on its way.

So here I am surrounded by boxes, picking up my life, & moving to a new state. I am sad to leave my life here behind & overjoyed to start a life in Missouri. There have been a lot of emotional moments in the last two weeks but threaded through all of them has been gratitude. If I didn’t have people who I love and loved me here, I wouldn’t be sad. If I wasn’t following through on goals authentically, I wouldn’t be happy.

2 comments:

  1. Arianne, I don't in any way ever feel like you are boasting or bragging, but if you are, I also don't know that I buy into the fact that we as individuals are not allowed to brag or boast a little (as long as it isn't directly at the expense of another and your intentions are to share your good news). When good things happen, we should talk about them. We should be thrilled. We should have gratitude (or in my by eyes share our blessings.) Now, will others see this as a "slap in the face", well, to be honest, maybe. But doesn't that say more about them than it does about you? I mean, anyone who knows you at all knows you've worked for what you have. You've made sacrifices others wouldn't make. You've made life choices others wouldn't make. So if they feel a slap in the face that you are "boasting" about your dreams coming true through some hard work and a tiny bit of luck (or whatever you want to call it), than they are obviously one of two things in my opinion. They are either so unhappy with their life that they think somehow yours has something directly to do with theirs. In which case they shouldn't be angry, they should be revamping their mindset and life. OR...they are so self absorbed that they can't see beyond their feelings to look at yours. (Like me, because I am seriously so upset I have no Shakespeare partner now....and for sure not a wine loving and fruit and cheese eating one..) But alas, I can see beyond Shakespeare, and laundry detergent, and many other things I will miss out doing with you, and I can tell that you are truly happy. And don't those who love you want you to be happy? So again Arianne, I wish for you happiness in this new adventure. And I hope I'll still have you around via the internet to ask you gardening questions, and yoga questions, and simplifying life inspiration. And I hope that you won't be a complete stranger. After all, even though we don't hang out together on a super regular basis, I truly value our friendship and will be sad to see you go. But I am inspired by all you and James have done and are doing. Keep up the good work, and let the nay-sayers feel slapped in the face without any guilt!

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    1. Amanda, you are ever so helpful in seeing the other side of things. Thank you.
      I am also bummed about Shakespeare, we will have to get creative on that one. As for the laundry detergent, don't count me out yet. I found a little store here that sells some of the base ingredients (if I ever find that recipe.. drat). And now that we are on a septic system - I really need to be aware of what goes down the drain.
      Thank you for your good wishes. I have every intention of making new connections here AND maintaining the ones I already have. You are wrapped into the greater part of "home" being where we both grew up & have spent most of our lives. To turn my back on it doesn't honor where we came from - physically, emotionally, & mentally.

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