Practicing Gratitude

I often use this blog to vent my hurts, but I'm actually a lucky person. I have a good husband, good friends, a cool sister, cool family, two awesome cats, a pretty cool job I love more and more the better I get at it, and a really generous mom. I'm pretty grateful.

Speaking of which, here's my new baby.

It's a 2009 Dodge Journey

Mom paid for it. Why? Because she doesn't think we should wait for our inheritance when it was clear I needed a vehicle of my own to do my job effectively. Thank you, Mom. You were right, and the universe agrees, because I'm getting really busy.

Have you ever had your instincts kick in so hard, you couldn't ignore them? It happened on a Thursday. That was when I realized I could no longer resist my mother's tempting offer, winter is on it's way. Time to let her buy me the damned vehicle.

I managed to find a car dealership website that didn't ask me personal financial questions before they let me see their stock. Sweetheart Motors.

It was on the south end. I hate driving the south end, but my gut told me to check it out. I wanted another little Dodge Dakota, but my husband talked me out of it. Since my mother was buying, shouldn't we get something that works for her? Good idea, and there was a Dodge Journey that was in our price range that looked good.

I went and was DELIGHTED to find out that Sweetheart Motors was owned and operated by women. Whew! If you're a woman who has ever bought a car from a dealership, you know why I was relieved.

Long story short- I ended up buying the exact Journey I was eyeballing on the website, and I am SO HAPPY. It was an easy experience. My SUV is named Sophie and she's better than I imagined. Definitely practicing gratitude here. I thought about my father all the way home--how he would have been proud of me, following my instincts and getting something kinda perfect. The whole process took about three hours.

Then a week later, something happened. I did a job, and came out to the parking lot to find that my key fob didn't work.  'Don't Panic.'  Good advice Mr. Adams. (Author of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.)

My jacket and purse were in the vehicle. All I had on me was the dead key fob and my cell phone. I called my husband. He was home from work, but he never has his ringer on. He just happened to be next to his phone, and HADN'T begun to mow the lawn yet. (An hour long affair at our house.) So it was lucky he got my call. Also lucky? He was less than five minutes away. Here is where I mention how grateful I was that I no longer work the east end opposite from where I live.

I get in the truck and say, "We need to go to Battery World." Where is it? Right across the street from where your buddy owned his computer store. And Thank God, they were already open and easy to find. Traffic was minimal.

Guess what? My key fob has a key in it. Who knew? Certainly not me. Sophie is the newest thing I've ever owned.  (Thanks Mom) Anyway, we went back, and discovered that, yes, that was the only problem. I went back to work at the next job, and Dan went home to mow the lawn. Something that could have been a huge problem, turned out to be a minor setback. I am grateful, especially since I can see how it could have gone sideways.

The moral of the story: Being positive all the time isn't always possible. But I believe that practicing gratitude leads to more positive outcomes. If you CAN practice gratitude, do it. It works for me, maybe it can work for you.

Also practice kindness. You might be the only reason someone has to think of something positive. It's hard to practice gratitude if you can't be positive. It's not a switch you can just turn on and off.

Having said all this....I hope this is a refreshing change from me venting on the blog ;)