Happy Monday!

by

Morning!  Last night I received a really lovely message from a reader! I wanted to share it with you all-

“What an incredible website! I am grateful for people like you, who are constant reminders that we can make a choice everyday to be happy. I certainly choose to be happy but not without the help of community and the support of people around me to serve as a reminder that this choice is always available!”
-Skylor 9/25/2011

Skylor, I was really touched by your message! Thank you. You provided a wonderful start to my week! Skylor is doing some pretty amazing things right now and hopefully we will be able to hear more about them in the future…

The one thing I do love about Mondays is that they provide a fresh slate. It doesn’t matter what small thing happened last week, on Monday you can start over. So whether it’s, in my case, interviewing for a job I didn’t want, or in other cases, having a disagreement with someone or even something as small as waking up on the wrong side of the bed; Monday promises endless opportunities for the week ahead.

I hope everyone has a good day!

 

~ Thankful

 

Follow @Thankful_FAM!

by

Afternoon! Hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday. I woke up early and got a great workout in, so I’m very happy. The other thing that makes me happy is that Thankful For a Million now has a twitter: Thankful_FAM. A number of my friends on twitter post positive, exiting things, quotes etc. If you ever feel inclined to share exciting news, an inspiring quote or anything about something that moves you, tag @Thankful_FAM in your post, and it will appear on the blog! I’m look forward to this being an easier, faster way to include contributions. Who knows, maybe one day we will have one million thankful tweets!

There are some cool things happening today;

Charlie’s Brownie is holding an open house at Charlie Fyffe’s very first store front! If you’re in the area, stop by and check it out. I stopped in yesterday and had an amazing pecan caramel brownie. I will definitely be back! It’s too bad that I didn’t get to take any good pictures, but I will next time! Details about the opening are below:

Charlie’s Brownie Open House

When:  Sunday September 25, 2011 2-5pm

Where: Lucy Florence

5671 W. Pico Blvd

In other news, a friend and former classmate of mine, Chris Hodgson, will be competing in the finale of The Great Food Truck Race on The Food Network tonight at 9pm ET/ 6pm Pacific. Check it out!

And finally, the Browns won today! Can’t complain about that!

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their Sunday! Remember to follow @Thankful_FAM and include in your positive posts.

~Thankful

B


What Are You Thankful For?

by

Now for my favorite part, contributions! At the end of next week I will be posting emails some of you have sent in answer to the question, “What are you thankful for?” I would still love to hear more! So if you have anything you’d like to share send it over to thankfulforamillion@gmail.com.

Thanks for all the views!

~Thankful

Go back

Your message has been sent

Who Cares? Who Cares!

by

Whose House? Hawks House!

That brilliant  girl is my niece. No, not the one in the T- Shirt, the one in the Hawk costume. Thanks to Facebook, I found out she’s the mascot at my Alma Mater (her soon to be Alma Mater). As soon as I saw this picture, I thought… “How cool!? That’s awesome that Nya’s doing that, but I couldn’t have been our school’s mascot, people would have thought I was crazy.”

My thought immediately following that first thought was… “What in the world?! That doesn’t even make sense.”

This got me to thinking, how many times have I chosen not do something because of what I thought other people would think? For that reason I’ve compiled a list of things that I thought twice about doing, why I thought twice about doing them and what the potential positive outcome would have been had I followed through and said, Who Cares!

WHAT IF I … NO WAY PEOPLE WILL THINK … BUT IF I HAD…
Wear my favorite pair of Lime Green Sparkly Jeans to HS I’m Crazy Oh wait… I did that
Ask my crush to homecoming I’m Desperate We could be married with 5 kids… Ok  not really, but maybe I would have had a lot of fun?
Go to that birthday party alone I’m Weird I could have made a new friend or caught up with an old one
Buy those UGG slippers with the fur inside I Have bad taste I would have had one less blister from the high heels I bought instead
Make that phone call after I already emailed I’m pushy I would have gotten my information 24 hours earlier. I finally did call the next day.
Write this Post  I’m silly One person might decide “I’m silly for letting people effect my decisions.” 

The people closest to me will notice that most of these things don’t matter to me anymore. But whenever I catch myself making decisions unnecessarily more complicated than they need to be by factoring in others’ opinions, I take a step back and start over. I’m sure there are incidences that I could add to this list. Hopefully you don’t have any- or if you do you’ll able to catch yourself before you care too much.

What have you thought twice about doing?

~Thankful

Go back

Your message has been sent

Oh, What a Difference a Minute Makes!

by

Lately, I’ve realized that many of us have time that goes unused. I don’t mean to be unfair. I should note, I don’t think that YOU have time that’s being wasted. Only you can know that for sure. I definitely see areas in my life where I can better manage my time, and I’ve talked to friends who share similar sentiments. For instance, that summer between my Freshman and Sophmore year of college when I thought, after I’m done with track this summer I will go home and relax. I did relax. I’d wake up around 10am (ahem, maybe 11?), not workout (this was a break, duh!), make some lunch, go over my friend Cj’s house and hang out. The times certainly do change! Last Friday I decided to wake up early and do a little writing. I got up at 6 and by 10am I’d done a lot of writing. Hmm… I wonder what I could have done with those extra hours back in the day. I do my best not to live in the past, but sometimes I look back to see what I could have done better. The hope is, I’ll identify that action and implement it in the future- at least until I decide that action, too, was wrong. I’d like to think I’m always evolving for the better.  I can only hope.

Since I’m currently embarking on a journey to achieve my own career goals, I’m awe struck by the amount of time I actually have in the day, and constantly trying to figure out how to use it better. I’m also extremely interested in how those further along in their careers are fairing. Even if they aren’t in the same industry, I like to hear how they got started, what decisions they’re making now, how they’re adapting to the always changing economy, how they continue to sharpen their skill set and nurture the passion they have for their business?

A friend of mine posted an interesting article by Huffington Post contributor, Porter Gale. The former VP of Marketing for Virgin America resigned to pursue other career goals. It looks as though she will be doing a series of posts on entrepreneurship and career changes. It could be interesting! Read her first post HERE and follow if you’d like.

It’s always nice when people are willing to share their experiences with you!

~Thankful

Everyone Needs One

by

Need a Job?

Who doesn’t? As a recent graduate, I’ve been interviewing. I haven’t found the right fit yet but thankfully I’m young and there are many options available to me. This afternoon I was driving down Santa Monica Boulevard and ran into Mr. Michael A. Bender (pictured above). After reading his sign, I decided that I needed to hear a little bit more about his life.

Michael started two of his own businesses and ultimately managed his own apartment buildings. In the peak of his career he employed 93 people. Despite his entrepreneurial efforts, he was not immune to these tough economic times. After 40 years of success Michael found himself out of business and without work. Now, at the age of 71, he’s taken to the streets with a sign and copies of his resume in his pocket, ready for anyone who’s willing to take a look and a chance on someone with so much experience.

If anyone out there has any suggestions for Michael, be they big or small, please email  thankfulforamillion@gmail.com.

Give before you ask. Thankful~

Now back to my own hunt (:

Wonderful Snapshots

by

My cousin, Chinue, recently returned from South Africa. She’d been before, but this was her first trip back in 10 years. Given her enthusiasm for the country, I’m convinced she secretly wants to live there (or at least have a vacation spot). While pictures from her trip included the obligatory sunrise-on-the-beach shots they also included the above. This is a picture Chinue took while visiting Mandela’s home. The plaque features an excerpt from a letter Mandela sent to his wife while he was in prison:

“In judging our progress as individuals, we tend to concentrate on external factors such as one’s social position, influence and popularity, wealth and standard of education… but internal factors may be even more crucial in assessing one’s development as a human being: humility, purity, generosity, absence of vanity, readiness to serve your fellow men — qualities within the reach of every human soul.”

It seems easy enough to lose track of what Mandela calls “internal factors” in pursuit of certain “external factors.” Mandela’s words serve as a wonderful reminder to maintain balance, and never forget what’s truly important as we each continue along our path to creating our best selves and best lives.

Thankful~

A Little (CAL) Inspiration for the Day!

by

I find it completely amazing when people take chances. So, when I saw this Facebook status I was inspired!

Other people must have been inspired too-- 81 likes!

Charlie, a UC Berkeley Alum, started his business making gourmet brownies at a young age. These brownies found their way into coffee shops on Berkeley’s campus. He even founded the UCB Baking Club so that others could pursue their love.  As you can tell by his status, he’s recently decided to make his company his full-time gig. Charlie’s Brownies are delicious! So if you would like to order for a company party, or birthday party, or just for yourself -so you can eat while watching re-runs of Gilmore Girls (that’s me) go HERE.

Thank you for the inspiration, Charlie! Good Luck!

That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson