Frenzied SLPs: Thankful and Grateful Blog Hop

Woo Hoo! I am so excited to be part of The Frenzied SLPs Thankful and Grateful Scavenger Hunt hosted by Sparklle SLP, SLPrunner and Speech Universe! We all have so much to be thankful for, and we're happy to let our gratitude spill over by treating three lucky winners to some awesome prizes!

In case you've just joined the blog hop here with me, here's how it works:

1. Read each Thankful and Grateful post from The Frenzied SLPs!
2. Collect the character at the bottom of each post. Don't forget to write down the characters in order to reveal the secret phrase.
3. Enter the Rafflecopter at the end of any post by entering the phrase
4. Visit The Frenzied SLPs Facebook Page for an extra entry.
5. Three winners will be chosen after the rafflecopter closes on 11/13/2015.

So, what am I thankful and grateful for? I have been blessed beyond measure by God with the gifts of my family and friends, my practice and my colleagues both near and far. I could write PAGES of reasons that I'm thankful to be part of this awesome online community of speech-language pathologists who make me a better clinician, collaborator, product creator and person each and every day but I'll keep it short and sweet and just say that I value you all immensely and I'm thankful for each and every one of you!

I want to share a moment of gratitude I experienced this past week that lead to other moments of thankful reflection.  Have you ever had one of those seasons of life where you are so busy with your work responsibilities and your personal life that it feels like it is all you can do to make it through each day? That's what my life has been like for the past month. I looked at my calendar last Sunday to prepare for the week and felt exhausted before the week even began. By Tuesday, I realized I was looking at my week as if  it were a long to-do list to be completed by Friday night, checking off each appointment and event like tasks I had finished. It was like I was waiting for each day to be over so I could be one step closer to Saturday. Have you ever done that? Have you spent energy wishing time away instead of appreciating the moment? I realized I was so busy waiting for Friday to be over that I wasn't really being fully present for my clients, family or friends. I was just going through the motions.  I'm not sure what triggered that realization (Oh wait. Yes I do. It was God, whispering with that still, small voice of conviction.), but as soon as I realized it, I knew I needed an attitude shift.

So Wednesday morning, I made the decision to stop wishing the week away and just be fully present for each therapy session and event, appreciating the time spent with each person. I can't even tell you what a difference that decision made in my attitude I had toward facing each busy day! I took the time to really be with each child I'd been blessed to work with, and to give them the kind of service they deserve. I really enjoyed the people I spent my evenings with and was thankful to have had the opportunity to get to know them better. I let go of the anxiety and preoccupation of preparing for the next day's schedule by understanding that people are more important than my desire for everything to be perfectly executed. I got through my week feeling a little tired, but I wasn't as exhausted as I thought I would be.  It ended up being a pretty good week, and I am pretty sure my attitude shift had a lot to do with it. And I am grateful for that.

So, are you ready to move onto the next blog to see what my colleague Rose is thankful for? Before you go, here's your letter:

Next, click on the image below to take you to Cooking Up Good Speech:

Don't forget to enter the contest to win some awesome prizes! You can enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want to go back to the first blog in this blog hop? Click on the the image below: