All my feels today

Oh, hey blog. Here, have all my feels today.

I drove into the city to run an errand a few hours ago, and was met with a wonderful case of Atlanta-traffic-for-no-good-reason-in-the-middle-of-the-afternoon. The word 'wonderful' was intended with the most sarcastic tone imaginable. While I was tapping my brakes on the freeway, I felt myself getting irritated, so I took a quick minute to find some enjoyment in the present moment. I was riding in a car of my own, that has over 200k miles on it but is not giving me any problems, I had a full tank of gas, I wasn't in a huge rush (even though I did need to get back to the office, eventually), the weather was unusually pleasant for mid-July in Georgia, and an 90s Maxwell track was playing on the radio (Sumthin' Sumthin'). I had so much to be grateful for, even in that fleeting moment.

I took the photo above this past Sunday at Passion City, and I might have to make it my new wallpaper since generosity and gratitude seems to be a running theme in my life lately. Complaining has never really been my style, but like most people, I can be quick to point out what's wrong in my world instead of being thankful for what's right. For example, my birthday was last Tuesday, the 8th. I didn't hear from my father all day. Or the next day. Or the next. Eventually he sent a 'Happy Birthday' text message - I repeat, text message - on the 12th, saying he let it slip and would make up for it. I was irritated, yes, but then I thought about the people in my life to never hear from their fathers at all, or the ones who's fathers have passed away. At least mine is alive and making contact. At least he admitted to missing my birthday, and even though he didn't exactly apologize, at least he knows it's not cool. So, I waited until my disappointment wore off, thanked him and went about my day feeling perfectly peachy.

So now, here I am typing this post, trying to think of more ways to be grateful and generous in my immediate future because it gives me all the good feels. Next up on my to-do list is a little thing called Project Supply. It's a program orchestrated to provide school supplies to kids and families who can't afford all those back-to-school items on every school list. You buy a bunch of supplies, throw it in a brand new backpack, give them to kids in the neighborhood, and watch their faces light up like it's Christmas morning. Looking back, new school supplies definitely something I took for granted as a child. Every year I had new folders, pencils, notebooks and all the other stuff for my classes. The cost of those things really add up. All the items on the checklist, including a new backpack, round out at around $50, and for low-income families with more than one children, even the best back-to-school sales aren't quite good enough.

Okay, that's all.

♥