Day 16,530 Gratitude

Today I am so grateful ...

For handmade surprises in the mail. Okay, any surprises in the mail (of the happy kind, of course). What a treat to receive a sweet creation from a generous and talented friend who has relit a creative fire in my soul. She has managed to get me sketching for the first time in decades. Wouldn't surprise me one little bit if she has me collaging, too, in due time.

For successfully navigating my way through teaching the first day of my very first Level 1 Reiki/Reiki for Animals class here at Chez Magic Beans. It helped so much this morning to replace the word "nervous" with "excited." They can feel a lot alike, you know, but one is a story that I don't want to tell myself and the other one I do. (This or that? This or that? This or that?) I was calm before my student's arrival, but once we sat down together, I flashed back to test day in high school Algebra II and then went completely blank. Thank goodness I had the foresight to create a cheat sheet. Make that five. All of the important points that I needed to cover were in hand. I really look forward to releasing my dependency on these notes. I prefer my freestyle to narration any day. In the meantime, I (at long last) embrace being a beginner, which is a strong theme for me this year ... rewiring my life for the better. I feel very relaxed about tomorrow and, believe it or not, I am already laying the groundwork for announcing my first class open to the public in February. I want to keep this momentum going. I've put off teaching for over a year and a half, so I'm eager to make up for lost time.

For the goodness of things in which I don't usually allow myself to indulge. I'm looking at you, chocolate-covered raisins. I don't often grant myself the pleasure of a container of such. It was justifiable today with company. Got to keep up our energy for the class and what better way to do that than with chocolate, right? They will be around for awhile. Maybe. To serve as a reminder that I don't necessarily have to wait for a special occasion to say yes to what I want.

For this post on How to Travel Full-Time for Less than $14,000 per Year. This is an aged keeper from my favorites list. I don't know where the photos went, but it looks like the awesome information is still intact. I'm not planning on traveling full-time. At least not anytime soon. But with my friend soon bound for Egypt, it certainly gets the wheels of possibility turning as it sets my mind to dreaming.

To be able to share this super secret coupon code 20110108 which will get you 10% off anything in my Etsy shop. Good through Friday, January 14, or whenever I remember to deactivate it. Just sharing the love with my FB and bloggy friends.

Please tell me what you're grateful for today!