Ten Things of Thankful: A Look Back Over the Decade

 

My two-year-old granddaughter buries her face in a pink peony blossom

This is the weekend that the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop celebrates its tenth birthday! Ten years! As I reflect back, I think about global/national events, family changes, the TToT community, and how participation in the TToT has changed me personally. 

Wars, a pandemic, political divisions, natural disasters, etc. can make the world seem a dark, scary place. But even in the midst of all those challenges, light can be found, and taking time each week to find ten things to be thankful for brings hope and peace. 

Ten years ago, I lived in California and still had a child living at home. My grandma was still alive. I had one grandchild. Now, John and I are empty-nesters in Utah, my grandma has passed away, and John and I  have 6 grandchildren. The TToT has helped me remember to be thankful throughout change.

Lizzie began the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop, and she has a gift for creating community. Participating bloggers quickly became household names, and no longer did I have to add, "my blogging friend" when telling John about the latest news. We've gone from being online acquaintances to snail mail and even in-person friends, and in some cases, finding out we are distant cousins! Thanks to the Ten Things of Thankful, I now have friends across the world that I otherwise would never have had the chance to know. 

Life can be stressful, and it is human nature to complain. Misery might love company, but who really likes to be miserable? Knowing that the TToT waits for me at the end of every week, helps me remember to be thankful, and even to look for things that I am thankful for. My granddaughter in the photo above is a great example of this. She looks for flowers and when she sees one, she says, "I smell it!" It doesn't matter whether she sees a flower in the garden, an artificial flower indoors, or a floral print on her dress, she is delighted and wants to smell it. She's looking for something that brings her joy. Participation in the TToT helps my heart change from annoyed and complaining to patient and grateful. I'm not sure when total transformation will occur, but a decade into the experiment (minus the blogging break I took for a while), the ratio is better and I don't intend to give up the TToT anytime soon. 

While I normally enumerate my list, for today's Ten Things of Thankful post, I'll assume you can feel my gratitude for the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop and the good that has come from it over the years, and know that it adds up to lots more than 10! 

Please feel free to join our Ten Things of Thankful community, and check out the other posts on the Ten Things of Thankful blog!