What I'm Thankful For

Most of the time that I blog, it's because I need to process something that happened to me. My Asperger's and my difficulty interpreting emotions makes writing about things help me work it through my brain so that I can logically figure out what happened and how I should have handled the situation differently, if at all. Today's post is not different, but instead of trying to process what just happened, I am trying to relax my churning, internal emotional state by focusing on the positive things I have in my life.

I am thankful for my kids. They are always so full of love, and have no difficulty sharing that love with others, especially those they see as hurting. There have been times when I have been stressed or down on myself, and my kids seem to be able to sense it. They come to cuddle with me, or tell me jokes, and don't leave me until I know that I am loved.

I am thankful for my wife. She might frustrate the heck out of me at times, but I care for her deeply. My life might be less stressful if she was less emotional about things, but I don't know if we would have clicked like we do. Plus, she is so passionate about everything she does, and she keeps me in touch with the rest of the social world. If it wasn't for her, I would probably be a lonely hermit living in a cave with no friends!

I am thankful for all of my friends. They are there for me when my Asperger's shows up, and are not afraid to tell me what it really looks like. They know I might be upset in the moment, but that I will get over it, and that i will take their advice to heart. My occasional brusqueness and to-the-pointedness never seems to put them off, and they always remain my friends.

I am thankful for my dog, Leo. He is always aware of what I am feeling, and refuses to leave me alone when I am upset or hurting. For example, today while I was putting up the lights on the Christmas tree, it wasn’t going my way. Things kept falling, I almost knocked the tree over, and other things that, like every year, give me the idea that I should just give up on trying and become that hermit with no family or friends. Leo sensed my upset (or maybe he heard me cursing at the tree), and he came over to me to be pet. He refused to leave my side until I had calmed down.

If I focus on what I am thankful for, maybe I can start to see the world in new ways, and it won’t look so bleak and dreary anymore.