Gratitude

There can only be so much you can be thankful before you sound like you're faking at being thankful for things. But honestly, every year we forget to be thankful of everything and everybody in our lives and when Thanksgiving comes around, we're reminded of them. I'm guilty of this too.



The things I'm thankful for this year?

My loved ones. No question about this special gang in my life has gone by without being thanked every single day, they do so much for me. I've made it public that this year has been truly difficult on me with the job search, moving to a new city and such--but what makes it a lot more easier? Them. All of them. This includes my #GirlSquad, my family and my amazing boyfriend. If not for them, I would probably be burrowed deep in my bed--so deep I would need to be retrieved with machines. Thank you so much, I'm never going to thank you enough...ever.

Having a roof over my head and enough to eat. So many people take this for granted. There are people starving and freezing in America, not to mention the rest of the world...and we complain if a fast food restaurant is closed when we stop by for late night munchies. I'm so grateful to always have something in my fridge or my pantry (even if it's not what I'm in the mood for that day)--we have more than enough food to survive, and we have a roof over our heads protecting us from Mother Nature. Yes, we pay a ridiculous amount of rent to keep the roof over our heads, but at least we have the funds to pay ridiculous amounts of money to do so.

People who embrace accessibility and acknowledges the need for society to change. I've met my fair share of people who look down on people with disabilities--but I've met more people who are just simply incredible. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to educate people around me, I'm so fortunate to have two languages that allows me to express myself freely. With my bi-lingual skills, I'm able to interact with people who have never encountered a Deaf person before--regardless in person or on the phone. I've educated multiple people who were interviewing me on how to call me through VRS, how to accommodate me, and how to interact with me. Most of those people (I didn't get hired, but education is pretty awesome) end up telling me that they wish they knew more about our community and how they could expand their job listings to us so we have more accessible opportunities. Those people are the people to know, those people are the people we need to help us change the world. Thank you.

I wrote this post a couple of weeks before November even started, but I had some friends visit during November and they couldn't stop raving about how Deaf friendly Seattle-ites were. On an average, they would bump into 3-5 people who knew some sign language--I say "some" very loosely based on fingerspelling or some signs ranging to full blown ASL. I honestly had no idea how good I had it here in Seattle, so if you're hearing and you know sign language--THANK YOU for being so welcoming to Deaf people to your incredible city and keep on learning/teaching your friends ASL!

What are YOU grateful for? Have you told your family/friends that you love them and are grateful for them yet? What are you waiting for!? ;)