It has come to my attention lately that maybe I’m not coming across as grateful as I should be. And as much as I hate to admit it, I think there’s a grain of truth to that.

I find myself constantly putting ‘out there’ what I want, what I don’t have, what’s bumming me out. Well, boo-freakin’-hoo. No one wants to hear that even SOME of the time, let alone MOST of the time. And, quite frankly, it doesn’t paint a very accurate picture.

See, I have a lot to be grateful for; to be happy about. And while yes, I still covet a new camera and a MacBook, perhaps I wouldbe better served by cpncentrating on what I DO have instead. Because I really do have a lot. And there is much for me to be happy about.

For one thing, I have a completely precious baby girl that each and every day I’m thanking my lucky stars for.  Of course I simply adore all my children.  That should go without saying.  But experiencing Evie as my only daughter and my last child has been so much more awesome than I could have ever imagined.  I can’t believe how fast she’s growing up and at the same time, I can’t wait to go through the milestones with her.  She is a blessing to us and I never, EVER want to forget that.

Liam and Harry are such joys too.  I don’t get to spend as much time one on one with them as I’d like, since I’m on “Evie Duty” all the time (and she’s not the world’s best napper, alas).  But I do get to watch the boys interact with one another and it makes my heart sing (most of the time).  We got Rock Band for Christmas and then Rock Band 2 with a gift card after the holiday and not only has it been fun to play it together as a family (“The Overwhelming Disaster” is an AWESOME band name), but I’ve really enjoyed watching just how GOOD Harry is at playing both the guitar and drums on there.  The kid has mad timing, I tell ya!  And he’s been great about sharing the joy with Liam too.  He often sets up the drums and puts the game in “freestyle mode” so Liam can pound away.  I’ve gotta say, if watching Liam bash on the drums and laugh his fool head off in the process doesn’t bring a smile to your face, then you’re just an empty shell of a person.

We have a roof over our heads that is warm and comfortable and more than adequetely meets our needs as a family at this point in time.  We have two working vehicles that can easily transfer our family from Point A to Point B whenever we need to.  My husband has a very steady and secure job that doesn’t require a lot of long or over-time hours and pretty much ZERO travel.  I’m able to stay at home and watch my children grow from babies into people.  We are lucky enough to have some awesome technoloy at our fingertips: cable TV, a DVR, an iPhone, laptops, video game systems… What more could we ask for?

I really, really want to start focusing on the good things (as there are SO MANY of them) instead of the bad things.  Worrying about when I’ll get a MacBook (since my laptop is kaput and no one is beating down my door to give me any free laptops… if I have to pay for one, it’s gonna be a Mac) or focusing on how much I want a new camera to play with isn’t going to bring me ANY joy.  NONE.  Not at all.  Worrying about the things I don’t have is pointless.  No one has EVERYTHING.  No one SHOULD have everything.  Having everything does not make a person happy.

Health.  Family.  Security.  Safety.  Happiness.  That’s what counts.