Hey Everyone!

Thanks for stopping in and reading. This post has a little bit to do with campfires, and a lot to do about something I'm even more passionate about: Being Grateful.

I truly believe that there's a lot to be said about starting your day with a dose of gratitude along with your morning coffee. Even if you're having a terrible day and you think that your world is over, if you just sit quietly and think, you'll be able to find some good in your situation, thus altering the course of your day. Gratitude brings upon more gratitude. It's a universal law. Whether you believe in God, science, or that God created science, it's all connected, and you believe in a little bit of everything (like yours truly), it's a truth that like attracts like.

If you dwell in negativity, you'll get more of it. If you change that scene, and start to think about things that are positive, you'll get more positive. If we're thankful all the time, we will always be able to see the good in all things. Dr. Wayne Dyer once said "if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

I turned thirty last week, and my level of gratitude is on overload right now. I have so much to be grateful for. For starters, my dad, step mom, and grandma came in town to celebrate with us and meet our daughter for the first time. Finley's eight weeks old and the greatest blessing I've ever received, along with my husband. We got to spend the weekend celebrating with my cousins and some of our close friends, much of which was spent sitting around a campfire in our backyard. Campfires are a great place to make memories, and reflect on old ones. This trickled into a reflection on how lucky we are and how much I truly have to be grateful for.

Over the past decade, I've had a whirlwind of good and bad experiences that taught me a tremendous amount, and have gotten me to a place that I'm really happy to be in. Over the past decade, I graduated college with both an Engineering degree and my MBA. I worked in Corporate America for five years, some of it was good and some of it not so good, but all of it lead to me getting out of it, learning my values, and ultimately leaving that type of environment. We've had sickness in my family, along with good health, addictions along with recovery. I took a leap of faith and moved from Illinois to North Carolina. I eventually met my soul mate. The Cubs finally won the World Series! Rich and I got married, took the road trip of a lifetime, lived in Alaska for a summer, and this March had baby Finley!

With all of this reflection, my main point of writing this post is that while sometimes it may not seem that everything is working out for you, there's always a master plan at work. Steve Jobs has a famous speech where he talks about connecting the dots. You can't connect the dots going forward, but you can always connect the dots going backwards. Those tough situations you're facing now are just a stepping stone to something wonderful for you, teaching you a greater purpose. Being grateful in all seasons prepares us to really, truly enjoy the great moments, like I was blessed enough to experience this weekend.

Today, right now, where you are, is the perfect day to start being grateful. If you're reading this, thank you for being a part of my life! I'm grateful for being able to share this post with you today.

Thanks for reading :) -Megan