Revelations in Strange Places

So our Staycation has come to an end - we relaxed, cleaned, did laundry, hung out with family and I went up north for one of my favorite annual trips. I was surprised how hard it was to go back to work this morning. I love my job, I honestly do, and around Wednesday of last week I thought I was more than ready to get back to the grind but getting back into the swing of things wasn't as easy as I anticipated. I've come to realize that part of my difficulty getting back to reality is that I had a really thought provoking couple of weeks and it made me think about who I am, how I am to others and how I live my life. Here are some of the things I realized:

Everyone has difficult times. After Justin made it through chemotherapy I was so relieved that he was going to be okay for the time being that I had a tendency to think that everyone else's struggles were nothing in comparison to what we had just lived through. This made me slightly bitter and probably rather rude to those around me. After spending four days with my extended family I got the realization that everyone has difficult things going on in their lives and whether or not they are a life or death battle like cancer is, they are important and cause people to stress, worry, be sad, angry and depressed. It is not for me to determine that their struggles are any less important than mine.

Sarcasm is not always attractive. I am sarcastic. It's a fact. Most of the time it's to be funny, but sometimes it can just be plain bitchy (sorry for the lack of a better vocabulary word...) and when I gave myself some time to sit back and actually shut up for a few minutes I was able to realize that sarcasm is not always funny, sometimes can be condescending and just plain unattractive. I cannot (and will not) ever stop being sarcastic, but I promise to be more aware of where the sarcasm is coming from and the impact it may have.

Appreciation is important. I just spent four days up north with some of my favorite people in the world. How freaking lucky am I? I have a family that enjoys each other's company and gets together every year in a beautiful place to recharge and have fun! I very rarely take the time to be thankful for the little things in my life that are not necessarily so "little". On the way back from Mackinaw Island on Friday I was sitting on the top level of the Star Line ferry and I found myself gazing out at the Mackinaw Bridge on the most beautiful day I have ever witnessed and I was SO thankful for the opportunity to be up north, in my favorite place (Mackinaw Island) with some amazing people. I don't do that enough and I am going to to make it my mission to be more thankful for the people in my life and the experiences that I am fortunate enough to have.

I'm going to leave you to ponder these three things and with some fun pictures from Girls Weekend 2012 :)
Em