Normal life has set in.  I haven’t been doing anything special, haven’t been engaging in any new adventure or activity, haven’t gone off to some new exotic place…  No, regular life is in full swing.  I’m still volunteering at an animal sanctuary in Sangkhlaburi, Thailand so the regular duties of feeding, caring for, and helping to heal injured shelter dogs takes up much of my time.  And by the time all is said and done with the dogs daily, while there is time to do something new, I’m just too tired to think about that “something new ” and instead always opt for a quiet night of sipping beer on the porch while watching Sangkhlaburi street life.

I haven’t written anything on my blog in a while because in my mind I haven’t done anything “interesting”.  I wonder what exactly to write about and whether people would even be interested in reading “normal life” posts.  One thing does always come to mind however, so instead of my usual adventure/travel stories or stories about my random drunken escapades, I will write about this: being thankful.

See, even though my life has settled into being “normal”, I realize on so many levels that it isn’t.  While there is a lot I still wish to accomplish and have in my life, I think daily on how thankful I am for the things I do have and have achieved and experienced.  It’s almost turned into a form of prayer for me.  Each day I try to take time out and think about all the things I’m thankful for.  The list always starts general, then randomly pops from narrows to specifics.  So here are the things I’m thankful for today.  Hope you enjoy and perhaps find inspiration to seek out and acknowledge all the things in your life that are worth giving thanks for.

Aside from the top 3, they are in no particular order.  Today I’m thankful for:

• Family
• Friends
• Good health
• Being physically and mentally able to workout
• Being in good company
• Living in Thailand
• Working with animals
• Waterbelly (a sanctuary dog) NOT being run over by a car this morning
• Emails from friends
• Having traveled to several countries
• The people I’ve met along the way in short bursts, yet who I’m still impacted by today
• Having found apple cider vinegar here
• The little girl next door who instead of holding a blank expression while looking over at us on the porch actually smiled and waved!
• Learning a new Thai word from the market lady (“kai gai” is egg)
• NOT seeing the neighbor behind us flash her body parts while walking along the road as she adjusts her clothing
• Nambia’s for breakfast
• Watching random firework displays light up the sky on the Mon side
• Seeing the temple lit up at night
• Having the relief of rainfall after a ridiculously hot and humid day, even though we aren’t supposed to get any rain (according to the forecast)
• Watching the monks give morning blessings to people throughout the neighborhood
• The support and patience of my family as I live a quarter to half way around the world from them
• Knowing I’m loved by my family and friends
• The hope to meet a man to love indefinitely along my travels
• The dogs that survive the unthinkable
• The dogs that move on to a better place, freeing themselves of the pain they were suffering here (of course it’s hard to lose them, and we always wonder whether there was anything else that we could have done for them, but I know ultimately they are in a better place)
• NOT being woken throughout the night by either barking dogs or our neighbors insomniac tendencies
• Hearing the dogs in a synchronized howl
• My mosquito net!
• Thursday and Saturday markets
• Having a day off from the sanctuary
• Learning something new everyday
• Witnessing small kindnesses (a young brother was helping his younger sister take out several rubber bands from her hair and smoothed it out when done)
• Watching the 9 chicks that live in our neighborhood grow up (and seeing all 9 daily)
• The water delivery guy
• Local community support for the sanctuary (Som Chai, Dr. May, Sai and Charlie)
• Meeting new volunteers from around the world
• Hearing of friends engagements
• Hearing that friends struggling with health issues are doing better
• My memories of times past
• Being content with what I have and where I am
• Feeling blessed in so many ways
• The hope that I continue to be thankful and grateful for every little and big thing in my life
• And lastly that I am able to continue to travel, explore, and give back to the life around me

On to Ode to Water

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