I have to be honest and admit that there are days I forget to appreciate my wonderful, generous, and loving husband, Eric. He does more for me and with me than any other person on the planet and there are days I never thank him, hug him, or even ask how he is doing. 

This has been a hard year. Eric and I both work from home, and we have a 6-year-old son who's been with us pretty much 24/7 since March when the pandemic began. No childcare. No school. And we live far from our family so we don't have a lot of extra support. We really just have each other. 

This year especially I've treated him like someone I just juggle schedules with instead of someone I love and appreciate. 

So yesterday I told him how much he means to me and Jack. I told him that I see how hard he is working and all that he does for our family. He thanked me too for all I do and that felt really good!

What we appreciate appreciates. What we don't appreciate, depreciates in our lives. 

"If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how a man would marvel and stare". -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

But because the stars are there every night we go days, months, years without looking up and saying, "wow, such beauty in the sky".

Day Five, Happiness Booster 

Appreciate someone special in your life, today

Call someone you love but haven't talked to in a while. Or tell someone you live with, whom maybe you've neglected, that you see them and love them. Write a letter to someone you haven't seen much this year and tell them how much they mean to you.

This will warm your heart and their heart too! Spead the appreciation today. 

Day Five, Anxiety Buster

Do one thing at a time

Last night I texted two of my dear friends, whom I met this year through my book publisher, and told them I had to cancel showing up to our weekly Tuesday night call. 

My husband had to work late last night because he spent the first half of the day with our son, Jack, so I could work for the first half of the day. And I just didn't have the energy left to spread my attention in two directions between Jack and a zoom call. 

So permit yourself to really focus on one thing at a time today. Multi-tasking and spreading our energy in too many directions at once can produce a lot of stress and anxiety.

Do one thing at a time today. Breathe. Be kind to yourself and your nervous system. 

*** This blog post is part of a 10-DAY SERIES, Titled "10 DAYS OF JOY"

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