Thank you entry #1

So I completely forgot that I still had this blog. As I pondered if I should keep or delete it and found myself leaning towards the latter, I felt a pang of sadness, like all the thoughts (a lot of them dumb) I wrote in the past decade would mean nothing - at least to me - and I just refused to do that.

Now, in the spirit of well-being and just being an overall "good" person (at least I'm trying to be), I'm going to start making this my thank you journal. I spend a lot of time online anyway, so might as well use it to spread good cheer and leave the ranting on another blog (LOL).

For today, well, yesterday really, I'm thankful for the following:

1. My dad - he's the selfless one in the family. He came from a very modest family and upbringing but he did everything possible to give us, his children, good education and a roof on our heads. He always means well and teaches me to do the same. He's also borderline martyr - he doesn't say anything bad to anybody because he doesn't like conflict. That's good to a certain extent, but IMO, I think it's also healthy if you let out your feelings once in a while and not bottle it up inside and wait for it to eat you up. Anyway, he's the best dad. I can't really thank God enough.

2. My Auntie Solie - I've gotten to know her so much better in the one month we spent together going out and traveling than when she would visit intermittently with her late husband - and I'm really grateful for it. Besides being generous not just with money but with her time, she's more energetic and healthier than me! Her passions include writing and painting, reading and researching; and now that I've enumerated it, I'm even more pleased because we have a lot more in common than I thought. One thing I want to emulate that she's perfected is to be more frugal. When you're brought up a certain way, live a certain lifestyle for most of your life, it's very difficult to adjust. But I'm hoping that with some budgeting, I can nail it too.

3. Our help - she's there to wash clothes, cook food, clean dishes, help with feeding and taking care of the kids and dogs, whatever I ask of her she does it. It's very easy to take something and someone for granted, so I'm saying this to the whole of the Interwebs so that they may know that the help will always be important and valued.

4. My ear doctor - besides being incredibly nice, he's always so happy and warm, I can tell he cares for his patients, he's not just in it for the money - and that's important when you're handling people from all walks of life. We all want to feel special and it takes a lot to do that genuinely.

5. Public transportation - Sometimes I do complain about the drivers of said vehicles, but there will be some drivers who will surprise you. It's those good guys we need more of on the road.

Oprah inspired me to start this up again, so I guess my last thank you would be to her. Thank you, Ms. Winfrey for instilling the value of gratefulness in me. It's been years since that episode where you encouraged your viewers to write five things that you're grateful for every day. Sometimes, for some people, it's hard enough to look for one thing to be thankful for in a day, let alone five, but this entry just proves that you *can* find goodness in the simplest ways, from people you encounter once or every day of your life.