It's the Little Things in Life

I'm trying to have an "attitude of gratitude" these days. I know I can fixate on the negative and let it take over, forgetting how much I have and how good I have it. So, here's a little list of things I enjoy, things that make my life a little bit better:

• Sugar cubes. Or "dots," as they're sometimes called. I remember these being in our church kitchen when I was a kid. I love them in my coffee or tea because they're just a bit more fun than the traditional spoonful of sugar. They make me feel more refined, more British.



• Nice pens. Many of you know I have an affinity for office supplies (don't even get me started on Sharpies!). But there's nothing quite like a pen that feels good in your hand and writes flawlessly and effortlessly. Pilot is a favorite brand of mine.



• Fun shoes. (See my earlier post.)



• A fresh, untouched Sunday newspaper. Now, lately I am most annoyed with the Tennessean. They are ever-so biased in their political reporting (in favor of the "opposing" team). But I do love to sit and read the paper slowly, and in whatever order I choose, without having to share it.



• Great songs. I don't mean fun songs that have a great beat (although I like those too). I mean a song that has clever, meaningful lyrics--a song that makes you wish you had written it. My favorite artists are also songwriters, and I'm a closet songwriter myself. As a copywriter, my job is to put the appropriate words together into sentences--words that convey my meaning and capture interest. But a songwriter has to do that PLUS put it into a specific rhythmic pattern and make it fit with the melodic line. Now that's talent.



• Photographs. In this digital age, we tend to take a lot of pics and hit the delete button more than we probably should. Many of these gems never get printed. But I still like holding a photo in my hand. I like to put them in albums and look at them in groups. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer flipping through old albums to clicking on thumbnails.



• Feather pillows. They're getting harder to find, but I have one that my mother had before me. It's probably as old as I am, if not older. Some of the feathers have come out, and the seams have been re-sewn many times, but I still love it.

This, of course, is just a partial list. And it doesn't begin to cover the "big" things I'm thankful for--my God and my family would top that list. So, what are you thankful for?