This Week, I Am Grateful For…
- New Year
- Kind Stranger at Dunkin’s
- Fresh Haircut
- Funny Moments
- Dessert
#1: New Year
I love New Year’s! It’s a time for fresh beginnings and endless possibilities. As 2025 begins, I’m excited to embrace more adventure and step outside my comfort zone. I want it to be a year full of courage and bravery. More on this late! This year, I plan to prioritize my mental and physical health, cherish quality moments with family and friends, and let go of unnecessary stress over small things. Here’s to a year of growth and joy!
#2: Kind Stranger at Dunkin’s
A couple of weeks ago, I was picking up a large order of coffee and donuts for a work event. The order was too much for me to carry in one trip, so I was figuring out what to leave behind. A kind woman saw my predicament and offered to help carry the rest of my order to my car. Thank you so much, kind stranger.
#3: Fresh Haircut
There’s nothing quite like a fresh haircut. This week, my barber gave me an incredible fade—truly a work of art. I don’t say it enough, but thank you for your unmatched skills. You manage to boost my confidence by at least 30-45% every month. You’re the real MVP!
#4: Funny Moments
Gyms are full with energy these days, thanks to New Year’s resolutions and a renewed sense of purpose. This week at the Y, we ended a workout with a cooldown that involved balancing on a bouncy ball while mimicking a paddling motion with our feet. Let’s just say it wasn’t my finest moment—I was wobbling and flailing like a beginner tightrope walker. But when I glanced over at my partner, she was effortlessly paddling like a pro. I was like “Look at her go! She is adorable!” I couldn’t stop laughing; it was the perfect reminder not to take myself too seriously. Who knows, we might have discovered her hidden talent for bouncy ball paddling!
#5: Dessert
Dessert wasn’t a common feature in my childhood. I vividly remember my first taste of cake in 7th or 8th grade at boarding school in Kenya. A friend had brought back a piece of Black Forest cake from a fancy restaurant, and kindly let me try it. The experience was nothing short of euphoric—an intense dopamine rush that made me feel alive and alert. Though I don’t have much love cake now, I’m grateful for the wide variety of desserts available to me.
Weekly Spotlight
This week’s spotlight is an inspiring Poem by Danusha Lameris
I’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk
down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs
to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you”
when someone sneezes, a leftover
from the Bubonic plague. “Don’t die,” we are saying.
And sometimes, when you spill lemons
from your grocery bag, someone else will help you
pick them up. Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other.
We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,
and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile
at them and for them to smile back. For the waitress
to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder,
and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.
We have so little of each other, now. So far
from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange.
What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these
fleeting temples we make together when we say, “Here,
have my seat,” “Go ahead — you first,” “I like your hat.”
–Danusha Lameris
What are you looking forward to this year?