I received a private message on Facebook a few days ago asking (with love) if I ever slow down….if I’m ever ‘just Danielle’….put my hair in a ponytail, throw on sweats and skip the makeup. This friend said they were worried that I’m always going, always traveling, always ‘on’.
While the answer to all of this is ‘yes, I do….though I don’t often share that part’, it was enough to give me pause. And for that, I’m grateful. I paused as I have been guilty of pushing beyond my limits in the past…and the consequences were both painful (I fractured my face) and not something I’d care to re-live – despite the powerful lessons I learned.
Since then, I’ve worked to be diligent about being present both professionally and personally. I think you know I don’t believe in ‘balance’, I am happy to embrace the juggle that is my life. Sometimes I work too much. I do travel frequently (and love it) and I am happy to say I rarely miss the important milestones or activities in the world of my small people, though sometimes it is unavoidable.
For all of this, I am grateful.
I’m grateful I have two healthy, spunky, growing children who challenge and delight me every day. It is a blessing that they talk to me and I’m gifted the opportunity to grow as a mother and individual as I participate in their development and work to guide them into and through their teen years. It is a treasure to have a family who supports me and pushes me to be better.
I’m grateful I get to do a job I love….one that has continued to evolve with this website as its base. The opportunities I’ve been given over the past ten years have been dream-like. When I left television in 2001, I never would have imagined a career that would allow me to continue to interview people, tell stories and cover so many of the ‘dreams’ I’d had while I still was a reporter and anchor…from the NFL Pro Bowl to the Red Carpet at the ACMs. I’m thankful to the many people who have had enough faith in me and my abilities to hire me to work with and for them.
I’m grateful my job gives me the opportunity to give back and to be around for my small people. Working from home allows me to make choices daily – to take a break for an hour to see a middle-of-the-day activity at the kids’ school or cut out early for a baseball or softball tournament. It means I can work until 2am, or begin my day at 5am. For the most part I can work my work around my life and that is a gift.
I’m grateful for my tribe of friends – the people who lift me up, support me, challenge me to think harder, to follow my passions and are here to push me in a different direction if I need it.
I’m grateful for the extraordinary community of women and men I’ve have grown to know and love over the past ten years – both online and in person. It is a beautiful thing to know people ‘get you’ – they understand the beauty and challenges of entrepreneurial work, of working from home, of alternating between pushing and doubting yourself and each choice you make. They are sounding boards and a source of inspiration and support.
I strive to make gratitude a daily practice…but, I admit, there is something special about the Thanksgiving season that often makes me additionally reflective….
And it never hurts to be reminded to slow down.
This is my wish for you on Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday season – that you are surrounded by the people you love – who love you – and that you are able to take a deep breath and quietly appreciate the gift of time with them.
I too have so much to be grateful for. I’m thankful for being able to chas my dreams. For healthy kids, a warm and loving home and a solid job.
I love, love, LOVE this! You know, sometimes you do have to slow down in order to be grateful. It’s hard to really look at all the blessings in your life when you’re running around a mile a minute.
I think, when it comes to the holiday season, we tend to lose sight of gratitude. Family, friends, work, they’re all things we take for granted. This is a great post on taking time for gratitude.
I think it is important to stop and think about what you are grateful for. It puts everything into perspective and it also does your heart good.
It’s so important to remind ourselves of all we have to be grateful for. Thank you for the reminder.
I’ve had that type of moment where my very close friends asked if I had forgotten about them. MY first thought was, what are you talking about? But, I realized I needed to slow down a bit and really focus on my priorities. Make time for everything, by giving up a few things that aren’t that important in the grand scheme of things.
It can definitely be a wake up call when you have these conversations with the people we love – but I’m so glad you are surrounded by people who care about you and are comfortable enough to come to you when they are concerned.
You do have a lot to be grateful for and have made such a great list of those things! Having health, yes, that has to be a very important one. Especially having healthy children!
Absolutely – the health of my small people is at the top of my gratitude list.
These are all great things to be thankful for. I love being able to work from home. I have been able to be a stay at home Mom because of it and for that I am thankful.
This is just what I needed to hear! I never slow down, I rarely take time to enjoy all that I have. It is busy busy, hustle all the time. I am going to take a little time this weekend to slow it down. Thank you!
I so hope you were able to take a little time for you 🙂
I love the idea of slowing down and just being grateful for everything you have. Now why can’t this time of year just slow down a little so I have more time to do it? LOL!
YES! I’m constantly wishing for more *time* this time of year. I already feel chaotic and the season is just starting.
I have so much and know many with so little yet it can be hard to remember that. I need to practice being more grateful!
This is such a wonderful post! I need to get back into the habit of writing in my five-minute journal. Writing three things each day I am grateful for. Such a beautiful practice!
I love the idea of a five minute journal. I used to journal all the time and have fallen out of practice.
This is such a lovely post! You have to be grateful for yourself each day! To keep yourself motivate!
I agree that it is important to slow down and take moments to be grateful. There are so many reasons to be grateful, life itself is one of those.
It really is important that we take some time to slow down and reflect on what we are thankful for! Thank you so much for the reminder.
I think this is such a wonderful post. What a great idea to write this down. I’m grateful for so many things myself.
I have a hard time slowing down too. I’m used to being busy and it is hard to just be somewhere to chill. Gratitude and time for reflection is super important.
I wish I could say I thought it was easy, but I definitely need to make the time.
Sometimes it’s nice to share all parts of our life. People feel they can connect to someone who they feel goes through no makeup days as well. 🙂
I love reading posts like this. It’s so encouraging. There are so many things to be grateful for and sometimes we don’t realize it until we’re forced to stop.
That is exactly it – I’m trying to stop and slow down on my own to avoid being forced at some point in the future.
It is so refreshing to read this, I think this is so beautiful.
There are a lot of things in life that we should be grateful for. All we need is to just stop, think and appreciate what we have in life.
Other than my son and husband, I have so much to be grateful for too. And I’ve already learned how to slow down and I couldn’t be happier.
Good for you – I love that you have this mastered. I’m still a work in progress 🙂
This is a great take on slowing down and gratitude, we all lose sight of things and that’s why we should all slow down and be happier!
Thank you so very much. I feel as though I need the reminder now and again.
I must say that my tribe has been holding me down these last few years as well. Some days are awesome and some days are just plain old hard. Thanks for sharing. – yolonda