2012 thankfulness

this morning, i received the most ridiculously encouraging text message from a dear friend, Jon, telling me how appreciated i was, and reminding me that today is thanksgiving day!

it's incredible what a boost a little bit of appreciation can be. so in the spirit of gratitude, here's a (non-comprehensive) list of some of the things i am most thankful for this year.

1. inspiring friends & mentors // who challenge me to be better and live fuller and make the most of my potential. who don't necessarily tell me the things i want to hear, but that i need to hear. i wrote in my scholarship application essay, and my your big year essay, that who i am is a result of many different people's investments into me. one of my favourite quotes is that of john of salisbury: "if i have seen a little further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." every time someone tells me that i'm an inspiration to them, i tell them that it is only because so many people have invested in me, believed in me, spoken into my life, and built me up. 
2. frogasia // a workplace where not only my skills and talents are nurtured, where i feel valued and like i have something to contribute, but that more importantly, is in sync with my values + crazy inspiring, fun, and encouraging colleagues. 
3. after-alpha // a group of incredibly talented, smart, and passionate young working adults who desire so much to know and experience God firsthand in the midst of the challenges of being a young adult in the 21st century. 
4. running // from discipline to learning to be bold about what i stand for, from learning to enjoy the mundane parts of the journey to finishing strong, running has taught me so much about endurance, patience, and finding joy in the journey. 
5. home // one of the things i struggled with last year was feeling rooted - to my family, my country, my communities. i found that when i chose to stop focusing on all the ways i didn't fit in, people didn't understand me, and i chose to actually be deliberate in investing into my relationships, in every sphere of my life, i started to find home everywhere. at work, at home, at play, at church. i found myself going from feeling like nobody understood me and like i had nothing to add to another person's life, to feeling completely interconnected to those around me. 
6. struggles // most of all, i'm so grateful for all the struggles, tears, and fears because they've taught me so much more than the good times what it means to live with a perspective that is eternal. what it means to be able to see the bigger picture, the bigger vision, that makes everything else pale in comparison and makes you able to put up with or go through anything, because you know you're on the right track to something greater. that's an absolutely priceless conviction that nothing else in this world can compare to. 

so blessed. 

so grateful. 

my cup runs over.