Inviting Gratitude and Joy (and a BIG announcement!)

Hello hello, and welcome to Episode 101 of Life On the Brink!

And to those in the States, Happy Thanksgiving! This is one of my favorite holidays, and I’m so excited to be celebrating with my family this year. It’s a beautiful time for traditions and food and beginning the Christmas season, but it’s also a wonderful time to reflect and actually participate in giving thanks. Whether or not you celebrate this holiday, we can all practice the act of thanksgiving, so today I hope to just share a bit of my recent ponderings regarding the relationship between gratitude and joy.
 
Plus! I have a VERY big announcement to share, and it’s something I’m very grateful for. I share all about it in this episode, along with lots of Little Joys and my new favorite Christmas playlist.

For the complete show notes, click here!
For full transcript, click here!


Site: lifeonthebrink.live
Social: @anna_on_the_keys

Transcript

Unknown: 0:07

Welcome to Life on the brink, a lovely little place filled with inspiration and creativity that is dedicated to enjoying life one day at a time. I'm Ana. And together, we're exploring the beautiful things in this world that fascinate us. And often discovering something new. Hello, hello, and welcome to episode 101 of life on the brink. Now that we're into the post 100 episodes, I don't know whether to say 101 or one to one. But I'll decide as things go. I'm Happy Thanksgiving to those in the United States. Today's a very special day. And it's probably one of my favorite days of the year. It's when we all gather with family or with friends, and usually lots of really good food. And it's also the beginning of the Christmas season, I already have my tree up. So it's begun in my heart quite early this year. But after Thanksgiving, it's kind of on full steam ahead. But it's also a really beautiful time, a nice day to reflect and actually participate in Giving thanks. And while I'm making an emphasis on it on this day, Thanksgiving Day, it's this is of course, something that is most beneficial when it's part of our every day, which is why I'm taking the time to speak about it. It's something that has really transformed the past couple of months for me, it's it's become even more important. And so whether or not you celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving, we can all practice the act of Thanksgiving. And so today, I hope to just share a bit of my recent ponderings regarding gratitude, and specifically the relationship between gratitude and joy. And I also have a very, very big announcement coming today. And so you'll you'll know by the title, but will I know I might not put it in the title, you'll just have to listen to find out because you've got big things coming. So make yourself a nice cup of tea or something warm. I am actually drinking a ginger ale because it's been very good to me today. But it's a particular kind of ginger ale that is my favorite. And you can only get it in the South. I know at least in Alabama, the company is Buffalo Rock. And this is their diet ginger ale, very, very spicy. It's spicier than any ginger beer I've ever had. And so I'm going to take a sip and I invite you to have something nice and warm. Or maybe if you're running around today, a nice little iced coffee or Oh, apple cider. That's been good to me. And let's just slow down a little bit and talk about gratitude. For begin, I'd like to share a quote from writer Robert Brault, which is really beautiful. He says enjoy the little things for one day, you may look back and realize they were the big things. When life starts to move quickly, as it often does during the holiday season, it can be hard to remember to slow down and enjoy the little things. Or on the other hand, sometimes when it's a really difficult season and time seems to move so slow. That you know we can feel stuck or trapped. That can also steal our joy and can make those little things feel too little perhaps I have found myself in both of these scenarios over the past couple of months from time to time. Which has only helped me to see even clearer the importance of gratitude, actually carving out a moment to stop, say thank you, and to enjoy the present moment. And I will say most of the time, it truly is just a moment. Like that's all it takes. It can make all the difference. This isn't it doesn't have to be a very time consuming practice. Though of course, if I'm having a day where I really need to be built up again or if I'm feeling burned out or anxious, then taking a bit more time is very beneficial, you know, a slow morning or sometime in the evening to relax my shoulders. Maybe have a good cry. Honestly, it's helped me and I feel better afterwards and you know spending some time in prayer. It helps me to refocus and come back to a place of gratitude Whew. But most of the time, like I said, it really can just be a moment before I go to another app on my phone or to the next thing that throughout my day, or before I go straight to listening to something on the radio, when I get in my car, sometimes just taking a moment to sit in the silence and look up or look around me. And just remember where I am, remember how good it is, remember the good things to be grateful. It's those moments that really make a difference throughout the day. I'd like to share another quote by Brene Brown. In an interview, I've linked to the interview in the show notes. But she says, in the research, we learned that the most effective way to cultivate joy in our lives, is to practice gratitude. The key word here is practice. It's not just about feeling grateful, it's about developing an observable practice. So often, we think that joy makes us grateful, when really, it's gratitude that brings joy. And there are a lot of studies that have been published in the past, I would say 10 years, a lot of findings as people have become more and more interested in the link between gratitude and joy or happiness. And it's, it's been pretty clear every time a complete study has been done that people that feel or practice gratitude, either in a, in a journal setting or something like that, where it's a part of their everyday lives, tend to report greater feelings of happiness and joy. And I think that, that just makes sense. Because it's so easy to be distracted by the busyness of our lives, or to really only think of ourselves and where we're trying to go or what we're trying to get done. And making a practice of being grateful, I personally, I think it really helps to recognize the good that is outside you that you are a part of something really beautiful, and you have so much good so many blessings, even in the midst of hardships or stress or whatever it may be. The more aware we are, the more our perspective shifts towards how good it is to be together here on this earth, how blessed we are how taken care of we are, it's no wonder that those of us who participate in that gratitude are simply aware of the happiness that exists the joy that is available to us. Two different people can look at one scenario, and have very different outcomes based on perspective. And so gratitude is a very simple and effective practice that I have found really just helps to shift my perspective. So let's do a bit of an exercise together. I would encourage you, I know some of you listen to this podcast when you're driving, I do that as well with my podcast. So if you're driving, maybe save this, and then come back to it. But wherever you are, if you are in a place where you can close your eyes, if you would participate with me, I'm going to do the same thing. Close your eyes, and take a few deep breaths. I'll do that first. Let's take a deep breath in. And breathe out. Now you keep breathing. And I'll keep talking. Recall this day, think about where you might have been on this day, three years ago, or maybe five years ago or 10 years ago. You were probably in a very different place in your life. So try to recall where you were, what you were dreaming about what you were hoping for. And think of something pinpoint something that you were really hoping for at that time. That is now a part of your life, just a normal thing. Then take a moment to be grateful for this place for that thing, maybe that person right now. And if you can't think of something right off the bat, you can always use the shortcut that I use, which is remembering COVID times. And I remember when it felt like we would never see our friends again. So that's always a quick shortcut if you need to be grateful for where we are now. Personally, I think about Thanksgiving five years ago, so that was in 2018. I had not met Josh yet who is my husband now. But I met him five days later. And I had no idea I was in I definitely was in a place where I wanted to find my person. And I didn't know where he was. And I was really feeling that on that particular Thanksgiving. And so how my life has changed since then. It is huge as drastic, like he's now and part of my normal life. Yeah, we're married, we have a home. I see my family all the time. So this year, we get to go. Were with my side, we swap families for Thanksgiving, I was with his family last year. So he's with mine. And that's just a like a dream. I'm living the dream, man, I really hoped for him. Wow. Okay. So that was, that was emotional for me. Didn't expect that. So this exercise is not meant to either emotionally manipulate you, or to be little or disregard any of the real challenges that we go through. Because as you all know, I've had a pretty difficult year. And so there's also going to be a bit of sadness with this Thanksgiving, as my family has lost a couple of people. And so there is that, and this is not to disregard that at all. It's simply to shift the perspective. And I also really like this kind of reflection, because even in the midst of these difficult seasons, it helps me to see them as temporary. If you're overwhelmed right now, which is easy to happen around the holidays, it's easy to be wrapped up in, in that situation and feel like it's gonna go on forever, like I said about the COVID times. But I know that just as the whatever was difficult the challenge the hard feelings, the hurt feelings that I had several years ago, have passed. So to will these, and there's so much good, that is alongside pain and hurt. And so I hope that my hope is that if you are also having a bit of a difficult season, or are not sure how this particular Thanksgiving or Christmas season is going to go that you take heart and know that you are still in a place that that you were hoping for several years ago. And if you are in need, if you don't have enough, if you are not provided for it, you don't have safety or security. And my hope is that you find that this year. But the fact is that most of us have all that we need. And shifting our perspective to just see it to appreciate it makes such a difference. And so, in conclusion, as we enjoy this day of really delicious food and togetherness, and we enter the excitement of December, I invite you to join me in spending moments of gratitude, and spreading the joy that comes from it. And if you're in the States today, Happy Thanksgiving, I hope it's a beautiful day. And so, speaking of joy, I have something very exciting to share. Perhaps you've already guessed it, I don't know. But I'm having a baby. It is very exciting. And I'm really I'm just so glad that I can tell everybody now we've we've decided to tell everyone now Josh and I have been looking forward to having a family. And so we couldn't be happier. And not to mention my family who is you know, crazy levels of of excited and, and happy. I'm the oldest of like my cousins. And so I'm the first of my generation in my family to have a baby. And so it's all new to me. And as of this podcast release, I'm almost 12 weeks pregnant. So almost out of the first trimester, which is why now we decided to just tell everybody I'm also going to share on social media on this Thanksgiving Day as well. And I'm just really excited. I'm trying to take it all as it comes. Because there's new things every day every week, and I think I'm over the worst of the nausea and the sort of beginning yuckiness hence the ginger ale today. That is my new best friend I've been loving that I think I mentioned something last podcast episode two of like how Ginger has been my friend. I haven't had like a super duper rough. first trimester, I'm not gonna go into, you know, yucky details, but I definitely people have had it way worse than me. But it still wasn't great. So I appreciate everyone's patience. As I know my podcast release schedule has been a little bit sparse, it's been very tiring, time needed a little bit less on my plate to sort of get back up on my feet. So I'm feeling a little bit better. Just taking each day as it comes. And we have been able to see the baby on ultrasound and they say everything looks great. And it was wild, because the last time we had the ultrasound, we could see the baby moving. And at this point, like I don't have like a bump bump, like, it doesn't look the way it used to. I can definitely tell it's different. Like there's more there. But it's hard to still wrap my head around, baby lives in there. We're really excited I have I'm, I'm interested to explore motherhood, I can't wait for Josh to be a dad, he's going to be just adorable. And and I'm just really excited to see the world with little eyes as I watch this baby and probably more in the future, go through this life. And so that's something that that's a big joy. You know, that's and that's something that I'm grateful for him. I'm so grateful every time we go to the doctor and everything looks okay. And this is such a, an unknown. And I feel like the beginning of a pregnancy is just, you don't have a lot to go on. And what you do have are symptoms that you don't want to experience. And so yeah, taking time to just focus on one day at a time has been useful. So I will of course update over this next several months. Oh, I'm due in June. As of this podcast, I'm due on June 10, which is nice. It's right after the school year, I'll have all summer to just chill out with the baby. And so until then, we're going to be renovating one of the rooms upstairs to become a nursery. And I'll yeah, I'll update as things go, I will try to get a feel for people's interest over on social media as far as what could I call it pregnancy centered episodes. Because I could go either way, I'll you know, update. But I know some of you may be interested to know more. So I will find that out. And yeah, I'm just trying to let my body do what it's supposed to do and, and get ready. Like I said, I'm no longer experiencing a lot of the nausea that was so trying last month. And that really would have rocked my Thanksgiving. So I am very grateful that I'm going to be able to eat all of the yummy foods, because the food is good at my Thanksgiving, I'm telling you what. So I'm also just really excited to be able to share this bit of good news with the world. So as you can tell, I'm very excited. I'm very grateful on this Thanksgiving Day. And so I hope that you're able to experience moments of gratitude, and of joy. And feel free to share either over on the podcast show notes, which are at life on the brink dot live. Or over on social media. Like I said, I'm going to share some pregnancy announcement photos. I don't know it depends if you're a morning listener than you are hearing this before I've shared online because I have to get some new family pictures at Thanksgiving. So this episode is short, but I just wanted to give a little taste of something nice and refreshing. And my plan is to have new episodes every week, up until Christmas. And so I've got them all planned out. And I hope to not necessarily make up for my absence over the past couple of months. But just to have something nice for those of you who listen. So consistently have been nice to look forward to each week. And so I will be back next week with a new episode but of course before then we have to talk about this week's little joy. I'll be right back all right, well in this spirit of Thanksgiving. And in honor of today's focus on gratitude, I am foregoing the usual little joy. And I'm just going to share lots of little joys and lots of moments that have happened over the past few weeks while I've been kind of MIA things that brought me a lot of joy. So I've got a little list here. One, hosting afternoon tea for Josh's grandparents. That was beautiful. Number two fresh apple cider donuts. We went apple picking a couple of weeks ago and they were just hot out of the fryer. Amazing. So delicious. Number three I went to there's a a theme park that's close to where I live called Busch Gardens and they have their Christmas edition like everything is decked out for Christmas. And I went with my siblings on the very first day of their Christmas Town. Season. And that was fantastic. Number four, the fall foliage in this new neighborhood. This is the first time actually being able to live here in the fall. And it's stunning just going on a walk. You see every color imaginable. Even just the view from my bedroom window is breathtaking. So it brings me joy every day. Oh number five I already talked about it was being able to see my baby move on the ultrasound. That was really cool. Number six is having a full sized Christmas tree up in our home. It's beautiful. It's tall. Not all of the lights work yet. I'm troubleshooting it ongoing. I hope to get a hold of some garland and a new tree topper because I don't have any of that stuff. But it's up and the lights are magical. And yeah, this is our first Christmas with a full sized tree. And I don't remember what the number what number I'm on. But I've got two more. Josh and I went to breakfast. We just went out for breakfast on a Saturday morning because we were feeling pancakes. And we don't always get to do that because it was a Saturday morning where we didn't have anywhere to be in the first half of the day. We just slept in and then went and got breakfast. And lastly, I've been loving rehearsals for Christmas shows. The group that I sing with that I've talked about a few times the True Tone honeys we are actually singing with a symphony orchestra this Christmas season, which is a lot of heat, a lot of pressure not going to lie, but it is also super exciting. I've never sung Is that true? Yeah, no, well, not in a solo capacity. I've been in a chorus. But yeah, to be singing with an orchestra is going to be so fantastic. So the rehearsals have been consistent and just fun. We always have fun. And those are my my big little joys. And so I invite you to, to think of yours, maybe even some extra ones today. And maybe even share them with those around you. So lastly, I would love to leave you with some music after today. It's Christmas full on 24/7. I'm completely in it. And so I've already been listening to a playlist that Spotify made that I think they're right on the money with this one. I don't always love Christmas, pre made playlists because I anything after like 1965 I'm not interested, basically. And this is as old as it gets. This is a playlist called Christmas market. And it's full of Choral arrangements. Like we're talking about. King's College choir, we're talking about like Cambridge, we're talking about like big cathedrals. These are choirs that are doing the absolute most. And it's beautiful arrangements of old Christmas carols. Even ones that I hadn't even heard of something called Star Carol has anyone ever heard that? Well, it's in this playlist. And I really loved it. And so I listened to it a couple different times. It feels very Dickensian. And it's really the only holiday vibe that I want. So I'm gonna leave a link to that in the show notes if you'd like to check it out. Or you can just find it on Spotify. It's called Christmas market. It's been my absolute favorite. Alrighty, my friend, I hope that you have a lovely day, a fantastic week and a start to the season. As I said before, I'm going to be back every week this month or you know up until Christmas. So you can expect a new episode on November 30. And I'm excited I'm this is truly one of my favorite times of the year and I have the Christmas spirit early this year. And so I can't wait to share lots of fun ideas and so feel free to find me over on Instagram at Look at ANA on the keys A and N A. And there's underscores in between each word. I'm going to share lots of fun holiday happenings over there. And until next time, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, all of the things. I my baby and I will be back next week with a new episode. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Life on the brink. If you're enjoying these episodes, please feel free to leave a star rating or even better leave a review on Apple podcasts to help spread the word. For podcast show notes and extra inspirational posts throughout the week. Head to the blog at life on the brink dot live. And if you'd like a little extra dose of inspiration in your life, sign up for the monthly newsletter, which lights up your inbox the first Friday of each month. Thank you so much for listening. And until next time, friends you have a lovely week. Bye