Dear fellow ChronicBabes,
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The past couple weeks have been incredibly stressful here at ChronicBabe HQ. Family funerals in Texas and Arkansas. Record 100-degree days back-to-back. A family member becoming homeless. Intense deadlines piled on atop the next. Challenges in friendships. A close friend's baby spending days at the hospital. 

And then yesterday, my living room window unit air conditioner went south. Chugga chugga, whir, kathunk, oh no...out  - along with my electricity. As I trudged down the four flights of stairs to my basement to flip the electrical breaker, I started to host my own pity party.

And as I traveled those stairs five more times throughout the afternoon and early evening, things started to get ugly in my head. I broke down. I sobbed. I blasted Björk. I texted my boyfriend crazy messages. I hermited in my bedroom, where the air conditioner was also going on and off unpredictably. I sobbed some more. I decided my life was a complete disaster and I was a total failure.

In short, I lost my %$*&. Really lost it. 

Luckily, my patient boyfriend got here and calmed me down enough that I could eat dinner and breathe and reclaim perspective. I was finally able to relax. I stopped thinking I was a disaster who deserved to go without a.c. How much lower would I have gone if he hadn't made it over? Who knows - but I'm grateful that he did. 

Which brings me to today's short but sweet Goodie Bag message: say thanks. 

Just because we're sick and need help - lots of it, sometimes - doesn't mean we have to spend our days begging forgiveness and bowing down in gratitude for every assist. BUT we need to thank the people who help us.

Someone open a door for you? Say thanks. A friend cooked you dinner? Say thanks. The newspaper delivery person always makes sure your paper makes it onto your porch? Say thanks. See a military member coming home at the airport? Say thanks. Doctor give you some good advice? Say thanks. Sprinkle thanks like confetti. Like glitter. Like sprinkles on a cupcake. Fling it around.

Say thanks. Do it. It's so easy. So many people do so many good things for us every day, and many of them never ask for a thing in return. But you can give them something vitally important: gratitude. Especially when you have nothing left to give, gratitude still means a great deal. And just like we need help sometimes, the folks who love us and care for us need to know we care. Sometimes saying thanks is all it takes.

Thanks for reading today. Be AWAP. (As Well As Possible)!

XO,


Editrix Jenni

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