Something new to be grateful for this year

      Life is the dancer and you are the dance.

                     - Eckhart Tolle 

I think I am very good about being appreciative of my life.

I often have a lot of time during the week while I'm alone and I just sit and reflect on how lucky I am to be me and to be alive.

I will continue to practice this state of mind.

But being grateful for the good things in your life isn't the whole way to look at Thanksgiving. It's also an opportunity to reflect on the bad things that have happened to you in the past year and how you can look at them as a chance to learn or take away something from them.

Aside from that, I have something new to be grateful for this year.

My job.

Everyday I walk into my office - the big beautiful building that is home to the thing that has inspired my ambition in life. Hint: it's black, white and red all over.

A newspaper.

Working at a newspaper has changed my life. For the better obviously. I get to learn more and more about it everyday; practice and perfect my tasks which I hope are preparing me for the next phase of my job. The next phase is coming soon.

And the people - working alongside seasoned people in the industry - including but not limited to award-winning reporters and editors has been a gift in itself.

And don't get me started about my two co-workers. They make work so much fun just talking and making jokes. I feel right at home with them. I love them so much.

The best part is the feeling I've been getting daily. It's a joyful feeling that makes me smile on the spot, on my way to work and on the way home. It's something I've been waiting for, for a very long time. Something to smile about everyday.

While I'm thankful for all of this, none of it would be possible without the support of my mom. From holding my hand during my first phone interview to driving me every day to and from the train station. I wouldn't be able to feel this way without her.

While I won't really go into how I've been trying to take the bad things that have happened to me this year on here because it's personal, I just wanted to make the point that it's possible and might make you feel better.

Happy Thanksgiving: cheers to a great rest of 2016.