Day 12

Today I was grateful for:

1. Sleeping in
2. Thanksgiving dinner with family
3. Not needing to have any part of the Black Friday ugliness tomorrow
4. Nobody laughing at my burned attempt at sweet potatoes
5. Remembering to take some family photos this year

Something learned:

I used to think that it was important to sacrifice oneself for the other person of love was true. Ultimately, I learned that it was both unhealthy and unfair. Unhealthy because I was constantly in a state of disappointment, with the other person not even understanding the expectations that he was not meeting. Unfair because it is a huge responsibility to put upon someone else.

When I assumed responsibility for my own happiness, I became a happy person, one that attracted other happy, healthy souls. I think this is the heart of the idea that you need to love yourself before you can be in love. Sacrifice leads to resentment but giving for the sake of love is beautiful.

It reminds me of what they teach in First Responder classes. Ultimately, I needed to take care of myself first, then I can safely take care of others.

A hope:

Someday, I would like to get much more genealogical information about my family background. I don't quite know where to begin with all the migration and different languages in the history.