Giving Thanks

I've always struggled to keep up with journal writing. My most successful one to date was written by my mother before I learned to read or write. Since then I've started a handful of them but they always manage to die out after a week or so...sometimes a day. Lack of motivation usually being the culprit for my slothfulness, I have realized I need to get it together and make this time around really mean something. I can't think of anything more meaningful than giving thanks for all this world has to offer. So this being Thanksgiving week, I've decided to publicly give thanks for the things I am grateful for.

These aren't in any order but I do want to begin with technology and the positive aspects it encompasses. I have a love/hate relationship with technology namely, computers and the Internet. I love what it enables us to do: connect with people thousands of miles away, easy access to a host of information with just a few keystrokes, and for the agoraphobic in me, to do a significant amount of my shopping and bill paying online, without confrontation or crowds. What I hate is when my access is limited to a computer at work with more blocked websites than accessible ones, and relying on the kindness of my neighbors hearts. So this is my excuse for writing only two entries in the month and a half that I started this blog- lack of Internet access. And again, it is my thanks for the technology in my life.

My mother sent me a text message a couple of days ago that said, "Just thinking ahead to Thanksgiving and hoping you are going to be with someone who loves you and that you eat plenty of food...I love you :)." I didn't tell her I would be spending the morning at work, but I did let her know that I will be surrounded by people I love very much. I am thankful for my family and friends, who care about me enough to be thinking about how I will be spending the holidays, and those who have opened their hearts and homes to me this past year.

I am thankful for the chance I have to be working at an extraordinary spa with a team I consider my second family (or would that be third, fourth?!)

I am thankful for my health, the ability to begin incorporating new options and ideas into my lifestyle, and I am so grateful for my gym buddy!

I am thankful for TJEd and the opportunity to educate myself and share my knowledge with others. I am on my fifth book of the classics listed for 13 year olds (my starting point for adults beginning TJEd) according to Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens and I am grateful for the opportunity to do so.

Again, I am thankful for having access to the Internet tonight, if only to prevent further embarrassment through yet another failed journal. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this one will be the winner, even if there are a few entries that don't have anything to do with TJEd.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Liberation Through Education

I'm nervous about this endeavor. My mother says that writing runs in the family. That's true. I have two books on my bookshelf written by my great grandfather, a third by his brother, and those only represent a small portion of books and stories my family has written or is in the process of writing. People have been telling my mom for years that she should write a book about her life. It's a pretty amazing one, but I think everyone has a story. She can just deliver. It's one of her greatest strengths- storytelling. I'm pretty good at it too. And we're both excellent teachers. I would consider both to be a part of our life purposes. 

But I'm diverging....this is about my mission in life. I have to do this. According to my mom, my mission is Educate the Ignorant, and so is hers. Neither of us like that word, "ignorant." It doesn't resonate well with either of us. So she made up her own mission, and I did too. The one that really felt right to me according to Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens was Liberate the Captive. The word "captive" to me was by way of thinking, and thus I discovered my mission: Liberation Through Education. I've finally found something worth putting my energy behind. That's a big part of what this is about. So far I've shared TJEd with three others and I don't plan on stopping any time soon. Three is not many, but it is a start, one that I am quite proud of...I didn't hear about Leadership Education until my mother brought it into her home a few years ago and my younger siblings, they're brilliant because of it. I'm 25 years old and I haven't even finished Thomas Jefferson Education For Teens. I've only completed Level 1 reading on one book in the Age 13 category of The Teen 100 Book List. But again, it's a start.

I've begun my education and now I have this- my story to share, to help me as I live my life purpose. It's just another tool, but one I hope will help me reach others in far away places, people I wouldn't otherwise be able to reach. I thank the universe for the internet. Today it has become a great accomplice in my journey and as long as I continue it will only get bigger and better. The knowledge I have yet to learn and then share will only grow as I continue my education and teaching, my life purpose, my mission of Liberation Through Education.