I almost forgot about my daily gratitude post! I am grateful that I have developed the ability to recognize my self worth. It’s not always been easy and sometimes I still slip up and find myself putting others first… Setting boundaries is difficult when you are naturally the type to help others whenever possible. This summer, I offered to petsit (and water her porch plants) for a friend for free for about a month while she tended to some family things (helping her mom through the loss of her partner) out of state. I was going through the loss of my stepdad, our house being torn apart, and my own struggles with those things, but I am a woman of my word and kept with it. After a month, this friend said she was staying another few weeks to a month and knowing what it is like preparing for the death of a loved one, I kindly offered to continue feeding the cat and watering the plants… then as we were going into the third month (mother’s partner had passed away a week prior), I reached out to see how much longer she’d need me to feed the cat and water the plants… she said it would be about 6 more weeks and advised me that I didn’t need to keep feeding the cat because it was a good hunter… um… WHAT?! I responded with an ‘ok!’ And set out to do what I do… I brought kitty home while also looking for a new home for her. With the coyotes around and cooler temps approaching, this little girl wouldn’t last long without food.
This also made me question the integrity of this ‘friend’. I started gathering information and learned she was not in fact helping her mother through the grieving process, but she was five hours away from her mother vacationing with a friend! Cat was rehomed to an adoring family, and I was able to move on and completely cut ties to that person. It made clear to me that I was just an opportunity to that person, never really a friend. As much as that realization hurt, it was easy to move on because I recognized I’d ignored my own gut feeling in the beginning of that friendship, and disregarded my own boundaries in the end.. enough of that, but yes - grateful for the ability to have stronger boundaries and self discipline than I used to in my 20s & 30s.
I started the day taking my boy on a ride to see his trainer - we start every Sunday this way <3… Then I came home and thought about starting the kitchen floor, but then decided I wanted to work on some new ornaments for the holiday markets…. I was on the phone with a friend while I was working, and totally left a step out, and the dozen ornaments I started yesterday will have to be totally sanded down tomorrow and started over… lesson learned. No distractions when working on my prints and various photo mounting projects. Another boundary setting reminder! The ornaments below are from last year, and the ones I am currently working on are a rougher cut of wood that requires a bit of filling and sanding before the photos can be added.. I’ll share a peek into that process tomorrow!
Last night Christian and I watched the new David Fincher film ‘The Killer’, and it was so great. Michael Fassbender. ‘Nuff said.
It’s late, it’s chilly, and I’m under a heap of covers ready for a dreamy night of sleep…
Monday means orders get shipped, but I also have to redo all the ornaments I messed up yesterday - :o
xoxo
-s
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