One Year of Gratitude — Day 22

In less than two weeks we head to Louisiana. We’ll be there for two weeks visiting family. This has been a yearly end of summer event for the last two years? Why only the last two years? Work. Jobs can put the kibosh on travel. Three years ago, I decided I’d had enough of that. I decided I wanted to be in control of when I could take off and visit family and friends. So, I made myself marketable to companies who hire remote people.
Some folks think I’m lucky to work from home. True, there may have been some luck involved. But, working remote wasn’t random luck. It didn’t just land in my lap. It was a conscious choice I worked on for over a year. I took classes in the evenings. I learned more technical skills for work. I learned better interviewing techniques and practiced them a lot. I learned how to better craft my resume. It was a challenging year, but it was worth it. And now, I have that freedom and it feels like I’ve earned it.
There are countless people behind that successful year. Many of them have no idea they contributed to my goals. To them I am grateful. Many people took the time to provide me with the resources needed to make this transition. Someone researched. Someone developed a curriculum. Someone spent time filming the Youtube videos and writing the blog posts I learned from. Someone edited the books that contributed to my growth. Someone reviewed those books on Amazon and gave me reason to buy them. Some of these folks earned my money in return for their efforts. Some of them generously shared their secrets at no cost to me.
To all these people, thank you. Because of your efforts, I am able to work from my parent’s house without burning vacation time. We are able to visit with the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins we don’t see on a regular basis. Because of you, we have a new summer tradition.
And that’s your gratitude for today…
