Gratitude Challenge A-Z
The A-Z writing challenge of things to be grateful for
From what I’ve read, it appears that a good editor friend of mine, Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles, started this challenge in honor of World Gratitude Day. I was tagged in it by Blogs by J and Shirley Laffa, among countless others. Sally Prag also wrote a great prompt on this as well. I’ve decided that I’m going to join in on the fun. I want to list out the many things in alphabetical order that I’m grateful for. I feel like it’s a good exercise to take stock of the good things that you have in your life. Without further ado, here’s my list.
A is for air conditioners — This is something that many other people take for granted. As someone who is living in a box truck converted into a tiny home with a little insulation, an air conditioner is definitely something to be appreciative of when it gets very hot in the summer.
B is for box truck — My box truck is my converted tiny home and gives me shelter. It also moves me to all the places I need to get to.
C is for the C-pap machine — The C-pap machine helps me breathe and sleep at night. Without it, I could die in my sleep and I definitely don’t want to do that.
D is for a debit card — The debit card not only allows me to spend my money when I need to. It also allows me to keep my money electronically instead of storing it myself as cash. That would be quite cumbersome.
E is for electricity — The generator provides the electricity to my house through wires and a battery charger with a ton of battery power. Electricity is key to surviving in my type of lifestyle
F is for friendship — I’ve met so many supportive readers and editors on the Medium platform. Many people that I’ve never met in real life have become close enough to be considered friends and I’m super grateful for that. I don’t have many IRL friends and it feels nice to be a part of a community.
G is for gayness — The fact that I’m gay hasn’t ever been that big of a deal for me. Now that I’m feeling more widely accepted than ever for just being myself, I feel more comfortable and grateful for not being as ostracized as if I had come out over 20 years ago when I graduated high school.
H is for the heater — Just like my air conditioner, my heater regulates the internal temperature of my box truck tiny home. We needed to use our diesel heater for the first time in six months the other day when it got down to 39 degrees F and we’re grateful to have it.
I is for ice cream — Ice cream is just a delight. It’s something we should all be grateful for unless you’re lactose intolerant. I love the frozen treat and just had some the other day.
J is for jicama — Jicama is a versatile, delicious food. I like putting it into salads and other fresh concoctions. I had another thing in mind to put in here but I didn’t want to be obscene. Use your imagination.
K is for kisses — My partner loves to give me warm, tender kisses and I’m definitely grateful for the hundreds, thousands, or millions that I’ve gotten over the last 8 1/2 years.
L is for laptop AND love — My laptop keeps me connected to the outside world and is essential for writing on my favorite platform, Medium. I couldn’t pick just one here and the obvious one here should’ve been love with my partner being with him for over 8 1/2 years. He’s definitely a motivating force to keep me going. Love is great.
M is for Medium — I’m so grateful for this wonderful platform. I’ve gotten to write so much and also connect with so many great people. I was also going to give an honorable mention to my mother here because I love her too. I’ll consider this a two-way tie but my mom already knows how much I love her and how grateful I am.
N is for numbers — I’m a huge numbers guy. I studied Math in college and love looking at and analyzing raw data. I’m so grateful for the physical representation of numbers. Plain and simple.
O is for October — October is probably my favorite month of the year. It’s a random autumn month but it is the perfect temperature in many parts of the world and I have yet to write a story in that month despite being here for over a year. Halloween is a fun holiday.
P is for pills — I’m grateful that the doctors have stayed on top of my diagnoses and have prescribed me the proper type of pills to keep me semi-functional or at least not dead. Pills are very helpful in managing many of my conditions.
Q is for quiche — For anyone who loves both eggs AND cheese, you can’t tell me that you don’t appreciate a good quiche. Quiche can be prepared in so many different ways and is an awesome meal.
R is for refrigerators — Yes, refrigerators. We have two now. We bought the other one the other day and we’ve been able to store so much more food in our tiny home. Refrigerators are great at keeping food fresh for much longer.
S is for sports — I’m a huge sports fan. I follow most of the major sports and write about them frequently. Sports have been a big part of my life since the late 1980s. I even attempted to play a few of them when I was healthier.
T is for taste — I love food. This is definitely apparent. I love that I have a great sense of taste. It allows me to try many different foods and enjoy them properly. The taste also carries over into other aspects of my life. I did snag my beautiful, scraggly partner after all. We definitely have had to have good taste there.
U is for umbrellas — They shield us from rain or snow. They are helpful in other inclement weather. It was a great invention for those of us who want to avoid bad weather.
V is for vaginas — Just kidding, I’m gay. Obviously, I choose violins over peace. I mean violins. Violins are the prettiest sounding musical instruments ever. Listen to some Lindsey Stirling and tell me I’m wrong.
W is for water — Water is the most essential thing for living. I’m so grateful whenever I’m living near a lot of it. I’m grateful that I moved out of California in a state that struggles to manage its water for citizens properly and is constantly in drought.
X is for X-Men — I grew up reading the comic books and watching the movies. The X-Men are definitely one of my favorite fictional characters. At one point, I wished that I was a mutant and that I could have superpowers.
Y is for yogurt — This wasn’t just reserved as a teasing nickname for my brother, Gilbert, growing up. I also loved to eat it. It’s an amazingly versatile dessert and is healthier for you than other sweet treats.
Z is for the zoo — I loved visiting the zoo and seeing all of the animals growing up. It was definitely always at the top of my list of favorite places to go on a field trip or just a family adventure. I lived in California near some large zoos. I’ve yet to see the world’s two largest in NYC and Columbus but I’d love to go there someday.
There are plenty more things that I could’ve listed here but for the sake of space and time, I shouldn’t have and didn’t include all of them. Of course, I love my family (at least some of them) and I love my partner who I already briefly describe in a few of these above but I wanted to give you a true A-Z of a list of the things that I wanted to share.
Now, I’m going to tag a few people below to join in on the fun.
Linda Ng, Carmellita, Sieran Lane, Jerry Dwyer, Darren Weir, JoAnn Ryan, Anne Bonfert, Adrienne Beaumont, Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages, Misswoolfwhowrote
