Giving thanks

AmeriCorps meetings are, generallyspeaking, a good time. Occurring weekly, the meetings happen on a Friday, which gives everyone the extra grace of having an added day off from their school site. Plus, as surely as the sun rises each morning, these meetings never start on-time, meaning I can snag up to an hour extra of snooze time before coming in to socialize a bit with fellow work friends. Booya.

Yet, on the other hand, Friday meetings are a sort of 'Potemkin village:' despite the altruistic facade, therein hides a gritty, often enervating underbelly of frustration to the purpose of these gatherings. Gratuitous disorganization, sporadic direction, inconsistent start times, and irrelevant trainings can plague a good gathering of AmeriCorps folks. The psychological toil experienced by the said underbelly of meetings can lead one to pound one's head into the table while loudly singing selections from a circus repertoire.

This past Friday, we had session two of what was a group therapy series led by a life coach. The purpose of having the life coach was to help all of us in the transition from AmeriCorps to 'real-life jobs' in the upcoming month. While I agreed that such a transition is difficult to sort out, I didn't agree that so much meeting time needed to be devoted towards picking out my life passion. Is it cynical to disagree completely with her assertion that the energy of the entire universe is positively behind every step that I take, thus I only need to think enough positive thoughts to improve my current situation? It seems like a dangerous cocktail of the health-wealth gospel (a theology increasing in popularity in many of our nation's megachurches) with a little New Age pop-psychology and white bourgeoisie social theory thrown in to rationalize it 'scientifically.'

Like a stale poppyseed bagel, the training wasn't that fun. But, rather than doing the circus-song-head-table bang as mentioned previously, I invented a new game. I call it the Turning Heads game. In this game, I would slowly turn my head as far as it would extend from right to left, similar to an oscillating fan. I would do all this while maintaining eye contact with the life coach lecture. What gave the game high stakes was that I was seated on the front row, and the fact that the life coach continuously looked me in the eye while giving her speech. The goals of the game: to not lose myself in laughter, to throw off the life coach's rhtyhm, and to prevent myself from succumbing to the circus-song-head-table bang. Good times, indeed.

But enough of my cleverly disguised complaining. Allow me to redeem this emo-themed post with what I found valuable from our lecturer's life coaching.

During the group session, she asked everyone to make a list of what we are thankful for. We had five minutes for this assignment.

I give to you what was a valuable exercise of being appreciative of the many gifts and blessings from God. I present to you my list, in order of how I listed them, verbatim. (Make note that this list is by no means sorted by significance...but you'll probably realize that as you read the list.)

• purpose in my life
• Victrola Coffee Roasters
• health
• a teaching job for next year
• the ability to hear
• having an apartment
• Kyrsten
• the YMCA
• the ability to walk and run
• a mild winter
• a functioning bike
• the ability to dream at night
• a supportive, encouraging upbringing
• public transportation
• a sense of humor
• Jason Sposeto
• Jason Sposeto's wealth of music knowledge
• sugar-free gum
• living a short distance from all immediate needs
• weekends off
• the students @ Meany Middle School
• Mars Hill Church and the community we've been involved with
• a high metabolism
• a refrigerator full of food
• fresh, clean drinking water
• a drivable car
• the Kyoto Protocol
• Obama's nomination
• CityTeam Ministries and their work in New Orleans
• the Agape Center
• People's Institute Northwest
• gel pens
• the ability to grow fresh basil in our apartment
• the loving favor of the in-laws
• Al Gore's work in spreading the scientific knowledge behind global warming
• somewhat of a musical ability
• the reassuring sense of safety at night
• a supportive AmeriCorps community
• Odwalla, Inc.
• a recovering, stronger lower back
• my friend Corey
• Blackhawk Church in Madison, WI
• Dave and Ellen Blust
• access to locally grown produce
• increasing dexterity with a frisbee
• God's grace
• safety and protection on our long hike out to Seattle
• the phrase "existential peripheral vision"

and, last but not least...

• friction

Honestly, this was a great exercise, one that I don't do enough. Maybe I can make it a habit to make a 'giving thanks' list more regularly. Even when life is in the doldrums, there is much to be thankful for.

So, all the hub-bub aside, I guess I should say thanks, Ms. Life Coach, for reminding me to stop being critical and start being more appreciative. Hey, this is a blog devoted to adventures in irony, is it not?