Friday, December 3, 2010

Travel & Thank: Day 12. Frustration and Gratitude

I made some calls to see what I could do about changing my return flight date – I’m really not ready to leave just yet and there is an option I would have gladly accepted. However, not everything is this easy when it comes to a certain familiar circumstance – something I will not be mentioning on the internet. Now this thing is exactly what got me upset, and the mood change is all the more striking taking into consideration how I’ve been failing to get upset lately.

While here, I’m beginning to think, I sort of created a “home” around me. It’s a new place, new everything, and I’m establishing my own “rules”, my own contacts, my own way of living. And this new world just works for me. I’ve always used to say that home was not a place, but a feeling, a person. Now I realize that this person might as well be yourself. Maybe when we’re in our more or less ideal surroundings we’re more inclined to be truer to ourselves, and that’s when we start feeling more comfortable and more at ease with both our inner and outer worlds - when we start feeling the sense of belonging, even if to our own selves, and that’s when the feeling of home plants its roots and starts to grow...

Lots of thoughts ran through my head from the first second of me getting upset up to the moment when I sat down to type the above. This sudden change in mood totally brought me back to reality and to the things I originally intended to think through while being here. What I know for sure now, is some of those things are now inevitable. And, surprisingly enough, seeing the inevitability of those things suddenly made me feel all the more confident and determined to succeed. Or, at the very least, to take action. That, I can be thankful for!

P.S. (4 hours later) You know what is inevitable? The power of gratitude is inevitable! Just when I found something good in my frustration and thanked for it, my whole day turned around and I had an absolutely fantastic end to it! Great food and amazing staff at one of the chicest spots here kept me dining out for almost 3 hours, and if the exceptional experience wasn’t enough in itself I got treated to a dessert that was on the house AND to a ride back to my place… Thank you, D. and M.!! And how can you not be thankful for being thankful in a situation like that? Gratitude is simply amazing, and it’s amazingly simple too. Wow.


Disclaimer: Travel & Thank™ is a mini-project within and is part of The ‘Thank You’ Project blog ©2009-2010. Travel & Thank™ updates are featured twice a week, are pre-written and not made in real time - each post was created during the author’s actual vacation in the mid-fall of 2010. For privacy reasons the names of the persons, places and geographical locations may have been shortened, abbreviated or changed and are not subject to disclosure.

18 comments:

  1. ..wooow ..that food looks so delicious ..and even the little summer sofa looks great so I can imagine the beautiful place you were dining ..

    ..oh yes , things can change from down to up quickly ..that is great that everything turned up great ..

    ReplyDelete
  2. It takes long for me to bounce back from a severe frustration. At times, no matter how I reason by myself, the frustrations can just be overwhelming. If the negativity is too strong against my power, I kneel down and pray. Once God starts to work for me, then I'd start to see the good out of bad experience.

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous, it used to take much longer for me! It's all different now :) Thank you for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I admire you for having such good vibes in you to overcome that kind of frustration....And for always seeing the glass half full :)

    Vacations don't always turn out the way we planned them...but what's the use of being in a slump when you're there, right?

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a great idea- making YOURSELF the constant in any situation sounds simple, but it's pretty profound, really. Nice one.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ahh, glad your day went better. :) I am still contemplating what I think the word Home means. You really can make anywhere your home depending on how you take advantage of the little moments you have. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. You just made me feel so much better - thank you for sharing such a beautiful post and story! So true, to always remember there's something we can be grateful for (and sometimes the universe will help you expand surprisingly on those feelings :).

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am glad that your day turned around - usually when I'm frustrated I'll be in that space all day!

    http://pagesixxx.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ooh, I didn't know you were still writing. Yay!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Julia!Its always great when the good vibes over power the not so good ones.Great to hear.Thanks for the visit today and have a nice weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  11. So glad that your day ended on such a great note. Amazing how true the saying about things happen but it's how we react to those things that make all the difference in the world. Thanks for the inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Julia, Julia...
    You're a contemporary Jedi, you know that!!!
    Coooool! :)

    PS (some minutes later): Love the picture MIAM MIAM !!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Good to know that you are mentally strong to overcome your frustration. Hope everything would work out at the end ... and, ah, the food/sea food looks divine!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. That food looks great! I'm glad to hear your day ended up turning around. It's nice to have something good at the end of a frustrating day.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Are you going to eat "all" that shrimp?

    ReplyDelete
  16. I swear sometimes you are a twin of my real-life friend, she thinks SO similarly to you!!! Anyway, I love the image here, I love as many pictures as I can get but I of course adore that little glimpse... looks chic and fabulous and I can only imagine the other surroundings. Also, you are very right about being at "home" where you're at home. It is more of a feeling than a physical place and I do think that being in your own company is often a great way to get to know yourself. You put it a lot more poignantly than I did. I'm glad the dining went well, a three hour experience sounds wonderful, especially if the experience was altogether radiant. Thank you for always reminding me to be grateful!

    ReplyDelete
  17. so very nice...


    and beautiful

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ahh, I love the power of gratitude and how sometimes it comes back to you instantly! You must have the best life ever with all your thankfulness :) xo

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate you taking the time to connect and share your thoughts, so thank you for your comment! And while you're at it... Why not tell me what you're thankful for today? ;-)