Optimism & Fortitude...

    Before the world was big it was really, really tiny. What I mean by that is when I was a child, I had absolutely no clue just how big the world was. All I knew is I had a safe, warm place to lay my head, always and I had parents who never let me want or need for anything. My entire life, they’ve always given me the world and they never let me see them struggle. I know with four kids and two full time jobs, they struggled. But they never, ever let us see it. By any standard, I have two of the most supportive, loving and hardworking parents that anyone could ask for. 

 

    What I am realizing now, as an adult is just how much my parents protected me. Everything they did for me; all that they taught me and instilled in me. The core values that I was brought up knowing differs so much from others. 

 

We were just discussing how, even though I have mad social anxiety, I will still walk into a room and greet every person in it. (you know as long as I know them and I’m not just walking into Sams Club... I’m friendly, not a weirdo...sort of!😅😬) Whereas others just say hello to one, maybe two and wait for the other people to say something to them first. I am the complete opposite.

 

     I was also raised to show the same kindness to a janitor as I would a CEO. Everyone deserves EQUAL respect! We we’re never better than anyone else, we were just a unit and our unit stuck together through thick and thin.

 

    I was shown at a young age that there is good in every situation as long as you’re willing to look for it. Optimism and fortitude. 

 

    Obviously, throughout the years, we all grew up and went on to live our own seperate lives, but we’re still a unit... just one that gets together as often as we can and takes as many family vacations as circumstances would allow. 

 

    I am thankful, I know that others were not nearly as lucky as I was growing up. My sister Carly for example. I am going to get really weird for a second, weird because this is 1000% not how I view her or introduce her, she is my 100% sister, not my adopted, not my half, not my anything, she’s my sister. 

 

    Ten years ago, my then new friend was stuck in a living situation with her birth parents where she was physically and mentally abused. Mom and dad were constantly fighting and being physically and mentally abusive towards each other. Carly literally slept in a pantry..... can anyone say, real life Harry Potter?! A year or so passed and her life just became increasingly worse as far as her home life went. She came over to my house whenever she could and I often times would hide her in my bathroom shower at night when my parents thought she’d gone home (not that they would have really care, but they didn’t know the extent of her home life either)  Anyway, long story short, she’s a Hill now. In six years she will have been a HILL longer than she’s been a Thayer... how crazy is that?! My parents adopted her into the family and she’s been here for ten years; it feels like she was always apart of the family. Everyone in my immediate family welcomed her with open arms. 

 

 

    The point of that story wasn’t to say, hey I have an “adopted” sister, it was to say, HEY my parents taught me SO much about love and GRACE. And they’re all things that dawn on me during my everyday living. I was in a fog before and couldn’t see all of the things that were given to me by my parents. Not physical things but emotional, wellness and mindfulness that was instilled in me. I am the wealthiest I have ever been; not financially but mentally. 

 

    Today I was able to reflect on how grateful I am and how much I’ve been afforded in this life. I know I have the power to be more optimistic and I have the fortitude to press on. I only hope that I can pass on some of the wealth to my nieces and nephews and of course my future children. (Birth or adopted; all would be a blessing!)

 

 

 

Be thankful for all your blessings.

Be kind to others and show them grace.

Be yourself and don’t let anyone change you, unless you want to change.

Be mindful of everything.

Be GRATEFUL. 

 

 

XOXO