Abby's Gratitude Journal
I would like to start making my Gratitude Journal right here on 7 Cups. 
This will be an "open journal", so if anyone wants to read and reply, you can do so.
A dear listener friend of mine here made the suggestion to start a gratitude journal, and I really think it will be a great idea as well. 
It is important, especially when times get difficult, to count our blessings and be thankful for what we already have. For example ... I've had to deal with the hurt of having some who I thought would be close friends not only stop talking to me, but lie to me about it and lead me on to believe that they would begin taling to me again. So ... what do I do? I think about the true and genuine friends that I already have and I am thankful for them ... including the one who suggested that I start a gratitude journal. 
So, what am I thankful & grateful for today? Well ... it might not sound like much to be actually thankful for, but it was this morning at work when I had poured off some of the specimen from a primary tube into the wrong short sample cup for a shared specimen setup because I was rushing myself and didn't see that the short sample cup was not positioned next to the correct primary tube. I noticed my mistake relatively soon after, but not before some of the results autofiled ... meaning that I had to find the correct primary tube and then program the accession number it was to be shared with to run the tests for the correct sample, and then call the patient's floor and tell the doctor or nurse that I need to change the result in the cimputer. So ... WHY am I grateful for this when I had made a mistake that I'm not really proud of having made? Because I showed that I was not afraid to own up to it, make myself accountable for it, and do what I needed to do to rectify the mistake.
September 27, 2019
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September 28, 2019
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September 29, 2019
I went to church this morning and had a friend from church who also lives in my condo give me a ride home. 🙂 Also, it didnt take too long between the time I got back to Chicago and the time I would get teased about the Chicago Cubs being eliminated from the playoffs but thats what happens when my home neighborhood is on the south side. 😂 It was in good fun, so I had fun with it 🤣. I like that good natured ribbing. 😊
You know whats really weird? Ive talked with a few Chicago baseball fans who are also New York Yankees fans (?!) 🙄🤣🤣. Ive talked with THREE of them thus far ... Im still putting my thinking cap on over this one! 🤔🤣
September 30, 2019
I am thankful for the opportunity to have trained on a new electrophoresis analyzer in the lab today and had a nice dinner out after work. Some of the servers at this restaurant recognize me as a regular at this place, so I had some nice talkies with them this evening. 😊
In spite of my social anxiety, as long as I can find the motivation to get out of the house a little more, it is not so difficult for me to open up a little more. I am okay with going a little outside my comfort zone ... as long as I know I
October 2, 2019
First of all ... my dentist appointment went well 👍😊. Secondly, I had a nice coffee and waffles breakfast out afterwards 😋. Today also, and most importantly, I was chatting with a new listener friend whom I was able to help and support, as well. 👍🙂
It is an honor for me to be of help and support to someone here, regardless of status. 👍
October 3rd, 2019
Im thankful to have had a restful day today because I have to get back to working tomorrow. 😴
Ive just been basically taking it easy because its important to take care of myself in order to do my best at work. 👍
October 8, 2019
Today, I had to make a difficult decision and end the friendship with the person I attempted to help and be friends with a couple posts ago. I'm not gonna go into details about what happened that led to my decision, but I am thankful that I was ultimately able to make my decision with a clear mind.
As I was making my decision, I also realized the importance of the concept of self-care, especially with my grueling work schedule and at times, work environment. I realized that even when my heart is in the right place, and I truly wanted to help this person, support this person ... it was also taking an emotional toll on me. I was feeling drained and beginning to feel very depressed as well, which is not good when I'm working 10 hour workdays. 
Therefore ... we had to stop talking because I couldn't afford to keep going away from every chat in tears and feeling that no matter how hard I tried, I felt it would never be enough. Sometimes, letting go of a friendship or a relationship that has the potential to become a good friendship hurts, and is very painful 
but I also know that this pain that I'm going through now will not last forever ... it can't.
It's true that I am feeling in emotional pain now, but I know that it's gonna be all right in due time.
November 2, 2019
It
@AbbyHarris1976
It's so nice to see you posting again in the gratitude journal 😃. Am sorry with the recent tough times with friendships and new chats, but am sure you are gonna find good users here and chat with them and make friends. Hugs 💞😃
November 4, 2019
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November 8, 2019
First of all, I have four days off next week for my Dad to visit. 😀 Also, tomorrow morning, Im meeting with my social anxiety MeetUp group, organized by a good friend of mine, for a pancake breakfast 😋.
This friend of mine is originally from Guatemala, where my father also taught math back in the late 1950s ... and my father met him last year as well. 😊