A simple piece of advice I’m always giving you guys is to count your blessings—this practice has the power to make even the worst days feel alright and make the good days even better! But I don’t always follow this advice myself. Like you, I get caught up in daily stresses and my busy schedule and forgot to acknowledge just how good I really have it. Well, this weekend had a weird way of pulling me back down to Earth and saying “Taylor, snap out of it!”

Friday of last week I got frantic calls from my brothers and sisters saying that my dad was in the hospital. All we knew was that he had severe abdominal pain and couldn’t take it anymore so he drove himself to the E.R.—if you knew how strong my dad is and how reluctant he is to see a doctor, you’d understand how worrisome this is. So, I left work in a frantic and met my dad and siblings at the hospital. Luckily, he was released shortly upon diagnosis of a few minor issues. And then just as the pep in my step came back, my car broke down. Despite sitting inches away from speeding traffic for three hours, I’m okay and my car is okay (for the most part) now too. Moral of the story, you should never take your fortunes for granted—like having a healthy dad and a working car. And you should recognize them day in and day out. With that being said, here are 5 things I’m extremely grateful for today:

1) My amazing dad

 

My dad is the grand trifecta: he’s the strongest, funniest, kindest person I’ve ever met. And the cherry on top is that he’s supportive too! After his health scare this past weekend, I’m even more grateful to have him in my life and I know just how lucky I am to have such an awesome dad.

2) A running car

 

Luckily, my cousin was able to fix my car a few days after the whole fiasco—and he didn’t even charge me for the labor! I am tremendously thankful that my car didn’t turn out to be a goner and that she’s with me for at least (hopefully) another few years.

3) Free yummy donuts

 

So once a week at work, we get free donuts! Awesome, huh? Today they were glazed donuts as big as your face that had a very slight lemony taste to them. Mine tasted amazing and it gave me that boost I needed to make it to lunchtime.

4) My awesome alma mater

 

I might be a little biased…but Virginia Tech is the greatest school of all time, if you ask me. And I’m lucky enough to be returning this weekend for a legendary football game against Clemson! I can’t wait to be embraced by my Hokie family again and I will always be grateful for the supportive community that Tech fosters.

5) My fulfilling job

 

I’m so fortunate to not only have a job but thoroughly enjoy what I do each day. My coworkers are awesome, my boss is awesome, and spending my day writing is so totally awesome.