These are a few of my favorite things...

What I’m Thankful For

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Hi there 👋🏽

I always find myself in an extremely reflective mood in December - maybe because it is my birthday month and so I feel I always get a little older and wiser, maybe because here in the Northern Hemisphere the days become incredibly short and there is something about the clarity of thought that hits you when it is pitch dark outside or maybe like everyone else I too fall for the cognitive bias where I feel a change in the number at the end of the year signifies an opportunity for some sort of reset.

Usually I do a forward looking exercise - I reflect on the year gone by and undertake a visualization exercise (yes with OKRs and all) for the year that will start to unfold. While this has been helpful I also feel it has trapped me where I am always looking for the next mountain to climb - pushing myself to constantly keep running, harder and faster!

So this year I decided to change things a bit. Instead of undertaking a forward looking exercise I wanted to spend the last few weeks of 2022 just listing all the small little things I am incredibly grateful for. And basically just stop there - so that I can jump into 2023 knowing that the things that sparked the greatest joy in me are actually things that can be very easily found!

My hope is that going through the list makes you pause and think about the small little things that add incredible joy to your life. After all it is a Wonderful World!

Until we see each other next year,
Rashi

Photo by Vencislav Sharkov on Unsplash

These are a few of my favorite things…

1. On a very cold winter day sitting next to a window and letting the Sun touch your skin

2. The smell of coffee

3. Driving alone and singing loudly to my favorite song on the radio

4. Feeling my muscles breakdown after an intense workout

5. The first few drops of hot water that hit my body after a long day

6. Getting into bed with fresh clean sheets

7. Sitting in a warm bath with a book that completely pulls me in

8. Laughing with my daughter

9. Morning group cuddles that includes the entire family - husband, toddler and the dog!

10. Taking my dog on a long walk without his leash

11. Getting to know my parents as adults

12. Taking a nap in the sun

13. A Sunday with nowhere to go and nothing to do

14. A long hug

15. An unexpected call from my brother saying hello

16. The cold side of the pillow

17. Seeing my dog burst with happiness as I walk through the door

18. Wandering the library to find the next set of books to read

19. A glass of ice cold sparkling water with a lemon wedge

20. Resting my head on my husband’s chest and watching TV together

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📖 My private thoughts from my very public diary…

Rashi @rashi_kakkar

A book in hand is worth 40 in an app!

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🤓 Open tabs…

(I have modeled this section after those “open tabs” that we all have with a few (okay 30-40) interesting links that we promise we will eventually get to one day. These are the links that I had open for sometime that I finally got to …)

⭐Parents Seek More Support From Employers During School Holidays
The whole idea that working parents’ schedule and their children’s schedule needs to be in sync

⭐Failure is a Lousy Teacher
Scott Young (who by the way has been featured in Decks and Diapers) essay debunking the commonly held opinion that we learn more from failure than success.

⭐Does gratitude increase happiness?
According to the data Gratitude is correlated with happiness, but this doesn’t mean it’s causing happiness and it’s not clear if that statement even makes sense. When you look at gratitude exercises, they look good when compared to “negative” controls like listing all the ways your life is bad. But when compared to positive controls—basically anything that sounds good—the effects become pretty small

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I would love to hear from you, feedback is always welcome!

And if you happen to know an inspiring working parent who should be featured in a future edition (or if you yourself are one) - please do get in touch

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