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Normally, I kind of feel that big, public thank yous are ostentatious and, to be honest, more than a little cloying. But if you can work it into an article that actually talks about the idea of expressing gratitude in every day life, I guess it becomes a little more palatable.

Maybe the Beatles said it best: “I get by with a little help from my friends.” And lately, over the past few months, its my friends that I am truly not only thankful for, but thankful to (okay, that’s kind of a weird grammatical structure, but just run with it). The fact that these friends are also, for the most part, members of my coven, well, that’s icing on the cake, really.

Coming into the new year, I knew that I wanted to get in shape. Well, I knew that I wanted to lose weight. I wasn’t really certain that I could get into any other shape. However, here we are at the end of April (really, already?), and I cannot express just how amazed I am at the journey I have been on.

Yes, this seems a little more like self-gratitude than actually thanking anyone else, but I promise, I’m getting there. See, I wouldn’t have gotten this far without the help and support of my friend Jeff. He is my ‘Jedi Master’ and, while I know that a big part of any weight loss journey is the effort you put into it yourself, I can’t deny that having his presence on my side has also been a great help. In a way, he really is like an older brother, which isn’t something I really know anything about (I’m the oldest sibling in my family, so I kind of missed out on that dynamic). I’ve told him ‘thank you’ on more than one occasion, and, almost frustratingly, he mirrors it back to me. Well, I’m saying it here, Jeff, so I doubt you can mirror this one back: thank you. Thank you for, well, everything you have done, and are doing. I know that, beyond saying the words, the best way to show my gratitude is to make the most of what I have been given, and, well, that’s what I plan to do. I also owe a thank you to Jeff’s partner, Drew, who has been an amazing supporting player in all of this. I couldn’t ask for a better set of role models in this aspect of my life.

The other members of my coven, Brant, Kyle, and Shawn, have been amazing supports as well. Vain as it may seem, the times when they have commented on the changes they see in me have meant a lot, if for no other reason than it is added validation to what I already see. I’m also thankful to Brant because he provides the space for us to meet in, and possesses a generosity that I don’t think he fully appreciates in himself (though I think he is getting better at it). When it comes to expressing gratitude to him, it’s difficult, because I want to give back to him, and yet there is very little that feels adequate to what he has given.

It was Kyle’s desire to start the coven, so I will always be thankful to him for that. And I appreciate that, while he is the nominal leader of the group, he is also very understanding of the fact that we each have an individual path to follow. One thing that I think Kyle has taught me (that I don’t think he is aware of), is that I need to be more aware of my boundaries and limits. Sometimes you learn best by observing things in your friends, and watching as they are learning these things.

Shawn has quickly become one of my best friends (not that I am not friends with the others, I am, but he and I seem to socialize a bit more outside of meetings). We act as each other’s sounding boards, and on occasion offer advice to one another, if we feel it would be useful. The unspoken lesson from Shawn, which I am grateful for, is learning how to effectively balance an otherwise busy life. He manages to balance work, school, and running an organization, along with something of a personal life, which, at times, I still find daunting.

Growing up, you hear the phrase ‘don’t look the gift horse in the mouth.’ You’re not supposed to find fault with, or nitpick at the gifts that are given to you. What you don’t get with that adage is the fact that even gift horses need to be fed, and the easiest way to do that is through gratitude. We’ve lost sight of that art, as a society, so that it can be difficult to bring ourselves to even say ‘thank you.’ But that’s exactly what we need. The more gratitude we show, the more thanks we express, well, then there’s a whole lot more positive energy in the world.

To those of you out there, reading this: thank you. Thank you for letting me take the time to offer gratitude to some of the people in my life. Thank you for reading. Most of all, though, thank you for honoring the life you have chosen to live.