Grateful Mindset

It has been a great year. I am grateful for many things and many people. Let me just recount a few. I will start with something small.
I am thankful for a stranger whose car I bumped on highway 101. It was a sunny afternoon during the typical busy commute hour. The traffic was stop-and-go. The CD I was listening just ended, so I was fiddling around to find the next one. Somehow, the next disc was particularly difficult to fish out of its container and I have to turn and look at the thing. Oh, well, that is when I hear a thump. I just realized that I have hit someone in front of me and it is definitely my fault for no watching the road. “Great,” I said to myself, “now I have to face an angry driver and be late for picking up the kids.” I sat that for a moment before getting out the car. It turned out that there was not any serious damage because the cars were moving very slow. When the lady driver came out of the car, I asked whether she was hurt. She answered “no.” She walked to the back of her car and looked at her back bumper. I asked her whether she needed my insurance information, she grinned and said, “forget about it.” “Huh, she is not angry, and she does not even want my insurance information. This is a lot better than I was expecting.” I thought to myself, and then said, “Are you sure?” She said that she was sure. What can I say? I was relieved to hear that. I smiled and said to her, “Thanks. You are so kind.” She got back in her car and drove away. In a minute, my mode went from dread to relief; I could not express how happy I felt about the outcome that I did not even remember to ask for her name. As I was driving home, I couldn’t help myself but to repeat the words “Thank you.”
At my work place, this has been a tough year because the funding for a number of projects has run out. This is not unique to our research group, because the overall funding level has gone down. The situation is that we will be forced to fire people if the situation does not improve. The organization I am in has a rule based on years of service – the newest staff is to be let go first. I was personally involved in working with three of the newest members in our group. I was clearly concerned. However, my manager was a few steps ahead of me on this matter. He has talked to these guys already and they have made plans way before I realized. It turned out that all three of them got decent jobs in universities. I am very happy that they all have good jobs and more importantly, I am grateful for a boss who plans.
The struggle to get additional funding for our group has been particularly difficult this year. I am aware of very contentious meetings that my group lead has to attend, and insidious underhanded moves against some of my colleagues. I am grateful that he is taking care of those issues so that I can continue to have a job. Thanks, boss.