Friends - 7th Day of Gratitude

Grateful in April Website

Today has been one a little more difficult to find gratitude within.

As they say however, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water ... 

Or is the analogy I am after the one where I would take my bat and ball and go home declaring I no longer want to play?

Either way, I am sure I would be on my Pat Malone*.

Cue music from Beaches, the movie, "Wind Beneath My Wings".

Source

I have talked before about my amazing friends, some I have known for a relatively short time, like these ones, who shared my 50th with me and some I have known for a lifetime, like these ones, who are like sisters.

Today I had a very short interaction with one of my beautiful, lifelong friends, one who has seen her fair share of life at its best and at its worst, and yet, she is so strong, so selfless, so beautiful, so successful and such an inspiration, such a wonderful Mum and a magnificent role model to her two beautiful daughters. And she smiles all the time xo

Another thing I must make clear to you all, when I talk about the beauty of my wonderful friends, whilst I do find them all incredibly aesthetically pleasing, I am mainly referring to their "who they are"' and they all, are truly beautiful.

I have had "ugly" people in my life, so I KNOW how blessed I am.

But it is not simply having these people in my life, it is that they seem to just KNOW, when I need them. And today I needed that connection. Thank you V..., well, you know who you are.

And then, when I had actually finished writing this post, I received an email that warmed my heart, again, from one of my beautiful friends, who all have impeccable timing!

Thank you x 2!

So today, as cheesy and cliché as it may seem, I am grateful for my friends, all of them!

*Pat Malone, for my offshore friends = alone.

My Happy Ending well, I will let this picture do the talking ...



Sleep - 5th Day of Gratitude

Today's Grateful in April email that I received by subscribing here, talks about Vision Boards.  I have one, and have had one for a while and agree they are a great idea.

To find out more about that and much more on gratitude, you can go to the actual Grateful in April Website.

But for me, today, I am grateful for being able to have a nap when I really needed to.

In our house we have all been fighting off the flu or colds or just dealing with allergies. Whatever it is, I have been much more tired and finding a little nap some days just does the trick.

I know for some people, that sort of time out is a real luxury, and so, I am truly grateful for having the opportunity to be able to take the time I needed for a nap.

I slept somewhat like this

My Mother always used to say when I was sick, the only thing that really helped me get better, was sleep.  I guess she was right!

The bonus of today's post is that I have provided you all with something to be grateful for too.  I could have posted a photo of ME sleeping!

My Happy Ending is that we will all be restored to full health very soon.

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.  World Health Organization, 1948

Online Community - 3rd Day of Gratitude

To begin this post, I just want to reiterate "Grateful in April" is not my idea!

There is a website (Link Here) and an excerpt of that site below:

Grateful in April has been created by m.a.d.woman founder Melina Schamroth to encourage people to feel great about themselves no matter what circumstances they are facing. A social entrepreneur, speaker and author, Melina is known for innovative and creative ways of encouraging, inspiring and enabling people to make a positive difference to their community, environment and people in need.

I first stumbled upon the site last year, at a time in my life when I really needed something positive to hold on to each day, nothing in my own life seemed to be providing me with that.

Once I thought about the concept of gratitude, I started with the small stuff. Yes, it was difficult to simply be grateful for being alive, when some days I would have happily not woken up. It was hard to be grateful for the food on the table when I really had no energy to prepare or cook it. But that is the point, the little stuff, I had to see how lucky I was, REALLY was, to even have food to prepare, to have a bed to sleep in (or even expire in).

And THAT, is the benefit of gratitude. One baby step after another and it grows, so does something inside of you. In the end, I started this blog.  And as they say, the rest is history!

Although I still have days when I scream at the top of my lungs wonder "Why me?", I truly do try to look for just one thing each day, that I am grateful for and some days that is simply, I had the energy to get out of bed.

I do at times get side tracked and can go for days or even weeks at a time forgetting to focus on my gratitude, and that is why I decided to get back on the wagon and commit to the whole of April, and what better way to be accountable than to put it out there on my blog?

Just so you know, these posts are not sponsored or paid in anyway.  The only benefits I receive are the personal benefits I feel for my gratitude. So I suggest you try it too.

Today, I have had a good day, I caught up with a few friends and had a nice lunch with good company (Hi Pat *waves*), but the best part of today and the thing I feel most grateful for, is my online community.

You see yesterday, I posted my 2nd Gratitude post, but I also posted this one.  It is about a family in South Australia who are in need of some support, and in the hope of getting that support have written an open letter asking for it.  I basically copied that letter on my blog and distributed it via Facebook and Twitter and there has been such a heartfelt swell of support by people who also have helped to get the Fox family's story out that I cannot be more thankful. It lifts your spirit when a community comes together, particularly for such a good reason. Thank you to all those who have helped.

Source



So while we live in a time of perceived overuse and abuse of social media I am grateful for the community I have found and to them I am thankful for their support of fellow Australians.

Today, I am grateful for the support of strangers my online community!

My Happy Ending will be to actually meet some of my online community IRL over time.

Source

Water - 2nd Day of Gratitude

Today was a bland sort of a day.

Just the usual. Get up, shower, cup of coffee, feed kids, get them to school, home, more coffee, plan the day, washing, washing up and all the other bland stuff.

I took the time today to make myself a cappuccino (since we have a great machine that does all that stuff) and really sat down and enjoyed my coffee once I had arrived home from the school run.

I sat there planning my day, thinking about all the things I wanted to achieve and then wrote the list of the things I thought I would realistically get done.

One of the things I had planned was to write this post and as I scanned the old grey matter for a thought or memory that might jog a feeling of gratitude, it hit me like a Tsunami!

WATER!

Yes, I know you all know what a Tsunami is, that is not what I am saying about water.

What I am saying, is that I am grateful for water!

I live in a land girt by sea!

I can use water for recreational purposes!

I can wash my dishes, my clothes, my kids and myself in water that is fit to drink!

It certainly is a privilege I often forget is a blessing. I know I take our water for granted most of the time.

That, is why, today, I am grateful for water.

My Happy Ending would be that all communities were equally as blessed as I am, to have water on tap.

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. ~Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732







Education - 1st Day of Gratitude

Today being the first day of April, I was reminded of a fantastic campaign that I took part in last year on a small and personal level.

That was Grateful in April. The next link will tell you all about it and who the founder is and all the other great stuff that she does.  So click HERE to find out more.

In short however, it is a campaign that encourages people to be grateful! Simple huh? Wish I had thought of it!

So this year, I have decided to blog every day of April with a short mention of what I am most grateful for on that day.



Today, I am grateful for my Education.

I have never been to University, I have done a few minor Certificates at TAFE and I have a few others left unfinished for various reasons.

Despite my lack of "Formal Higher Education", I am lucky I have an Education at all, and for that, I am grateful.

Without it, I would not be writing this blog, I would not have the ability to advocate for my children, nor read to them at night.

I am truly grateful for my Education.

My Happy Ending will be when I go back to studying next year in the hope to obtain a Bachelor of Arts with Majors in Sociology and Psychology, no matter how long that takes!

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
Will Durant