Gratitude

"Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow"

I don't think I'm an optimist by nature and especially given the crazy christmas season I think it's easy for me to become one of the whingy, whiny, baa hum bug christmas crabbies. So to try and overcome this I recently uploaded the gratitude journal application onto my iphone. It's been almost a fortnight now and I'm pleasantly surprise at how well I'm doing at taking the time and energy to reflect on the day and write in my journal. Each day I can 'rate' my day with a number of stars and it's interesting to look back over the two weeks and see which days are better than others. Life today is so busy, people are often rushing here, there & everywhere to do everything with everybody and to have everything and I know that I am somewhat guilty of falling into the same pit. This experience has made me sit and focus about the positive rather than the negatives of the day which, unfortunately, I feel is my more natural tendancy. I'm hoping to change that through my journal.

To me it's like little kids who get asked "what happened at school today?" and the predictable "nothing" answer. Previously, I'd rate my day as "ok" but not really take the effect to really sit and think about the events of the day and how these have made me feel. Now I am taking time out at the end of the day to just sit for a few minutes and really think about what has happened and how much I'm thankful for - it's often the little things like spending unexpected time with the kids, the man who gave me a thank you wave when I let him into the traffic, sitting outside in the evening and just sitting, the quiet of the house and the love of my children, I'm even thankful for the reminder that I need to be thankful as it gives me the opportunity to see exactly how much I have rather than haven't.

So to end this post I thought I'd share my journal for today....
... I'm thankful for the peace and quiet of the house when everyone is at school/daycare. Life seems just that much more peaceful and relaxed without the noise!!
... I'm thankful for the skills that I have which allowed me to finish Izaaks quilt today!
... I'm thankful for the huge smile on Charley's face when she saw me at the door to pick her up from FDC ;-)
... I'm thankful for my family who are all gathering at the park for pizza dinner tonight. I love having time & location which allows me and the kids to be close to the rest of my family
... I'm thankful for the excitement, frustration, laughter and joy that new relationships bring to my life

What are you thankful for today??