Parts one, two and three. Social media is full of
thankfulness. 30 days of gratitude; 10 things I'm grateful for ... I'm
much better at grumpiness. Like a hippo, I wake up grumpy; grump my way
through the day and grump myself to sleep. But numerous studies have found that giving thanks
makes us more content, improves mental and physical health and generally does
us good.
So, in no particular order, are the things that I'm grateful for this month:
Home comforts. Working central heating;
constant hot water; a comfy bed. Bliss!
Which leads me onto slippers. Yes really! Slippers.
Our house has wooden floors. Easy to clean, beautiful to look at
but cold on the feet. I don't do cold. Well, not if I can help it.
The ideal slippers are warm and cosy but sturdy enough to nip outside in
occasionally to put things in recycling. And don’t make you look like your
granny.
That dry January is, at the time of writing, nearly over.
Rev T and I do this each year. Not that we're big drinkers, but
it's a useful discipline. There's nothing like giving something up to
make you appreciate its good qualities. A glass of wine with friends and
family over a meal is a wonderful thing. Some of the scenes you see at
chucking out time on a Saturday, maybe not so much. Pastoral ministry has
also made us grateful that drink is something we can take or leave.
A hand in mine. She may be messy and stubborn
but she's still my bubs. Every so often the Tubblet decides she's not too grown
up to to hold my hand.
Trains. My trains have been so dysfunctional
recently they've got their own hashtag on Twitter.
#farringtontrains. You don't appreciate the joy of stepping on a train
and getting exactly where you want to go within a reasonable time until the
same thing takes you 2 hours and makes you feel like you're staring in your own
version of Trains,
Planes and Automobiles.
My other half. He may have his funny
little ways - insisting the house is kept tidy; that chores come
before fun etc but he is the foundation that everything else rests on.
My job. People are great, the work is
interesting, the office politics irritating beyond belief. But it keeps
the wolf from the door.
That we have enough. We're not
multimillionaires, but, provided we're careful, we have enough for everything
we need, plus a little of what we want. Something that isn't true of
everyone - sadly. Our church has opened in food bank in collaboration
with other local churches and I helped for the first time last week.
Are you giving the gratitude thing a go? What are you
grateful for?
This is a great list and such a brilliant exercise to do. I've written a similarly thankful post today, mainly to get myself out of the grumps as you so eloquently put it! We do have so much to be thankful for, don't we?
ReplyDeleteWe do! Writing it down makes you realise. Thank you for commenting
Delete