A lot to be grateful for

Yesterday was one of ‘those’ days; actually this whole week has been interesting.  Doing something new is always a bit daunting and I am used to being in control of everything.  For me, this last week, I have felt out of my depth a lot of the time resulting in me getting overwhelmed and then feeling sorry for myself. Yes bring out the violins! 😆

Anyway, enough of all the negativity, in order to turn things around a bit, I took a look at a friend’s blog where she too had had a ‘not so great’ day but had finally allowed gratefulness to overtake her.  This spoke to me as I began to realise that life was not all bad.  I then spent some time in the evening networking with a lot of new friends.  I got the chance to spend time with people I consider mentors and the persistent theme became thankfulness – recognition of just how blessed I was despite how tough I was finding things.  I also listened to an [amazon_link id=”1402784538″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]audio CD[/amazon_link] which talked about being full of faith and positivity.  By the end of the day, I felt empowered to change the thoughts I was allowing into my mind.

So here is a part of my list of things to be grateful for.

1. I am alive
2. I can walk – Having lived with my father who could not, I know how blessed I am to be able to get around on my own two feet.
3. I have a house to live in with more than enough space for me and my family – I have been amongst people who, though in a family of ten, share one room.  Just one room for living, sleeping, cooking, and maybe an outside toilet (if they were lucky- more likely a hole in the ground)
4. I live in the UK – I had wanted to do this for ages and now this has been my home for 15 years. I do sometimes think I will pinch myself and wake up in 1996 back in Nigeria, longing to leave, but imagine if that were true, I could do it all over even better so nothing to worry about in that respect.
5. I have the most amazing husband – Life could have turned out different without him.  I so would not do this any different even if I woke up in 1996.  I would find my way back to that bottom step in 1998 and make him love me again!
6. I have three amazing girls!   So so amazing!
7. My family is healthy.  They love me and I love them.
8. There is so much information around at this point in history.  Anything I want to learn, I can.  Anything I want to do, I can work towards it and do it.
9. We live in a global village – I can travel anywhere fairly hastily, I can communicate with anyone anywhere in the world on my computer!!!
10. I asked Tloml for more things to be grateful for and he said I still have my looks and I look as fine as the day he married me, if not finer – I suppose I should be grateful!
11. I have amazing, supportive friends
12. I am healthy
13. I can work and earn a decent wage if I needed to.
14. There is love and life all around me, just waiting for me to notice.

There are so many more reasons to be thankful and yet most of the time, I lose sight of it.  In the middle of trying days (or nights!), or fearful times when learning something new, I forget that the world around me is not as bleak as it can seem in my head.

One of the things a great friend suggested was taking the time each night to make a list of ten things I was grateful for in the passing day.  I think that is a great idea and I started yesterday.  Maybe that could help you?