Gratitude Day

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Today was a Gratitude Day. I didn’t set out to have one, it just kind of developed over the day.

It started when I was making my morning coffee. About six months ago, friends asked me to be in charge of the coffee machine at a birthday party. One of them gave me lessons on the commercial machine I’d be using. I’ve been able to apply those lessons to my own coffee machine at home. Let me tell you how good my milk texturing is now….

Insert coffee

Obviously I didn’t take a photo of this morning’s coffee because I didn’t know I was going to post about it. I’ve just tried to make another coffee to get a photo. Predictably it wasn’t a good one. Just trust me, I know how to texture milk properly. Usually.

Every time I make a coffee, I think about how lucky I am to have had those lessons. This morning I decided that rather than just think my thanks, I would actually send them. So I shot off a message to my friend and thanked him for the accidental gift of better coffee he gave me.

Then I took my coffee up to my little she-shed and sat on my little handmade bench (I made it myself from an old bookcase) in the glorious winter sunshine and thought about just how lucky I am. I have a good home, a job I love, a happy and healthy family, amazing friends and so many opportunities to explore and grow.

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Tipped on its side, with a new back (top) and a coat of paint and voila, a dodgy bookcase turns into the perfect perch. I didn’t make the cushion. I could have but why bother if you can buy one that’s exactly the right size?

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Morning view

I can even find gratitude for my blood clot today. I’m about to embark on an activity that a blood clot would have made very challenging (more about that in a future post). Even though the blood clot meant I couldn’t run the marathon I planned to run, I still had the opportunity to participate in an event and walk an amazing road in beautiful weather and receive a shiny bit of bling at the end. The coming activity would have had no such alternative. So, I’m grateful for the timing.

Over the weekend, I fixed up some bills that had been generated from this particular health issue. I’m so very grateful for our universal healthcare and the fact that multiple tests and scans came to only a few hundred dollars out-of-pocket and not several thousand. I’m also grateful that I am on the mend because I have access to high quality medical care and life-saving drugs.

All of this good feeling inspired me to get some jobs done around my space that have been waiting to be completed for months. I attached some sheer material over the open roof ridge section of my ceiling to catch dust and leaves that blow in when the weather gets wild. I had to climb up and down a ladder. I’m grateful I didn’t fall off. (I have form.)

While I was up there, I attached some prayer flags I brought back from Nepal. I’m grateful to have the means to travel and for the eye-opening and perspective-enhancing opportunities that has given me.

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As with everything this Jack of All Trades does, the job is a bit dodgy but don’t the flags look nice?

I sealed up some gaps around the windows with silicon sealant. I’m grateful I’ll be snug and cosy over winter. I’m also grateful I didn’t get sealant all over myself or the floor. Because, you know, Jack of All Trades and all that.

I cleaned up, swept and washed the floor and cleaned the deck of the verandah. And gave thanks, as I have so many, many times, for this special space of my own.

Finally, on one of my trips to the hardware store (because when I have jobs to do, I never seem to manage to get what I need in one trip), I found some lovely purple and white pansies that would go perfectly in my planter boxes that have been sadly empty for months waiting for some replacement colour. I’m grateful I’ll have some pretty flowers to brighten the winter days ahead.

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Pay no attention to that mass of clover and other weeds around the shed. Let’s just say the landscaping is still a work-in-no-progress-yet.

I’m no saint and I can be a championship whinger and whiner so I don’t want you to think this is me all the time. Sometimes the events align and I can have a day when I see all the gifts. I’m grateful for that.

I hope you manage to find your own Gratitude Day.

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The afternoon view. I’ll never tire of it.

 

40 thoughts on “Gratitude Day”

  1. It is blowing a hooley here today so I am grateful that I have a roof over my head! Being able to texture milk right is a gift. I usually just add cream to my coffee – saves all the faff šŸ˜‰ Have a lovely week H. And enjoy that view.

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  3. You have an amazing life and cup of coffee, H. I can completely understand your gratitude for family, frinds and the she-shed.

    I started keeping a gratitude journal on Mother’s Day and have been diligent about keeping it up. Makes me think of good things every day instead of focusing on the not so good.

    You can plant flowers in winter? Really? I’m a little jealous…

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    • I’ve never been disciplined enough to keep a journal so kudos to you. I can see the benefits. There are days when it’s hard but to have a set time to sit and think about something good from the day would be a great exercise.

      Being botanically challenged I don’t actually understand how we can have flowers in winter but they were there so I planted them. (We also have veggies growing for winter – broccoli, onions and carrots at this stage.)

      And I was wearing a t-shirt today. Probably I should actually be worried about that environmentally-speaking but it was nice.

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  4. A great post. Sometimes it is nice to sit back and think of the things we should be grateful for. Some of it might be a result of hard work (your she-shed and bookcase bench)but isn’t it great to have the option to do it at all? I hope you have a wonderful week ahead šŸ™‚

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  5. It’s funny how some days gratitude seems to present itself much more willingly through gentle nudges. A lesson in why we just need to slow it down & pay a little attention to those little reminders we receive each & every day but often don’t pay attention to. The sun is shining brightly here today in my neck of the woods after way too much rain this spring! SO GRATEFUL!!!!

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  7. Percolated coffee is one of my first jobs in the morning . It is rather simple but an important ritual. Last night, in the dark,
    I took our worm farm up the road and onto the ‘nature strip’ for someone to find and use it. We are getting older and growing worms has lost its charm even though it was beneficial to our small garden. I am grateful I took that step. We want to simplify our lives.

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  9. As a fellow coffee drinker (flat white, so the texturing is important), totally understand your gratitude for a skill learned. Because I drink so little coffee these days, it acts as a daily gratitude prompt (good beans, delish organic milk …). I really should look up from that and consider all the other things I have to be grateful for. Good heating immediately springs to mind right now.

    And on a much more important note, I am very glad to know you’re on the mend.

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    • It’s helping me save money. If I’m out and about I might think about grabbing a coffee but then I figure I’ll just wait until I get home and make my own.

      Ooh yes, very grateful for heating and a warm bed lately.

      Thanks, Su. Feeling heaps better and hoping to resume some exercise after I see the haematologist tomorrow.

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  10. As Lynn said, some days it’s easier to feel gratitude than others … and on those precious days when I’m nursing what I think is the best cup of coffee in the whole world, it’s easy to smile at all the good fortune that’s come my way.

    … I do covet your she-shed though. It’s probably a sin but I confess it openly šŸ™‚

    I hope your week continues to grace you with little treasures that fill your gratitude bucket.

    Today is a rest day on our Newfoundland trip – of that I am grateful. We are in slow-mo this morning and will eventually spend our day walking around St John’s. Water St which runs along the harbour – is reported to be the oldest commercial street in North America, dating back to the 1500s. I continue to be amazed and charmed by this delightful island.

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    • The reason I wrote the “I’m not a saint” bit was because I was worried that people might think I’m a dippy hippy who dictates everyone should feel thankful every day. I mean, who does that? Some days are just shitty. But I wanted to acknowledge that on that particular day I could see all the small blessings. The sunny day definitely made it easier.

      I still pinch myself every day when I look into the backyard and see my she-shed or when I tuck myself away in there in peace and solitude like now. Still can’t believe it’s real. And mine.

      Rest days are good. Especially for co-traveller harmony. I think my Dad went to St John’s. I know he did a trip to the maritime provinces chasing some family history, definitely Nova Scotia, but St John’s rings a bell. I wish I could ask him about it.

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  12. Reading your post allowed me to reflect on the things that I am most grateful for. Sometimes its just the little things and everyday there are things and people to be grateful for. Today, I am grateful for waking up to once more live another day, to see the smiles on my children’s faces and to be able to write my story in this game called life. Thank you.

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    • Yes, it doesn’t have to be something momentous (like recovery from a blood clot) to make us recognise how fortunate we are. I find I am so lucky in a hundred little ways, just like you described. Thank you for your lovely comment.

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  13. Thanks for reminding me to write in my gratitude journal today. Some days I write scads of things; other days I’m either too busy or (rarely, but sometimes) too grumpy to be grateful. Which, of course, is exactly when I should be writing down something. SO MUCH to be grateful for. I’m glad you’re doing better and recovering and have good health coverage. I’m suffering from bad allergies and am grateful for this wonderful allergy specialist I saw this week, who is helping me breathe better. And I’m grateful for my GP who is an amazing Zen-like woman who listens, doesn’t just ‘prescribe.’ Oh, and I’m ALWAYS grateful for pansies – when I was a child, I told everyone my name was “PANSY.” They make me smile. As does your post.

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  14. Pingback: Better Than a Food Journal | Mary J Melange

  15. Hi – I’m visiting here via the recommendation from Mary to say “Hi”! I love your take on gratitude – oh, and, your love of purple! Hope your blot clot concerns resolve and you’re able to move about the way you wish. šŸ™‚

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