My Blog

Gratitude

16th January, 2019

So many of my blogs to date have been about struggling and getting through, but I am not always miserable and dealing with how difficult life is. Today I want to write about gratitude. It’s not a new concept, but it is one that that i thing gets forgotten about very easily. And interestingly enough I find it is the people who have less than me that remind me that I need to be grateful for what I have. It’s all too easy on some days to think about what we don’t have.

Today I am thankful for my family (yes even the warring parts), but in particular my younger son, who gives me joy on a daily basis, and a reason to wake every morning. I am grateful for my other children as well I am greaful that I have love in my life, even  though they are distant from me at the moment, but I feel their love. I am grateful that this month I have paid my bills, that I have food in the cupboards and fridge. I have good friends, not many but those I do have are good, and I appreciate spending time with them. I appreciate that I am generally healthy, that I managed to get up and walk to the store this morning and buy food. I am grateful for Digby, my very naughty dog, who joined me on my walk this morning and in return showed me so much love and gratitude just for the pleasure of my company and the opportunity to explore the outside (reading his weemails). This morning, I am also feeling gratitude the our struggling British Government rejected the Brexit deal, controversial as this might be.

Confucius said “everything has beauty, but not everyone can see it”

How do we find time in our daily lives to stop and think about what we have and find gratatitude for it? It’s so hard when there seems more and more stuff to do, never enough time, and yet somehow so many of us seem dissatisfied with out lives. We strive towards the things we don’t have rather than find time for the things we do have.

As I write this, I think of my evening last night. My son was off sick from school yesterday, but felt better in the evening. As he had been in bed all day resting, I encouraged him into the kitchen to cook with me. This little interaction turned into the most pleasant part of my day. Instead of cooking together, I taught Eli to make Spaghetti Bolognese from scratch. We spent over an hour together chopping onions, celery etc, frying meat, adding tomatoes and herbs. We talked about the difference between Olive Oil and extra virgin Olive oil, and which one we use in this recipe and why. The task itself took more time than it would have taken me alone, but the experience of sharing my knowledge with Eli, the joy I got from seeing him feel proud of himself in cooking a meal from scratch was just the most wonderful feeling. We ate our food together and last night I think we both went to bed feeling gratitude for our lives, and the life we share together.