On My Mind: Gratitude

I had hoped for a fruity-hued sunrise at 5am this morning, however I was met with grey skies and chilly winds - I stood in the courtyard for 10 minutes under-whelmed and disappointed, until the clouds thinned, just enough for peach coloured clouds to emerge for a few moments ~ it has made my day.

I am currently on a break from work, while renovations at the cafe are under-way, and my bosses take a well earned rest. Twenty days of unwinding, refocussing and preparing for the year ahead, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

My body has taken a beating in the past 12 months - physically, mentally and emotionally, and things have not been easy for my relationships either, especially between Sam and I. The usual concerns surrounding finances, careers, relationships, life in general have come thick and fast, often equally matched by some of the most joyous and rewarding experiences of our lives so far. We have our usual tiffs and screaming matches, usually reconciled by the realisation that we have driven the argument off on such a tangent that neither of us can clearly remember the instigator. We have had family struggles and heartache, lost friendships and felt betrayed - yet during our lowest moments, we continue to strive for the blessings within our lives.

In our first year of our Creative Arts degree, our acting lecturer 'played' a 'game' with us appropriately named Blessings, where each participant walked around the space, talking to no one in particular, about the blessings in their life. There was always the 'class clown' who listed his latest one-night-stand and the size of his, ahem...manhood, and the Gothic chick sulking in the corner, who repeated, every.damn.time, that she had no blessings in her life. However the majority of us could list numerous blessings, including family and friends, education, money, lifestyle, and so on.
I always thought of it as a pointless practice for 'our art', yet it's basic principle remains with me, years later - gratitude.

It's been during the slowness of the past week, forcing my body to relax and my mind to clear, that I have rediscovered the act of identifying blessings and discovering gratitude. We are living quietly and slowly at the moment, partly due to our desire for a simpler lifestyle and partly because we really can't be bothered with doing much else. Enjoying each others company, thoughtfully preparing wholesome meals, creating a comforting and rejuvenating environment for us to thrive in, has become much of our current lifestyle focus. We have so much to be grateful for - a comfortable lifestyle, the blessing of friendship, good health, successes and failures,  and especially Tig, Appa & Quinn, each other. We really are tremendously blessed.

This year is already looking to be full of change - new new beginnings, new goals, new jobs, new challenges. I am anxious and excited and a little fearful of the unknown, yet I am holding tight to this recent revelation - identifying blessings and discovering gratitude.