Things I Am Thankful For

Us humans are funny creatures. So many of us seem programmed to look on the negative side of things… to see the grey cloud instead of the silver lining, the rain rather than the rainbow. I know I’ve been guilty of this on many an occasion (lord knows how many times my Dad has told me to stop seeing the glass as half empty!) but something has changed within me recently, and I am really finding myself feeling joyful at the most unexpected of moments. So much so that I’ve decided to put together a list of the things I am grateful for. 

Sunrises
12 months ago I really struggled to get out of bed when my alarm went off. But this winter I’ve remembered just how amazing it is to be alive, healthy and able to watch the beauty of a sunrise. If I time it just right, Lou and I end up in a local park just as the sun is really beginning to make itself known, and when that happens we just take a moment to sit and admire the view.

My morning and evening transit calls
OK so this probably seems a little crazy, but each day one of my family members will call me on the way to and/or from work, to help me fill in the time. My brother has been overseas on holidays for the last month, and before that my parents were away for about five weeks so I haven’t had a full Robinson contingent in a while. I’ve just got everyone back into rotation now, and am loving it!

Couch snuggles with Lou…
or any snuggles with Lou really. Because sometimes all you need is a warm puppy cuddled on your lap! On school nights I tend to go to bed pretty early, but when I’m staying in on the weekend I do love to settle on the couch with Lou and watch a movie.

Movement
Do you ever just stop and consider how lucky you are to have the ability to run/walk/swim/dance/crawl/move? It’s a pretty incredible gift and one we should never take for granted.

Coffee
So this one may not be quite so deep, but seriously. Coffee. I start looking forward to my morning coffee around 3pm the afternoon before. I try to have only one per day, and I savour every single sip.

My friends
I know I’ve been banging on about my friends for the past nine or ten months, but I really do consider myself incredibly lucky to be surrounded by a bunch of intelligent, funny, caring and compassionate people that I can be proud to call my friends.

‘Jess’ time
Right now it’s Saturday afternoon (hmmm, so now you know I wrote this over the weekend) and I’m sitting on my bed with music on and the breeze blowing in through the window. There is no place I would rather be.

Good books
I was such a bookworm when I was a kid and it has continued through to today. When I am in the middle of a good book I read every single spare minute I have … I’ve even been known to read as I walk to work. The only problem is that reading tends to come at the expense of everything else! One of my friends lent me ‘Ultramarathon Man’ by Dean Karnazes last week, and I’m struggling to put it down to do things like, you know, blogging…

OK there’s the first eight things I am grateful for. This is not an exhaustive list by any means – in fact I fully plan to add to this at regular intervals throughout the year. I think it’s a good place to start though … somewhere to go when I’m feeling a little down on things or I just need a little reminder of how lucky I am.

If you’re a bit of a glass half empty kinda gal/guy then maybe you should think about doing the same thing?

Let me know how you go!