There are days that I'm overwhelmed with appreciation for the everyday blessings that surround me.
Days when a tingle spreads from my brain to my heart and straight to my toes as I look around and realize that this is my life.
This. Is. My. Life.
Its messes, its beauty, its hard work, its connections. It's my very own.
And I believe that cultivating gratitude can transform not only how we view our (beautiful yet deeply imperfect) lives, but transforms our lives themselves.
Beginning today I will share with you seven things I am thankful for each week.
I'd love to have you join me in your own post or simply here in the comments.
Because taking just a moment to appreciate what we have can change everything. Will you join me?
Today I'm thankful for…
1. the sound of my kids playing outside as the day folds into the night;
2. a new rhythm carrying my family into the cooler days of autumn;
3. fresh paint helping slowly transform this little farmhouse – one room at a time;
4. learning to homebrew all over again (this time hard cider and mead);
5. dinner from the garden, night after night;
6. my new four-legged loves, Daphne and Pie our Nubian goat friends;
7. and you. Thank you for providing me a space in which to share the inner workings of my own heart. It means so much.
Link up to a post of your own in the comments, or simply leave your list there. I look forward to seeing what ordinary, extroidinary blessings you're counting today.
Love,
Rachel
Thanks for sharing and for the reminder. Today, this morning, I am grateful for:
1. Waking up. I’m a little tired, but I rose to see another day.
2. Listening to my 2 favorite guys sleep as I ready myself for work.
3. I am into my 2nd week of homeschool, thanks to the encouragement, advice, and ideas from many folks, especially you, Rachel.
4. My boyfriend/partner homeschooling my son while I’m at work.
5. My son is really enjoying school at home.
6. I’m able to spend more time with my family due to reducing my working hours, with the support of my supervisors.
7. I am well and healthy.
Blessings are all around us, aren’t they? So thankful just for the opportunity to be alive and seeing the tiny glories in my day-to-day existence! I’ll link up a post I wrote a few days ago, because it is all about getting back into the rhythm of writing down gratitudes : ) Thank you for your reminder to open our eyes!
http://giftsofgodsmercy.blogspot.com/2013/09/how-to-forget-your-one-word-and-then.html
I get that tingly thrill feel often, especially every single night as I am about to get into bed with baby, or giving my big girls a last silent kiss in the dark. And I wake up every morning happy. The in-between hours of the day are not always perfect, but I know that my life is good and full of love, and for that I am grateful.
So we’ll call that 3 things, and I will add a few more…
Grateful for my early morning hour or two of quiet, children still sound asleep. (Even though I have to rise at 5am to have it.) (It’s not even like I really want alone time, but there are things I need to get done…)
Grateful for the noises I hear as my big girls rise to join me in a new day.
Grateful for a baby who wakes up so happy and content every morning.
And this last one I am saying only cause it’s really truly true… I am grateful for you. You inspire and uplift, and give me lots of good things to think about. I rarely get to say hello here, but please know you are much appreciated.
Love and blessings to you,
Renee
I am grateful for so many things- it’s good to tune in and remind myself of all my blessings
1. these wonderful kid’s waking up beside me and being snuggling and wrestling at the same time
2. this delish latte I get to drink in bed under a heavy wool duvet
3. this lovely cool weather
4. my hard working husband who was out the door before light and will be back to deliver a kid to school
5. the possibility that the future holds
Thank you for reminding me to stop and pause and focus on all the good instead of waking up and dwelling on the “to do” list or all the bills that need to be paid!
ooh, I hope you share your experience with the hard cider/mead making… I’m intrigued and would love to try that myself if it proves to be reasonably easy.
I’ve been writing back and forth with a friend, who lives across the country, 3 things everyday that we are grateful for. It makes me appreciate even the times that are tough. At the end of the day I have become grateful for the lessons those moments teach me.
Thank you for those lovely thoughts. Would you please share the name of paint you chose? Thank you.
I am grateful for the reminder from this post.
So many things to be grateful for – seven of them can be found here – http://sheepish.typepad.com
Lovely! Thanks for sharing.
For our living room I chose “Bubble”. It’s the no VOC base from our local hardware store (True Value). Hope that helps somehow!
Such a great practice.
I will indeed! I’m using this book:
http://www.amazon.com/True-Brews-Craft-Fermented-Kombucha/dp/1607743388/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379468642&sr=8-1&keywords=cider+mead+book
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
Such a lovely list. And thank you for your kind words.
Throughout their short lives, I’ve had my children keep gratitude journals at different times to help them adjust their thinking. I suppose it’s time for me to keep my own gratitude journal.
http://www.freedomloversacademy.com/2013/09/gratitude.html
1. Family Devotion Time with my kids
2. Waking up to a beautiful baby boy jumping in his crib next to me
3. A much emptier laundry room, (I am almost caught up!)
4. Knowing that I am almost done with my antibiotics and will start to feel better soon.
5. BOGO deals at the grocery store(:
6. Anniversary dinners
7. 9 awesome years.
Thank you for this reminder, and the opportunity to share here. Let’s do this grateful thing! 😉
http://quillandcamera.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/finding-gratitude/
I have been keeping a gratitude journal for several months now. Most every morning I make sure to write down at least 10 things I am grateful for, and it has had such a positive impact on my life. I truly believe our thoughts become actions, so sometimes I am grateful for things I don’t yet have, and by letting the Universe know that I am grateful, they will eventually come to be. Here is my list from this morning…
I am grateful for:
1. Waking to the sounds of my 10 yo son fixing his breakfast and lunch for school.
2. A beautiful, sunny, crisp, fall day.
3. Soft water.
4. Love from my kitties.
5. Great weather for my first half marathon this weekend.
6. The Wednesday farmer’s market.
7. My new business and the opportunity to do what I love – helping others heal.
8. Ripening tomatoes in my garden.
9. My gallon of fermenting kraut that is almost ready to eat. (Yum!)
10. Listening to crickets as I lay awake at night.
An early night last night (1), complete with a good new spy thriller (2), and the first hot water bottle of the season (3). Realizing it’s time for the down duvet again (4). Really good coffee every morning (5). Getting by with leftovers for dinner (6)! The sound of magnet tiles clicking together and my little guy talking to himself as he plays with them (7). Thanks for reminding me to say thanks!
I love the picture of the dirty feet! It so screams an idyllic childhood. It so screams how necessary idle hands are.