Thank You!

Double Rainbow Across the Field

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” — Albert Schweitzer

I woke this morning feeling grumpy and went down stairs to have my breakfast. My husband asked how I was and then he wondered if he’d done anything to upset me? Well, at that stage I could have written a shopping list, but I knew that none of that was the real reason for my grumpiness.

Later when I was feeling less sorry for myself, I read an article in a magazine “When life seems at its worse and everything is going wrong find at least one thing which you can be thankful for.”

I could give a catalogue of negatives, so just one thing to be grateful should not be impossible? It wasn’t long before I realised how much I truly had to be grateful for as the list of positives grew. It is easy to become focused on what is wrong with our lives; all the woes, the fears, the difficulties can loom large and blot out the rest of the stuff.

Research suggests that we remember negative events, negative emotions, more readily than positive ones. I am sure there is a lot of truth in this. At one stage in my life when I was suffering from a bleak patch I bought a diary and decided that I would only write in it the events, the people, the interactions which were positive and enjoyable, so that if a ‘black day’ descended I could read the diary and remember that my ‘feelings’ were not the whole truth. Similarly some people have a box or jar with small pieces of paper beside it so that they can write down all the good and kind things which have happened that day. It can then be read at a later stage as a reminder.

This blog is part of my journey to develop and flex my “gratitude muscle”. Muscles decline in strength when they don’t get used.

Today: I wanted to start by saying ‘thank you’ to all my friends and family for all the love, care, kindness and encouragement you have shown to me over the years. Especially to those who have helped to rekindle the ‘spark’ within and made my soul sing.

You can donate via Justgiving - see the link on the top right hand side - one for Invest in ME and one for Macmillan Cancer Support.

There are also links to the the two charities.

I invite you to join me. Who or what are you thankful for today?