GRATITUDE & LOVE XOXO
We celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14th – we celebrate LOVE. I must admit I am not always cheery and full of love 365 days of the year. On those days when all is not going well and I want to just pull the covers over my head and stay in bed. I must remember to be grateful!
Melodie Beattie wrote:
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, and confusion into clarity… It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
This is one of the nicest thoughts on gratitude I have heard; I wanted to share it with you, as I think it is a state of being and can be achieved. I know when the business of life gathers around us, it can certainly be hard to practice this gratitude. But it is there for all of us to grasp and hold if we want it.
Wikipedia lists the benefits of gratitude as well:
“Grateful people are happier, less depressed, less stressed, and more satisfied with their lives and social relationships. A large body of recent work has suggested people who are more grateful have higher levels of well being. Grateful people also have higher levels of control over their environments, personal growth, purpose if life and self-acceptance.
I try to keep a gratitude journal and write in it on occasion. I hope to write in it more often, after researching all of the wonderful benefits. Here is what my list looks like today. I encourage you to try your own list, and reap the rewards of this simple practice in your daily living.
Nancy’s Gratitude List
- Meaghan & Noah (my kids)
- My Dog, having a nice walk with the “old boy”
- Enjoying some “Nancy time” watching (Mad Men).
- Reading my Book
- My Family / Friends
- My “Matt”
- My Health
- Warm Home
- My Paperwhites
- Feeling love for myself, and people in my life today
I think I will send my sweetie and kiddlets a gratitude list of all the things I am grateful for. I am going to make them big fancy red heart cards using my daughter’s construction paper and decorate it with glitter, hearts and fancy lace! (Shhh.. it is a secret, don’t tell them). As we celebrate the month of love one of my goals is to try and practice more gratitude in my life today. I think it starts with self-love first and then flows into giving and receiving more love to my family and friends. I am so grateful for all the blessings in my life today and hope you will be have a wonderful month filled with love, kindness and gratitude, (Oh…. and maybe a “Heart shaped Box of Chocolates).
Talk soon ~
Nancy
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