List 5 things I am thankful for everyday

Crikey, I can hardly remember what I had for breakfast let alone all the things to be grateful for since I last posted. But I’ll have a go!

• Freecycling – to the max! I’ve got rid of soooo much stuff and it feels terrific. I’m carrying a lighter load and I’ve kept my rubbish out of landfill. Happy Days! Plus a lovely man gave me some chocolate biscuits as a thank-you – hooray!
• The previously mentioned choccie biccies – dunked in tea. Sometimes I dunk and suck off the chocolate. Other times I nibble it first and then I’m left with just biscuit to dunk. But it’s all good. Ooh er, that was starting to sound a bit dodgy. But hey, I’ll take my fun where I can find it!
• Finding a fabulous food coop – cheapish organic food and wonderful ethics. Plus nice friendly people to share a cuppa and a chat with. My friends think I’ve turned into a big hippie lately but the coop people exposed me as a newbie – they could out-hippie …. I don’t know, a very big hairy hippie. Maybe Ben 8 Jerry back in their day? Mmmm, ice cream…
• Managing to do the lotus pose – only for about a minute LOL! I found some yoga to help loosen me up a bit more and so I worked up to it. I used to be able to wrap my legs around my neck but somehow they don’t do that any more. Never mind, I’m back on a bendy path. I can barely walk today but no matter, tomorrow’s another day and I’ll try again.
• The lovely chat I had with a girl at one of the Buddhist centres I’ve visited. I’ve had mixed feelings about this particular centre. I think I had the assumption that all Buddhists will be just lovely but one guy was very rude and he put me off the place, silly I know. But this girl was so nice and made me look forward to my next visit.
• Getting a surge of energy that reminded me of my potential. Ok, so the energy has dissipated a bit, but I have the memory of feeling tippity-top! And that really does count for a lot.
• FINALLY getting the building society to send my correspondence to the right address! It’s only taken 9 months to sort out!
• Indulging in a little bit of YouTube. I have to share these links cos this one made me laugh my head off: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-x9ygQEGA – the good old 80s!
  And this second one was incredibly moving and beautiful, it’s about the occupation of Ukraine in WW2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo&feature=related
• Oh, and I nearly forgot! I raised €70 for the Madhav Ghimire Foundation by selling my old Sky box. Hooray! I really must learn to pronounce it for when I’m telling people about what they do. I must ask HG!

Ok, I can hardly remember as far back as this afternoon, let alone the beginning of the weekend but here goes!

• Going to a one-day mindfulness retreat. This was something new for me and I enjoyed it.
• Being able to give something to my sister despite her attempts not to accept it! I’m “poor” so she doesn’t like taking things from me but eventually I convinced her! The thing is, while it’s true I don’t have much money, I don’t feel poor and it makes me really happy to treat the people I care about when I can so she did me a favour.
• The feeling of climbing into a cosy bed when I was tired, stiff and cold – absolute bliss!
• Being “well-brought-up”. It sounds kind of snobby to say that but I don’t mean it that way. I was in a shop and the woman behind me was barging ahead and pushing into “my space” while I was paying. I didn’t mind but it made the sales assistant and other customers cross. The thing is, I don’t think she’d ever had anyone tell her as a child not to do that kind of thing. Her kids were climbing on other people’s trolleys and she was getting dirty looks and people were grumbling. I don’t mean to be patronising but I just don’t think she knew any better and I feel lucky that my Mum and Dad brought me up to behave myself – most of the time at least!
• A really sweet gesture from my ex. It reminded me how kind and lovable he is. I also noticed I was feeling sort of relieved that my love for him is benign and neutral rather than intense and passionate and I’m grateful for that too.

Today I’m grateful for:

• A full tummy :-)
• Coping with stress a bit better. The mindfulness meditation I’ve been doing really seems to help – I notice all those little symptoms like shallow breathing in time to stop myself from feeling too bad.
• Starting to use my pretty notebook. I’ve got better at not saving nice things for “special occasions”. I’m using it to jot down things that occur to me as being important. There isn’t very much in it yet as I haven’t figured out much so far! But I’ve written down that I’ve realised the purpose of my life is to be kind and help other people – that’s what makes me feel happy.
• Shiny fingernails – I’m cursed with lots of ridges on my nails but they’re lovely and smooth now after buffing them.
• The lovely view when I looked out the window: the almost full moon is bright and the trees looked striking silhouetted against it.

Today I’m grateful for:

• A little bit of quiet time sitting listening to podcasts in soft candlelight. It makes me feel so serene and still.
• The prettiness of frost on the grass, it’s like the elves have been out dusting glitter over the tips of everything in the garden.
• Being one of the lucky ones; I’m not hungry, thirsty, cold, wet or sick. I’m safe and I’m free. My worries are quite trivial compared to other people’s. And that’s largely an accident of birth.
• Being able to give another Kiva loan. I got some repayments today so I topped them up to give another loan. It feels so good to be able to help people who are working so hard to help themselves.
• Having people who care about me. I’m very lucky to have them.

• Collecting pine cones while I was out on walk. I have a nice pile of them on the hearth and I like how they’re all slightly different. I laughed when I saw some for sale – much nicer to collect them for free! I’m thinking I might put some “snow” on some of them for Christmas and display them in a homemade Christmassy papier mache bowl.
• Seeing a robin – he was perched in a holly bush and I wish I’d taken a picture as it would make a fantastic Christmas card! It was really quite beautiful.
• Having fun visiting a craft fair. I couldn’t afford to buy anything but I love looking at all the stuff. This time I found myself thinking “I could make that”! Of course mine wouldn’t be nearly as good but at least I’d have the fun of doing it myself. I saw a sea salt body scrub for €10 that I could make for about €1 or less even. And I might have a go at soap and candle making.
• More freecycling. I’ve got a lot of decluttering to do and I’m determined to keep the clutter out of landfill. Slowly but surely I’m getting rid of stuff. It gives me a great feeling to pass something on to someone who will get use out of it.
• The look of lots of my books lined up on a bookshelf. I recently moved this set of bookshelves downstairs into the sitting room, it had been gathering dust in the spare room (aka junk room). The books had all been in bags since one of my moves. There’s just something so nice about books on a shelf.

I’m not feeling terrific today but I’ll try to think of reasons to be grateful. I know they’re there, it’s just harder to think of them when I’m feeling off. I’m thankful for:

• My meditation practice. It’s been going well this week and it’s becoming an integral part of my life.
• Having a lovely evening planned including a “romantic” candlelit dinner for one, LOL! That sounds so pitiful but I like my own company I guess!
• The beautiful reds on the fading leaves of a beech tree outside.
• Swingacat for so many fabulous suggestions for raising money. Wow! What a pro!
• Having everything I need at the moment

Hmmmm, it’s not that I’m not grateful, I’m just having trouble thinking today! Right then, off the top of my head here’s what I’m grateful for:

• For finding a use for a very old egg at the back of the fridge. I hate waste but it was best before April! Eek! So I didn’t fancy eating it. It turns out that egg makes a very nice hair shampoo; the lecithin in it is an excellent emulsifier which gently removes the oil. And it conditions hair too. So I have nice soft clean hair and best of all, NO WASTE! Hurray for that!
• Getting just a teeny bit organised and listing a few items for sale/giveaway
• Booking onto my next retreat. I’m really looking forward to it – as much as I can look forward to anything that involves getting up at 4am on a dark, cold winter morning. I must be mad!
• Candlelight – it makes everything look beautiful and gives the sitting room a cosy glow.
• Paying extra off my loan. The balance is coming down slowly but surely!

Today I’m grateful for:

• My friends passing their exams – hurray!
• My lovely neighbour who always makes me feel I have someone watching out for me
• My wild garden – it’s overgrown but I love it! There’s so much beauty there.
• That the roof didn’t blow off last night even though it sounded like it would! I did hear that the roof blew off an apartment block elsewhere in my county though – hope the residents are ok.
• The people here who remind me how much love and goodness there is in the world. It makes me feel better to see people reaching out to try to help each other.

• Well today is just lovely and special because it’s Getmygrooveback’s birthday! I’m grateful she’s having a lovely day – she deserves it! I’m thankful she was born so the world gets the benefit of her unique combination of wit, talent, beauty and kindness.
• For the luxury of watching an old episode of Dynasty while the rain lashes on the window! It’s so funny watching old stuff like this and it’s undemanding entertainment. A big pot of tea and a fleece blanket completes my cosy comfort.
• For making some small progress on my Buddhist path. I’ve found some great resources that are helping me get to the heart of what’s important to me.
• Escaping the terrible flooding that has affected some parts of the country.
• Being able to freecycle some more stuff to a very lovely person. He saved some money, I freed up some more space without having to put more stuff in landfill and I met a lovely person into the bargain. Symbiosis in action!

My brain is a little sleepy still but let’s see what it can come up with!

• Enjoying some meditation sessions without judging myself. Sometimes I’m too hung up on whether I’m doing it right or wrong but just recently I seem to be accepting it for what it is and just going with the flow.
• Having a roof over my head. The weather is wild and stormy and my heart goes out to all the homeless people. I’m so lucky.
• Getting on better with my sister. It makes life so much easier.
• Good news that my friend’s Dad came through a small operation ok and is coming home from hospital.
• Waking up at a reasonable hour. I don’t like waking up late, even at the weekends, as I feel the day is half-over. So I’m enjoying a leisurely Sunday morning with a pot of tea – lovely!