Category: month of gratitude

A Month of Gratitude 2024: Day 2

Hello there! Another Monday done and dusted. Only four more in the year to go. That means there is still time to knock any outstanding 2024 goals out of the park or you have to reflect on what was and plan for what will be in 2025. So what put a smile on my face today?

Two Things I Am Grateful For and One Source of Joy

  1. Today, I am grateful for the teams I work with. No matter what the day brings, there is always time and space for a joke or a bit of silliness. A number of my colleagues have moved to the UK over the past year or two, and one of the most difficult adjustments they have faced has been the lack of connection with people at work. Some people don’t even know the name of the person sitting opposite them. So yes, I am very grateful for the teams I work with. They know my name and a little something about me and vice versa.
  2. I love starting the work week at home. We work hybrid, so I work from home two days a week. It means that as an introvert, I can enjoy the people I work with and have pockets of alone time to regenerate my energy throughout the day.
  3. One source of joy today was enjoying a cup of coffee in my little garden in the middle of the day. Although it was overcast, it didn’t stop the birds and insects from doing their thing. I love those moments. There is a whole world going on in my garden, and I am in awe of it.

On that note, I will leave you with a short quote from Karl Barth about the connection between gratitude and joy. They are inseparable.

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Thanks for popping by. Let me know what made your day today in the comments or drop me a link to your gratitude post.

Bye for now!🌼

A Month of Gratitude 2024: Day 1

Welcome December! It’s been a very long minute since I last wrote. Work, in particular, has been crazy. It is the 1st day of December, though, and, as I do every year, I will spend this month focusing on being grateful for all the good in my life. As always I hope it inspires you to do the same so that you end the year on a high note.

Three Things I am Grateful for

  1. Today, I want to acknowledge that this year has been extremely challenging in more ways than one. I ran two teams at work and, of course, at home, I have been parenting a sixteen-year-old. The stress of it all has impacted my health somewhat, which stressed me even further. The good news is that, despite the challenges on every front, I am still standing. I am so grateful for this. God has been good to me.
  2. I have gained new skills as a manager and a leader. I have also gained a new understanding of social media and how things work through leading my agile squad. I have learned that although things change, there are some things that do stay the same.
  3. I am so thrilled and grateful to be writing again, even though this will be a short post. I have missed it.
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I hope you had a great start to December! If not, never fear. I bet there is at least one moment in the day that made you smile. Hold on to that.

Thank you for popping by. I hope you will join me again tomorrow and start your own month of gratitude. posts. Please leave a link in the comments. I would love to read your posts.

Bye for now!

Love is the Truest Form of Grace in my Life

That line is Day 12’s centring thought in Deepak Chopra’s “Manifesting Grace through Gratitude” meditation programme. The programme is free and has been running throughout December. Each time I repeat that line, it brings me such peace.


I have been contemplating it, and it has made me think of how revitalising closed doors can be. I didn’t expect it to lead me to revisit closed doors, but it did. Perhaps it’s because I read about forgiveness in Marianne Williamson’s “A Return to Love” this morning. In it, she says that the Course says: To forgive is merely to remember only the loving thoughts you gave in the past and those that were given to you. All the rest must be forgotten.” It makes sense if you remember that forgiveness is a quest to return to a state of inner peace. This passage has been rolling around in my subconscious the whole day, and then this evening, I came across Deepak’s line.


According to the Christian religion, Grace is the unmerited favour of God. God would not give us Grace if He hadn’t already seen past all our perceived wrongs. He only shows love and understanding. So, to know that I live surrounded by God’s love every second of every day, no matter what I do and how many mistakes I make in life, makes me feel whole and complete. What more can I possibly ask for. And if I have such complete love, then so does everyone else, so who I am, to hold grudges against people and cause myself unnecessary stress, anger and drama. Peace only comes through seeing past people’s mistakes.

Photo by Taryn Elliott on Pexels.com


OK, Michelle, what does this have to do with closed doors? Well, while contemplating the thought, I realised that I would be in the space that I am today, mentally and spiritually, if some doors had not been closed to me. When some doors closed, I initially focused on the closed door. It hurt. As time went on, I focused on my spiritual growth. I realised that God was giving me space to learn to love myself, to see myself as the whole and fantastic human being that I am, and to find peace and thrive. Now that I understand who I am, it is much easier to let go of the anger and disappointment I might feel towards someone who caused a door to close on me, closed the door themselves, or I had to close it too, and thank them instead. This goes for me as well. If God can love me as I am, with all my faults, who am I to judge myself. Besides, how would I have learned anything if I hadn’t made any mistakes?


So here I am…filled with and surrounded by love and Grace, which gives me a sense of peace. What has your experience of grace and forgiveness being?

Hope that made sense to you. Thanks for popping by. Be blessed.