Tag: grateful

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” —Aesop

Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope that you all had a good day today whether you chose to share it with loved ones or celebrated the birth of Christ on your own.  

I spent time with my different loved ones as the day progressed and returned home alone to enjoy my own company for the rest of the evening (every extreme introvert’s dream 😁). The highlight of my day was spending time with some of my nephews.  We hadn’t seen them in about three or four years and were only with them for a few hours.  It was so great to hug them hello, hear their voices, and just be in their presence.  They have grown so much, but they are still the same people, and that was great to see.  I am so grateful that we got to spend some time with them.  Those few hours were enough.  

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I am also grateful that we were all able to travel safely.  I am incredibly grateful to my brother-in-law, who went out of his way to ensure that my dad still got to spend the day with us despite his car breaking down pretty far out of town.  He made it possible for my father to spend time with his grandchildren, which is what he was looking forward to most. When they were younger,  my dad would take them for walks and play with them.  Now that they are older, he is content to just be in their presence. I don’t think he has much of a choice, though, as they tend to be glued to their screens. 

All in all, it was a good day.  I feel very blessed to have shared another Christmas with my loved ones.  

How was your day?  How do you celebrate Christmas?  Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

When Life Happens, We Create New Traditions

Day 24 and another Christmas Eve rolls around.  As a kid, this was the most magical night of the year.  It’s 22:50 as I write this.  We would have all been in church now, and we would have opened our gifts as soon as we got home.  But she is not here anymore, and those traditions are now relegated to the happy memory box.   

We do have a new tradition, though.  Being with family is still the most important part of our Christmas.  We gather at my sister’s house.   Her husband does most of the cooking.  He makes a mean curry, and his gammon is delicious!  My contribution this year is the beef tongue, which no one will eat as it is too salty, and the dessert. The day is filled with love and laughter, and that is all we can ask for, so this is what I am most grateful for today.  I am really looking forward to tomorrow.  

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Having to change our traditions after losing a loved one is a reminder that we have a presence and we take up space.  I used to think that it was so sad how we just go on with our lives after someone’s death.  We don’t really, though.  We have to find ways to live without that person.  The person and their role in your life can never be replaced.  The thought of it makes me realise how valuable and unique we are, and that is definitely something to be grateful for.  

I am going to keep it short and sweet tonight.  Thanks for popping by.  

Let me know in the comments what your special Christmas memories or traditions are and why.  

Have a wonderful Christmas! Bye for now

“A year from now, you will wish you had started today.”  – Karen Lamb

Hello there.  With the end of the year rushing towards us, it feels like it is time to start taking stock of the year that was and planning for the year to come.  One of the exercises that works for me is to ask myself what success will look like at the end of the year.    I am a firm believe in “doing the hard stuff because the time will pass anyway.”

My fifty-second birthday is in just over two weeks. (That number doesn’t look so daunting when you write it out. 😅). When I turned fifty, I said this would be my best decade yet, and I still believe it.  This year, I stepped out of my shell in an attempt to set myself up for my future.  Now, I need to make the most of the new skills and experiences that I have acquired. I also decided where I wanted to be by next April.  I am so surprised to see that opportunities are popping up that can enable the materialisation of those goals.  I shouldn’t be because I know that God has my back, but I can’t help it.   It’s so amazing.

In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear advises, “Be the designer of your world and not merely the consumer of it.”   At this point, I am grateful that I finally understand that I need to do this.  I have been a consumer of my life for too long.  I am also thankful that God has given me the courage and strength to keep moving towards my goals.  He has also blessed me with the opportunities to grow into the person I need to be to achieve my desires and goals.  There were so many times this year that I witnessed myself saying things and behaving in ways that I only dreamed of.  I still have a long way to go, but I am taking a moment to thank myself for all the growing I did this year.  I am very proud of myself.

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2025’s words are “health and wellness” for me, and I am thrilled to have already started building some of the necessary habits I will need with my new mini-trampoline and stationary bike. It is going to be a good year.  I am very excited.  Financial wellness is also on the cards.  This year was a financial disaster, so I also have much work to do there. I am looking forward to the challenge, even though sacrifices will have to be made to achieve my goal.

Well,  that is from me for today.  Thanks for popping by.  Have you decided on your word for the year yet? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now.