Being Thankful, Life and Gratitude…we hear so much about how we should be grateful and how being grateful attracts more into our lives to be grateful for; it’s a merry-go-round and once you’re in that mindset it’s a positively great place to be. Everywhere we look, it seems, there are articles and news stories and posts about gratitude.
On Sunday night I was curled up in front of the television watching Sanditon, by Jane Austen, when one of my Instagram followers, C. L Walters, a writer friend and inspiring woman I connected with very early on, tagged me into her gratitude post.
Something in me clicked; I felt instantly grateful to her for thinking of me and I am dedicating this post to her; for her kindness, support and golden heart.
For those of you who don’t follow me on Instagram I have recorded my answers to her four questions on gratitude here and hope my responses will prompt you to think about what you’re grateful for and how you express that gratitude on a daily basis.
Cami posed these four questions:
- What are you grateful for?
- How do you express that gratitude?
- If you haven’t expressed it, what keeps you from doing this?
- What do you hope for?
These are my answers which I wrote out in a free-thinking/writing way straight into my posts; nothing was edited and in so doing, what I have written comes from the heart and my mind as authentically as possible.
- What are you grateful for?
I’m grateful for life itself and everybody in it who supports and loves me; first and foremost my parents, my boys and my boyfriend ( who’s kind, generous, patient, loving and funny). Then, of course, there are my extended family and my friends. I am also grateful for the opportunities and chances life gives me; for filling me with wonder, knowledge, understanding, imagination and love.
ii. How do you express that gratitude?
As a mother, daughter, lover, friend, sister, aunty, mentor and teacher I express this gratitude by giving up thanks daily, by saying thank you to my loved ones and letting them know how much I love and appreciate them. I try to give back every day too as a way of saying thanks to Him and the universe for giving me the life I have.
I do this in small ways – a smile, a chat with the tired cashier at Tesco, my letters to Girls Love Mail, donating unwanted clothes to local charities, sharing my knowledge and offering advice, listening carefully and offering my support to my readers and followers on Instagram and across all my media platforms.
iii. If you haven’t expressed it, what keeps you from doing this?
I always show my gratitude and as a child said thank you automatically; my thank yous now are a lot more heartfelt and meaningful and I’m aware of why I’m thankful and practise heartfulness as a way of being kind and thoughtful on a daily basis.
I send notes, messages, text little messages and Gifs, say it face to face and hug and kiss and often cry tears of gratitude too as well as buy little gifts for people.
iv. What do you hope for?
I am hopeful for so many things, experiences and memories. I hope for a long and healthy life so I am able to enjoy my family and my granddaughter (and hope for many more grandchildren too).
I hope for the opportunity to connect with ordinary people to talk about life and writing and my stories.
I hope for my memory to remain clear so I may hold onto all the memories I hold dear and to remember the new ones too. I hope to be financially secure and to help my boys buy their own homes one day. I hope to travel more and continue to learn new things. I hope for life to continue to be kind to me and when it isn’t (as in the past) it gives me the strength (strong women don’t give up…they find a way through tears and thrills to love again) and positive mindset to keep going until its good again.
Huge thanks to Cami for prompting this Being Thankful, Life and Gratitude blog post and if you’d like to connect with Cami here’s a little bit about her.
“CL Walters is a high school English teacher and adores sharing her love of reading and writing with her students. She is the author of three Young Adult novels: Swimming Sideways, The Ugly Truth, and The Bones of Who We Are. She has also written a fourth novel – a romance – called The Letters She Left Behind. She adores writing stories; it brings her complete joy. She lives in Hawaii with her husband, two children, and three furry dog-babies.”
She’s a wonderful author and I hope you will link up with her via her social media links below as well as give her books a try!
So dear readers what are you grateful for today? How do you show your gratitude and what do you hope for? It would be great to hear your thoughts, so please leave a comment.
Until next week, with gratitude to you all for your love and support.
With much love, Soulla xxx
