Thinking About Being Grateful

Although I often wake up with a sore body, 2/3 of the time it works well enough.  Sometimes my head feels like there’s a spike through my eye, but I have the time, concentration and sight needed to read wonderful books.  Even though I’m often exhausted and can sometimes hardly lift my legs I’m always strong enough to give my wife and kids a big hug. I’m not rich, but I can afford great food, my house is warm and I can afford wonderful experiences. 

I’m incredibly lucky, but sometimes I compare my inside to other peoples outside and need to remind myself that it’s a bad comparison.  I have an enormous amount to be grateful for, but being grateful is a skill that has to be practiced, so today I’m training that skill:

1. I have a wonderful wife and family, who brighten every day
2. I have a great job that provides me with the time and freedom to invest in my health, but also the challenges, friendships and money that helps motivate me to ‘jump’ out of bed every day
3. I live in a lovely, modest, but comfy house, with a fantastic garden in a small, sleepy, but beautiful seaside town, with miles and miles of flat, smooth cycle tracks
4. I live a short walk away from a luxurious health club with a great pool and gym that I get to swim in (often on my own) early in the morning
5. I live 10 minutes walk away from 6 very different cafes that provide me with food, drink, company and a great place to read every morning
6. I’m often well enough now to hike in some of the best fells and the most beautiful coastlines in the UK and I get 4 days holiday a month to make the most of it
7. I love to read, listen to podcasts and audiobooks so I am endlessly entertained on the move and I love TV and the movies for when my body says “enough with the walking”
8. I have what I consider to be the perfect smartphone, tablet and laptop which is important since collectively I probably use them for 6-8 hours a day
9. I have a good collection of pensions and I own my own home so I will soon not have to worry about living a simple but comfortable long life
10. I have fast broadband

My favourite list keeping app is called Simplenote and in it I keep a long list I call my ‘happy list’, every few days I add another thing to it that I feel grateful for.  The list above is a small but important sample.

Although I’m very weary today, Debbie kindly walked with me to Lytham (I had to keep grabbing her arm to slow her down).  Todays pic is of the view of Lytham prom and windmill, it’s a wonderful walk and one we don’t do often enough.