The kids have launched back to Term 3 and the crazy, madness of the holidays is falling quiet around me.
The winter has well and truly set in.
I miss the sun, but am in a relatively new, yet loving relationship with my electric blanket. Work is quiet for me, and though I am missing the adrenaline rush of a solid pay day, I am slowly working through ‘the jobs’ that should have been done months ago. Replacing the light globes. Dusting. Fertilising rapidly dying indoor plants. Culling the toys whilst the kids are at school.
The pace is slow but steady.
I am trying to do that ‘mindful’ business. I am trying to slow down and think. I am trying to enjoy the moment. When did my life start to hurtle onwards fast? So fast that I am forgetting all ‘the moments’.
Today the washing can wait.
Today I am pulling the threads together and weaving my happiness.
Today I am sharing with you the things I am grateful for.
I am grateful for the school that my kids head to with a smile and leave from laughing each day.
I am grateful for the watery wink that my ageing Dad gave me last week as I left their farm, and the warm hug as he reminded me that I am ‘doing a good job’ with the kids.
I am grateful for the bolognaise that I am defrosting for tonight’s dinner.
I am grateful that whenever I am feeling a little down, I can bring back the memory of my husband’s beaming face at the altar as I walked into the Church on our wedding day.
I am eternally grateful for two happy, healthy kids.
I am grateful for the GAS call/message that my sisters share every now and then.
I am grateful that my phone keeps pinging with messages from a lovely friend as we plan an overdue catch up.
I am grateful for things to look forward to. I always need something lovely and shiny to play with in my mind.
I am grateful for hot bubbly baths and the precious time alone with my thoughts.
I am grateful for access to the world in the palm of my hand. I am glad ignorance can no longer be an excuse and that we can find the answers to almost everything, any time, anywhere.
I am grateful for my past mistakes and even my regrets. They have made me who I am today and shown me who I don’t want to be again.
I am grateful for after school cuddles and Saturday morning snuggles with my babies who are no longer babies.
I am grateful for my Mum who still calls me her baby, and for the understanding now of how that actually makes all the sense in the world.
I am grateful for friends and family. I am grateful that I will always have somewhere to go and someone to turn to if my world tumbled. I am grateful that I can simply be ‘me’ when I am around them, all the bruised and cranky angles, and they will love me anyway.
I am grateful for my health. I am grateful, though incredibly sad, that friends who have been taken from us way too young, have reminded me how incredibly lucky we are to be here every moment of every day; even the crap ones.
Finally, I am grateful that I am finding this post difficult to finish. I have so many things to be grateful for. So I might just finish it with this important one.
I am grateful for the chance to share my words with you and I am always grateful that you take the time out of your busy lives to read them.
To look back on perhaps an occasion I wasn’t feeling quite so mindful and ‘mellow’, take a peek here.
