Weekly Gratitude Linky 2014-02-07

The more astute among you may have noticed I have not been as prolific this week as I usually am.

I've not been in the best frame of mind, and I think it's always best to avoid sharing the bad feeling when you're like that.

But I'm back on form now!

What am I grateful for this week?

• A fabulous trip to the beach on Sunday with my mum and sister. It was so lovely to just have a nice long walk on the beach, stomp in the water with S, collect some stones, just... be outside. We had a fabulous time and came home feeling really refreshed. I'm reading The 4-Hour Work Week at the moment, the basic premise of which is: why are we all deferring enjoyment of our lives? Why are we working like doozers (if you don't know what one is, Google it), looking to some point in the middle-distance, when we will retire and finally have some fun? Why not find a way to have our fun now, alongside our work? I am so up for that! 
• A productive and inspiring meeting on Monday about upcoming Damsels in Success shenanigans. I cannot tell you how much I love going to Damsels meetings. I leave every single one feeling uplifted and inspired to do great things... I'm probably going to start writing about them here, but also am planning to write monthly blogs for our local group.
• Lots of work; lots of money! I've been self employed for a few months now, and my plan for this year is to turn things around so that most of my income comes from writing. I am determined to achieve this, and so have adopted this mantra to repeat to myself whenever I start to waver a little. Lots of work; lots of money. Say it with me; it can't do you any harm, can it!
• I am, as always, thankful for the most amazing and supportive friends a girl could wish for. I can't even describe what happened this week as I really don't want to mention negativity on the blog at all. What I do want to mention though, is that when I felt proper shitty (that's a technical term), certain people were there to help get me back on the right track, and for those people I will be forever grateful. You can't do anything good when you're not in a good frame of mind, so anyone who can help you get back to that is worth their weight in gold, as far as I'm concerned.
• I am thankful for great big metaphorical slaps in the face from the universe, or karma, or whatever you want to call it. Not so long ago, when I was feeling miserable, I would have sat there and asked, why me? and probably taken a good week or so to pull myself out of the doldrums. This week, I looked at my situation, realised what had caused it, picked myself up and moved on. A maximum of 48 hours of feeling crappy. A vast improvement. I think this has a lot to do with the meditation to be honest.
• A weird thing to be thankful for, but I wrote a piece for a client this week, and she called me soon after I'd emailed it. I always panic when that happens, but she started the conversation with "love, love, love the piece, it's fantastic, thank you!" Which just about made my week. Perhaps I'm good at writing after all.

What are you grateful for this week?

I would love it if you would link up any positive post here.

Regularly stopping to think about (and write down) what we are grateful for is scientifically proven to improve our general moods and wellbeing. It's worth doing!