Feeling Grateful

I used to do a weekly gratitude linky on a Friday... but I'm a bit rubbish at remembering (and bothering) to keep it up, so I sort of fell by the wayside. But today, I thought I would resurrect it - because I'm feeling decidedly grateful.

Here are a few of the things I am grateful for today:

• S has moved from Ladybird Room to Bumblebee Room, with what seems to have been minimal fuss, no disruption and even a certain amount of excitement. I went to collect her from her first day, and found her sitting in her new key worker's lap, reading The Cat In The Hat.

• Last night after tea, S was plastered in melted Easter egg. I said, "would you like to have a shower?" at which point she jumped up, climbed the stairs, and waited for me in the bathroom. When it was time to get out of the shower, she said goodbye to her bath toys one by one and put them away. We got her dried and into her PJs, and then she sat in my lap to read The Cat In The Hat with a massive grin on her face, before giving me a kiss and a cuddle goodnight, having a little giggle as we looked for Ted, and then going into her cot and going to sleep with a smile. I have no idea how I produced a child who does these things.

My child is a legend.

• I am lucky enough to have a job I enjoy. I am also lucky enough to be able to fit that job around other things. I can take an afternoon off to go to a stay and play at nursery, and I can do over time in the evenings if I so wish. I have money in the bank and clothes on my back, and life is sweet.

• Because S and I live alone, it's up to us how we decorate our house. So our walls are increasingly covered in S's pictures that come home from nursery - the photo sheets they give me, and her numerous  pieces of artwork. I love that my interior design is toddler chic - including the grubby hand prints all the way up the stairs!

• I recently bumped into the mother of an old friend. She is a retired teacher, and someone I have always looked up to as being "someone I would like to be like." It hadn't occurred to me until we started chatting, that she had been a single mother the entire time I was growing up. My friend lived up the road, with her mother - who never re-married until we were almost fully grown. There's not much point to this one, except that I'm really glad to have bumped into her, and really glad to remember that someone I've always looked up to was actually a single mother. Single mothers can be role models too, people!

• S is doing the whole vocabulary spurt thing, which means that every single day she comes out with a multitude of new words - including pointing to the turquoise stone in my necklace and saying "boo" before moving on to point out my nose, my ears, my cheeks, my mouth. It's so much fun to see her learning all these new words!

If you have written a post recently that's about being positive, happy or grateful, please feel free to link it up here.

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!

Being Thankful

This week I am thankful for all sorts of awesome things; many of which I cannot write about here. But there are several things I can write about!

• I am thankful that I went to my friend's dinner party last Friday evening. I got my sister to baby sit, but I felt rubbish and really just wanted to go to bed. I sat here at my desk trying to psyche myself up to leave the house and trudge across town in the rain... but then once I got there, I had a fabulous time and talked to some really interesting people.
• I'm thankful that I believe in synchronicity and the power of coincidence. Some very... synchronous things have happened to and around me lately, and it's all been quite amazing to witness.
• I'm thankful, as ever, for my beautiful S who is a shining light in my life and makes me feel lucky to be alive every single day.
• I am grateful for all the shitty things that have happened in my life, because they have led me right to this point, which is where I needed to be.

This is a linky, and I would love it if you would link up any positive post you have written this week.

Gratitude

Bit late with the gratitude post this week, and it's not going to be a linky either.

I've had a bit of a bad week, what with one thing and another. Things are a bit tricky at the moment and I'm busy trying to figure out how to get through it all.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to remain positive. So this is what I am grateful for:

• A wonderful friend had her baby this week, and I am so excited to meet her.
• S and I have had some wonderful time together over the last week. She's been learning lots of new things and we've had lots of fun together which is always a bonus.
• My first column was published in the local paper. I'm super chuffed about this, despite the fact none of my family seems bothered about it! I'm so pleased to be writing a weekly column and looking forward to the experience it will give me. The first step in the direction I want to head in! Fabulous!

• Although money is tight at the moment, we still have food on our table and a roof over our heads; in that way we're in a much better position than a lot of people these days. And we're living proof that you don't need money to be happy!
• I really do have some quite awesome friends. People I've not really spent much time with since school, but who will send messages to check I'm ok, suggestions, ideas, jokes. 

Happy Friday everyone; I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Weekly Gratitude Linky 2014-01-17

Happy Friday everyone!

This week I have lots of things to be grateful for!

• My friend Anne, who invited S and I to her daughter's 2nd birthday party, drove to collect us, and made the world's best trifle. It was so lovely to see S playing with Anne's daughter. They even had a little dance together!
• I've had a blog for the local newspaper for a few months now, and as of next week it will be printed in the local free paper instead! This is a massive deal for me, and I'm really pleased about it. 
• I have had some great opportunities come my way lately, and I'm really excited about all of them. Even if nothing comes of any of it, it's so nice to have these things even be an option!
• I'm incredibly grateful to have a certain friend in my life; not least because he bought me a TV this week, completely out of the blue. He's also just a very good friend to have around and gives excellent life advice.
• I'm grateful for all the people I've met through this blog, for everyone on Twitter who answers my random tweets and chat to me.
• I'm grateful for a lady who set up a closed group on Facebook for women who've been in similar (and much worse) situations to me. The help and support I get from those ladies is unfaltering and the lady who set the group up is a bit of a legend.

Now it's your turn! 

You can link up any post that's positive and happy. Let's spread the happiness and positive vibes for the weekend!

Weekly Gratitude Linky 2014-01-10

Happy Friday everyone!

Here's another awesome photo from the shoot we had last week:

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

This week I am grateful for everything. In particular:

• S and I had a lovely weekend doing not a fat lot. It was good to enjoy the last day of our holidays.
• On Monday S returned to nursery, and was super excited about it. I've never seen her move so fast as when they opened that door! When it came to home time, it took me 20 minutes to convince her to come home with me. I'm glad she enjoys nursery so much!
• I'm grateful to live close enough to the park that we can just wander over there and inspect how far the river has come across the grass.
• I'm grateful that although there's been a flood warning here for a while now, we have not been flooded. Although I live on the first floor, I don't relish the idea of wading through dirty water to get places. I know I'm very lucky, when half the country seems to be under a foot of water at the moment.
• I'm grateful for the lovely friends I have, some of whom live a long way away, but they still make the effort to come and visit me. The S that my S is named after visited us last weekend; she drove for 2 hours to visit us, and brought us lots of cakey, biscuity yumminess too. 

Now it's your turn! Link up any positive post you've done this week...

Weekly Gratitude Linky 2014-01-13

Happy New Year!

I've decided that 2014 will be my year; fabulous things will happen this year!

Welcome to the Weekly Gratitude Linky. The idea of this linky is to remind all of us to be thankful. Spending a little time being grateful for what we have - however much or little - is proven to make us feel happier over time. And I like being happy. Also, if you're feeling a bit shitty, it can be nice to read through posts like this and realise the things you have to be thankful for.

Here are some things I am thankful for:

• My lovely friend Linda, who had S and I to stay with her for New Year so that we could escape the shouting, drunken loons who've been disrupting our sleep here since mid-December. We had a lovely, relaxing evening and it was fantastic to catch up with a dear friend I don't see often enough.
• My friend Anne, who bought S the most wonderful and thoughtful Christmas present ever. Expect photos when I've finally put it together. It is simply outstanding, and exactly the right thing for my daughter. I have no doubt she will go bonkers when I finally put it together for her to see.
• The people next door to us. I complain a lot about living around here; it's noisy and dirty and people have no consideration for who might be trying to sleep or wanting to walk their toddler down the stairs they've just covered with broken glass... but the people next door to us are actually lovely. Plus they have the most gorgeous dog you ever did see, who is very friendly and loves to say hi to S.
• It might sound odd, but I am grateful for my depression. It has taught me valuable lessons; not least to appreciate small moments of happiness that I might otherwise have overlooked.
• I am also grateful for my recovery. It may be wobbly at times, but depression kills people every single day, and I'm so glad I wasn't one of them.
• I am grateful for every single person who reads this blog, comments, tweets, leaves comments on Facebook. Never underestimate the thrill I get when it becomes evident someone has read and appreciated what I've written.
• I'm grateful for the Damsels in Success community; on paper it sounds a bit fluffy - and it is - but it is also one of the few places I feel genuine acceptance. There aren't many places you can go and confess to a massive crisis of confidence, and receive overwhelming, 100% support. Advice, videos, book recommendations, people saying they've felt the same. Not one person telling me to pull my socks up and get on with it.

Now it's your turn. You don't need to have written a post like this; you can link up any post that is positive and uplifting. I'd also love it if you'd like me on Facebook and/or follow me on Twitter.

Weekly Gratitude Linky 2013-12-27

It's that weird week between Christmas  and New Year where life is sort of on hold, but I decided to carry on with my weekly gratitude post any way, and to invite others to link up positive posts for all to see.

Here are some things I am thankful for this week:

• My amazing sister, who helped me to cook Christmas dinner for seven people despite a distinct lack of planning, organisation, expertise or recipes on either part. We did jolly well, I think!
• As the announcement is made that food banks helped three times as many people this year as last year, I'm thankful I was not one of those people in need of help. We might have had a couple of hairy moments since I went self employed, but we're still in a better position than we've been in previously.
• I'm grateful that although S has been poorly over Christmas, it's not been serious and she seems to be perking up a bit now.
• Although I increasingly hate where I live, at least I have a roof over my head; a lot of people don't, and I'm grateful for mine.
• I'm very lucky to have some fantastic friends in my life, upon whom I can rely to help me out when I need help; whether that help is a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, or bringing some food when I've not got to the shops.
• I'm grateful just to have S. A lot of people can't have children, and until I became a mother I honestly never thought I would be. 
• I'm grateful to have been given the opportunity to do the primordial sound meditation course I've been doing. I've tried meditation several times before but never got anywhere with it. This is the first time I've committed to doing it, with lots of information and support available to me; and I'm finding I really like it.

Now it's your turn: what are you grateful for? What do you love about your life? What makes you happy?

If you've made any positive post at all lately, please link it up below.

Weekly Gratitude Linky 2013-12-20

I've had a pretty tough week, you may have noticed. But there are still things for which to be thankful, even when you're having a hard time.

I am thankful for the friends who try to talk sense into me on a regular basis.

I'm thankful for the friend who, upon seeing on Facebook that I was in desperate need of eggs this week, turned up with a box of eggs and a bottle of cava.

I'm thankful for my gorgeous daughter who hasn't yet learned the stupid rules that govern the rest of us ("not size zero = fat" or "fat = worthless" for example)

I'm thankful for the Damsels in Success community who offered up links, books, videos and general support to me this week and even called me "brave" when I was having a massive crisis of confidence.

I'm thankful for the lady I met at a party who seemed genuinely shocked to find out I was 32.

Now it's your turn. The rule of this linky is very straightforward: link up any post at all that is positive. The idea is that someone going through the links will be met with happiness, gratitude, positivity and general smiles to set them up for the weekend.

If you'd like to follow me on Facebook or Twitter also, I'd love to see you. And I'd also appreciate a comment. But only if you feel like it.

Weekly Gratitude Linky, 2013-12-13

First, I feel I must apologise. To the friends who have had to put up with my whining (you know who you are; please don't delete me from your phone just yet!) and to everyone who read my awful, whiney post yesterday. (I'm not even linking to it; it's that bad).

This week I had the pleasure of meeting a good friend for coffee. Meeting a friend for coffee (when they're a good friend and you have lots to talk about) is always guaranteed to brighten my day. This friend is a particularly positive being, who was telling me about how he's tried his best to keep his children away from certain negative influences in their lives; he doesn't want them around negative people. I told him that he was pretty much like Pollyanna, but without the hair. There's always a bright side, things are never as bad as they look, he's always bloody positive. It's infuriating! I've only once known him to be at all negative, and then that only seems to have lasted all of an evening before he was back to his bright chipper self.

I, on the other hand, am prone to misery and self-pity. I can find the cloud for every silver lining. I hate it. (more negativity!) I am hoping that by using things like this weekly gratitude post, I can make myself a little more positive, a little more Pollyanna, a little more irritating to the rest of you. Because actually, if you focus on what you have to be happy about, the other crap doesn't seem so significant.

This week, I am grateful for:

• the fact that although S was very poorly, she was not nearly as poorly as some of her friends from nursery, who apparently ended up having to go to hospital. She has almost completely recovered and is sleeping well again (I am oh so thankful for the sleep part!)
• the smiles I have had that have brightened my days even when I was intent on being down in the dumps
• the Wednesday morning wander around the shops with S, which was thoroughly delightful because we had nowhere we needed to be, nothing we needed to do, and a whole morning in which to not do it.
• my fabulous friends, who all rally round and support me even when I don't ask for it. I never ask for it because I hate to be a burden; they offer, and I am learning to accept.
• my past which, although sometimes painful and difficult, has made me into who I am. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and I should probably be invincible by now. 

Now it's your turn! What are you thankful for this week?

Please link up any post about gratitude, positivity, what you are thankful for, whatever.

The only rule is that it has to be positive.  Then you can go and visit any other post that's linked up and know it's probably going to brighten your day.

Weekly Gratitude Linky 2013-12-06

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” 

 - Marcel Proust

This week I am grateful for:

• My sister A, who looked after S for me on several occasions. Including on Sunday morning, when I'd been ill all night and she could see I was struggling and sent me back to bed for a few hours. Yesterday she spent the day hanging about my flat just in case nursery called to send S home poorly, because she knew how important it was for me to be able to go to work and earn some money.

• Theresa, who is technically my client, but more like my adoptive mother/friend. Not only has she bought endless gifts for S (including a beautiful porcelain angel for our Christmas tree this week), she also makes a point of telling everyone how fabulous I am, and routinely tells people point blank that they should hire me. She and her husband Simon are like my PR department and if it wasn't for them I'd still be languishing in some awful office job, wishing I could do something more interesting in order to earn money.

• My friend Anne, who has her fair share of trouble to contend with, but still texts and Facebooks me on a regular basis to check how I'm doing. The woman is a rock. But more beautiful than a normal rock.

• My friend Holly. Another person who has more than her fair share of troubles, but is nevertheless there whenever I need her - even if I don't ask for help. She did something last week that actually made me cry. And this week she and her sister and her sister's teeny tiny baby came and met me for lunch. I found myself feeling quite jealous of Holly's sister, having her there to help with everything and be so generally awesome. 

• My lovely friend Simon, who always has time to send very kind texts to lift my spirits. And who, when I told him I was not very good company at the weekend, replied "there's no such thing lovely." Exactly what you want in a friend, no? He's also one of the rare people who not only encourages me in my writing, but will tell me when something's a little off and needs changing slightly. Something we all need.

• I am also grateful for the free publicity my blog will receive next week/month, in the form of a short piece in Mother & Baby Magazine about dating when you're a single parent. They're very kindly including a mention of the blog at the top of the piece, and I'm very grateful that the journalist who wrote it thought of me in the first place. How lucky am I!

• And, of course, I am endlessly grateful for my beautiful little S. She is full of cold and temperature this week, but also mischief and fun and learning. She's at that stage where there's a new word, a new understanding, every day. It's simply wonderful.

What are you grateful for this week?

Sit and have a think of something for which you are thankful... see how it improves your mood!

If you feel like blogging about it, or you already have a post about being thankful, please link it up here!

Weekly Gratitude Linky

I'm experimenting with running a linky party. I've never run one before, so please bear with me.

I'm also experimenting with positivity. According to Shawn Achor, when you feel positive dopamine floods your system. When you're feeling positive, you're 31% more productive.

Writing about three new things you're grateful for each day, for 21 days in a row, helps to "re-wire" your brain so that it starts to retain the pattern of always looking for the positive in situations.

Don't worry, I'm not going to do 21 days straight of the Pollyanna thing; I'd drive everyone mad, myself included. But I thought it might benefit us all if we made an effort to think of at least one positive thing that's happened each week. 

So here it is: the Weekly Gratitude Linky. With any luck, I'll get a badge made up and ready to go for next week!

Here are some things I'm grateful for this week:

• I went to a Damsels in Success meeting on Monday morning, which always makes me feel all inspired and motivated. Fantastic start to my week.
• On Tuesday S woke up early and I didn't need to be anywhere, so we had stories and giggles in bed before breakfast.
• S's nursery have had a particularly bad case of Hand, Foot & Mouth going around lately, plus a fairly horrid bug described by one parent as "like the Exorcist in my living room." To date, S has succumbed to neither and is reasonably chirpy, most of the time.
• Our new bedtime routine means that we have a lot more cuddly, mummy/S time - which is always a good thing.

Here are the rules to this linky:

• Link up a post about gratitude. Something you are thankful for this week. Anything at all, in any format.
• If you like, follow me on Twitter and Facebook. (it's not compulsory)
• Please make at least some effort to visit and comment on other posts!