Category: Gratitude

Thankful Tuesday – Week 10

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gratitude, Invisable Illness, Thankful9 Comments

As most of you know I’m taking part in the Ten Things of Thankful challenge. Simply list 10 things a week that you are thankful for, but no worries if you list less, or a bit more, the point is to get everyone to notice there is something to be thankful for. If you’d like to join in, just pop on over to TToT and add your post to the list, I hope to see you there.

This week I’ve decided to get back to basics, I’m so very thankful for:

water drop. photo by w. holcombe. all rights reserved
  • Water. I keep a water bottle on my bedside table so I have water through the night. In the morning my darling husband always fills it up before he leaves for work so I have a full bottle for the next few hours before I get up. On Wednesday he took the bottle to fill and forgot to bring it back, this really made me appreciate that he does this for me every morning and that I have water available to me so easily all the time.
  • Scent Free Air. I went outside to sit in the sun one day this week and a bush was blooming. It is beautiful and a welcome sight, but it had a strong floral scent, that would be pleasant to most, but I have migraines and am very sensitive to scents; it was an instant trigger. I was very grateful that I was able to escape it when I came inside. I’m thankful I’m able to have a pretty scent free home.
  • Electricity. I’ve been through times when we’ve had to live without electricity for extended periods of time due to natural disasters, it was not fun. The biggest obstacle we had was no refrigerator. Everything in our freezer that we couldn’t eat fast went bad and we had no way to store any food or to get much food to be honest. We had no hot water, and no heat or A/C. (one of these power outages happened during an ice storm) These are all things you simply do not think about when you have electricity every day. When power goes out for a short period you are inconvenienced because you have no TV, computer….but when you have no electricity at all, you are very limited in life. There are many people who have no electricity at all.
  • Eye care. I went to the eye doctor this weekend, I’m so grateful that I am able to have quality eye care. It is very expensive, especially for my prescription. If I could not afford it my life would be very limited.
  • A home. I’m grateful I have a home. Many people do not have a roof over their head. Every time I leave my house I see homeless. It breaks my heart. I wish I knew of a solution to our homeless problem in America. What we are doing now is not working. We cannot just ignore it. It will not go away, it is only getting bigger. We are one of the richest countries in the world yet we treat our needy so poorly. We should be ashamed.
  • Transportation. I’m grateful that I have a car to get around in, even though I can’t always drive, at those times I’m even more grateful that my husband is able to take me places. I’m very grateful that I was able to drive myself to an appointment this week, something I haven’t been able to do for a few months. I plan to do it again tomorrow too!
  • A warm bed. Many people do not have a safe place to sleep. I’m grateful I not only have a safe place to sleep, but I have a nice place to sleep. I can be picky about my pillow and sheets, I’m so grateful for these things.
  • A loving husband, dog, and friends. I’m so thankful for my support, the love in my life means so much to me. thank you to all of you.

I’ll close with that today. What are some of the basic things you are most grateful for. I’m sure I left out plenty. Like the moon and sun….so much to be thankful for in this life is we just look.

but right now I have a migraine and I’m going to be grateful that I don’t have to go anywhere and I can go lay down in a very dark room.

I hope your week is filled with things you can be thankful for.

Advertisement

Thankful Week 9

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gratitude, Thankful22 Comments

I’m taking part in the Ten Things of Thankful challenge. Simply list 10 things a week that you are thankful for, but no worries if you list less, or a bit more, the point is to get everyone to notice there is something to be thankful for. If you’d like to join in, just pop on over to TToT and add your post to the list, I hope to see you there.

I missed last week, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t count myself thankful, it just means I had a cold and didn’t feel like looking at the computer. Achoo! Some of the things I’m thankful for this week are:

  1. I’m more thankful than I could possibly put into words that a friend of mine who has been incredibly ill is getting better. I heard from her just this morning and she is up out of bed. This is a HUGE deal!! My heart soared and I literally cried with joy.
  2. Okay I’m tempted to stop there because nothing can top number one! But I’ll list a few more things I’m thankful for just nothing is on the scale of number one. My cold is pretty much gone! It left a little bit of sinusitis bit for the most part if has left the body.
  3. I’m very thankful that this cold was not a bad cold at all. If every cold was like this one I could not complain. Well I could, and probably would, but I shouldn’t. I know how bad a cold can get and this one was very mild.
  4. I was able to get out and go to a number of places this weekend. but I was careful to sanitize my hands numerous times and wiped down everything I touched, just in case I was still contagious, but I don’t think I was.
  5. It was 80 F on Saturday so we rode around with the top off my Beetle and went to have frozen yogurt. We even sat outside to eat it, it was such a glorious day. I didn’t even notice my sniffles.
  6. I’m making chicken broth today. I’m proud that I was able to cut a chicken in half so I can make 2 batches of broth with one chicken. I have to make homemade broth because I can’t have onions, besides homemade broth is so much better. Getting a chicken on sale is just the way to go!
  7. I’ve been eating better lately and feel good about it. I did have a day where I ate way too much chocolate, but I was able to forgive myself and simply move on the next day.
  8. I’m grateful that my little doggy wanted to have a good play yesterday. She doesn’t normally do that in the middle of the day. It was just the giggle that I needed with all the doggie kisses that I could ask for.
  9. I’ve been going through a really rough time recently with high anxiety and I’m grateful that I have found a good therapist I can trust to help me through it most difficult situation.
  10. I have neighbors that have this sign in their yard:

What were you thankful for this week? It always makes me feel good to hear!

Thankful – Week 7

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gratitude, Thankful15 Comments

I’m taking part in the Ten Things of Thankful challenge. Simply list 10 things a week that you are thankful for, but no worries if you list less, or a bit more, the point is to get everyone to notice there is something to be thankful for. If you’d like to join in, just pop on over to TToT and add your post to the list, I hope to see you there.

Image from NatureHills.com

This week I’m thankful for:

  • family who care. My sister texted out of the blue because she had a “funny feeling” and wanted to make sure every thing was alright. Then a couple of days later her husband was worried because of the weather out our way. (El Nino is dumping a lot of rain on the desert) I’ve never known him to worry about me before. I hate for people to worry, but I will say, I sure feel loved.
  • friends who listen. I can only hope I listen as well as some of my friends listen to me. (I know I need to work on this more actually) I’m so very grateful I have such good friends. I may not have many friends, but the few I have are the best you could hope to have.
  • massages. Hubby got us massages for Valentine’s Day. Actually he just got us massages, it just happened to be on Valentine’s Day, but it was pure joy. I went in with a migraine at about a 6 and left with it closer to a 2…amazing. I just wish it could have lasted into the next day. But I’ll take a few hours at a 2.
  • getting my house clean. Stuart and I working together to clean the house. It wasn’t bad, but my back has been hurting so I haven’t been able to do a lot so things like vacuuming and mopping went undone. That has all changed, the house is clean and I’m a happy girl.
  • a local friend came for a visit. It was a nice day when a local friend came and spent a few hours with me, we just talked and had sandwiches. What a nice break from spending so much time alone.
  • a new pillow. I’ve been in need of a new pillow for quite some time. I finally bought one this week. I hope it was a good investment. It has a 100 night money back guarantee, so I felt good buying it. No risk!
  • library books. I haven’t been able to focus enough to really read a whole book in a while now and I’ve really missed it. Recently we got our library cards in our new town. I decided to check out their online selection so I could read on my Kindle. There are a ton of books available to check out on Overdrive, I’m thrilled. I decided to check out a couple of Young Adult books to get me back in the swing of things, thinking I could concentrate on them, and I was right! I’m so thankful I’m reading purely for pleasure again!
  • successful dinner. We’ve been trying to have the family together for a dinner since Christmas but something has come up every time we scheduled and we’ve had to postpone. (mostly me feeling ill, I hate that) We were finally able to get everyone together this weekend. Everything went smoothly despite my fears that everything would fall apart any moment, nothing disastrous happened, everyone was fed and I think all had a good time. (Anxiety is real in this girl lately, I’m thankful I did not let it ruin this dinner for me.)
  • citrus trees. It’s citrus season ya’ll! Everywhere I go I see citrus trees filled with fruit! There are local Meyer Lemons in the stores. I so want a citrus tree in my yard, as soon as we buy a house I will have a lemon tree, even it I have to start with a baby one. I adore lemons. yummm. I hope there is a mature citrus tree already there. 🙂
  • the taken for granted things. I’m so thankful for running potable water, electricity, food a plenty, a home, and love in my life. These are things I’m most thankful for each and every day and I never want to forget that. Most of us take these things for granted, yet there are so many who do not have these basic necessities. If you have a little extra won’t you consider giving a little to those in need. Remember there are many ways to give.

What are you thankful for this week?

“No one has ever become poor by giving.” – Anne Frank

Thankful Week 5 – #TToT

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gratitude, Thankful7 Comments

I’m taking part in the Ten Things of Thankful challenge. Simply list 10 things a week that you are thankful for, but no worries if you list less, or a bit more, the point is to get everyone to notice there is something to be thankful for. If you’d like to join in, just pop on over to TToT and add your post to the list, I hope to see you there.

10 things I’m thankful for the 5th week of 2019 are:

  1. Possibilities – Just as I started to write this post I received a message that I may be able to see a specialist in San Diego I’ve been wanting to see for a long time. A special thank you K for making this possibility happen.
  2. My new therapist – I saw her for the first time on Wednesday and if first visits are a clue as to how things are going to go, I’m going to love going through this process with her.
  3. Vertigo that doesn’t last long – Last night I bent over and the world started to spin, I sat down and waited but it kept going. Stuart helped me to my chair and shortly afterward the spinning stopped. Yay! I still felt like I was moving for a while after, but the visual spins had stopped and that’s something to really be thankful for! Plus the meds gave me a good night’s sleep. 😉
  4. My slow cooker – Organic chickens were on sale so we bought 2 and I was able to cut one up and use some of the bones to make stock in the slow cooker. For the other, I roasted the whole bird in the slow cooker, comes out like rotisserie chicken, so good, so easy, and something to eat on for days. Something to really be grateful for when I’m not feeling my best.
  5. Imodium – need I say more? I ate way too many grapes and the next day I paid the price. Thank goodness there’s an over the counter drug to help stop me from running to the bathroom all day. ew.
  6. Shoe strings – I have a pair of yellow high-top Converse that I wore during the reception of my wedding, almost 15 years ago. For years I haven’t had shoe strings for them. I don’t remember what happened to the first pair, the shoes look almost new, so I can’t imagine they just wore out. hmmm? I’ve bought numerous shoe strings that were supposed to fit and they were always either too short or way too long. Well this week I was wearing another pair of sneakers and the strings were wayyyyy too long, so I thought I’d try them in my “wedding” shoes….voila! I can now where my yellow high-tops with joy!
  7. Dinner date set – Finally we have a date set for a dinner party we are throwing at our house. This dinner was originally supposed to be Christmas dinner on December 22nd, it has been rescheduled many times, for different reasons, mostly because of me. I am determined that no matter what it will go on this time! And celebrate my husband’s birthday at the same time!
  8. Another possibility – My therapist recommended me for a study about chronic pain that I don’t qualify for…darn it…but I decided to ask some questions and the group gave me some good information. Now I have the name of a massage therapist who treats chronic pain, he is actually helping with the study, and I have a chronic pain support group in the area I can check out. Good things happen sometimes if you just ask.
  9. Rover.com – we have been needing to find a pet sitter in the area, not that we are going on a trip soon, but if something comes up we need to have a sitter all set up, and our little girl is very picky about who takes care of her. After getting in touch with at least 5 sitters through Rover and meeting up with 3 so far, we know we’ve found at least one that Kiki will adore, and she just lives around the corner! I’m so thankful that we found her and so thankful there is a site like Rover that makes searching for a pet sitter so much easier.
  10. My heating pad – Something as simple as a heating pad, which I’m using right now, can bring such comfort to me. I’m so very thankful that the heat relieves part of the pain in my back and hip recently.

That’s my 10 for the week.

Extra – I’m thankful my Lantanas are blooming. So are the butterflies.

How about you? What are you thankful for this week?

Thankful Tuesday #TToT 1.29.19

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gratitude4 Comments

I enjoyed participating in the Ten Things of Thankful challenge last week I thought I’d try to make it an ongoing post.

My week has been filled with ups and downs, but there are always things to be thankful for:

  1. The first thing I’m thankful for is that my ultrasound I had last week showed that the hydronephrosis is clearing on it’s own. A severe UTI can really cause some major issues, I was shocked. Now I’m thrilled it’s all working out with no further treatment. (you can read more about all of this at these 2 post: My Plumbing Doesn’t work and Unblocked!
  2. My cousin from NC was able to drop by for an impromptu visit while in town for work. That was super cool! I’ve been a little homesick and that made things much better.
  3. The weather has been awesome this week. Sitting in the sun soaking up some Vitamin D has been a regular event. I’m so thankful for sunshine in the winter. (helps that I live in the desert)
  4. Our fireplace works. I know I just said how amazing the weather is but we had a cold night and it was nice to have a fire built to take the chill off. Here in Tucson the nights can dip in the 30’sF then the days can hit in the 70’sF. 30F nights are not that common though and most days are in the 60’sF.
  5. I’m grateful I found a new therapist, I see her for the fist time tomorrow. Wish me luck. We’ve emailed a bit so I feel comfortable going in already.
  6. As with every week, I’m grateful for my husband. He has been putting in some long hours at work. I’ve been in pain this week and I haven’t been able to do much, Stuart has done so much, and takes care of me too.
  7. I’m grateful we have a TV, when I’m laid up it’s a comfort to just sit and veg in front of the idiot box. 🙂
  8. For running water. I really thought about this this week. As I mentioned I live in the desert, I feel it is such a luxury to have water all the time. It makes me want to conserve it as much as possible.
  9. I found out we can recycle more than we thought we could. Yay! Less garbage. Also, the sanitation department asks that we simply throw our food scraps in the trash can and rinse it out a little instead of putting it in bags, much less plastic in the landfill. This one is a bit harder to do though, but we are going to try.
  10. My friends. One sent me an awesome surprise! One is now able to text me almost everyday, that makes it so much easier to keep up with each other. One is my chosen sister. One keeps me sane and teaches me so much every time we talk. All the wonderful friends who check on me and comment on my blog, and simply make me feel loved. I hope I do the same for you.

What are you thankful for this week?

If you’d like to particiapate in TToT here’s what you do:

If you are interested in participating here’s the link to it. Ten Things of Thankful 
“The blog hop opens every Friday morning at 1:00 a.m. Mountain time, and closes the following Tuesday at 11:55 p.m. Mountain time.”

“Every week, bloggers from all over the world gather together here online to share with each other the things that they have been thankful for during the past week. Although the number ten is in the title, that is more of a suggestion than a hard and fast rule.”

Ten Things of Thankful – Mid January

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Thankful16 Comments

Today I’m taking part in the Ten Things of Thankful (TToT) challenge.
“Every week, bloggers from all over the world gather together here online to share with each other the things that they have been thankful for during the past week. Although the number ten is in the title, that is more of a suggestion than a hard and fast rule.” If you are interested in participating here’s the link to it. Ten Things of Thankful
“The blog hop opens every Friday morning at 1:00 a.m. Mountain time, and closes the following Tuesday at 11:55 p.m. Mountain time.?”

This week I’m thankful for:

  1. feeling better mentally and starting to get back to being me.
  2. my dog always being there for a cuddle, support, and listening to me when I need to talk. 🙂
  3. being able to drive this past Thursday, only 1 mile to the store, but it was glorious. (I haven’t been able to drive in the past few months)
  4. the weather was so nice when I drove I was able to take the top down on my car.
  5. my father-in-law’s wife appears to be okay after a fainting spell and a fall.
  6. I was able to go to my nephew’s birthday party and got to play with the sweetest child I think I’ve ever met. Such joy was emanating for her, I didn’t care I was hurting, she said she wanted to play with me instead of the other kids, that warmed my heart.
  7. I have the ultrasound on my kidney’s tomorrow to see if my ureter is still causing my urine to stay in my kidney’s too long.
  8. I have the love of my blogging friends and family. One in particular is going though a very challenging time, I’m grateful she can talk to me.
  9. I was able to just throw together a soup yesterday with mainly just pantry ingredients.
  10. last but certainly not least, I’m very grateful my friends who live where the blizzard has occurred are safe.
  11. extra…I’m grateful we had a few 70F degree days this week, it was a joy, and I’m grateful we have a fireplace for the cold night we’re getting tonight. (the warm weather will be back on the weekend…Yay!)

I think I could have gone on, there are so many things I’m thankful for this week. Some weeks I really have to struggle, but I’m so thankful for so many things. Like this challenge, I needed it to show me how thankful I am for so much!

What are you thankful for this week?

I’m thankful – TToT

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gratitude5 Comments

This is late because I forgot to hit Publish when I finished writing my post….duh.  But, I’m thankful that I was able to do it at all.

I missed last week’s Ten Things of Thankful  because I was having surgery, that brings me to my 10 things:

20180806_164233
Number 7 in action.

  1. They were able to give me an IV with just one stick.  The nurse said I have very challenging veins, but she did a great job!  The orders called for 2 IV’s one in each arm, but she said I was suck a hard stick, if they needed another IV going, they could do it after I was out.  I just loved her!
  2. Everyone who took care of me was so nice and they worked hard to make sure I could see their mouths and talk slowly so I could read their lips.  They even let me wear my CI’s into the operating room.  I wish they let me keep my glasses, they are a lot less expensive to replace if something happened.  The surgical nurse was amazing, she put me at ease so fast I immediately trusted her.  I knew she’d take care of me and my CI’s and wouldn’t let anything happen to them.
  3. I only had to have light anesthesia, going under general anesthesia is always scary and a lot harder to come out of. Propofol was my friend.  I do wonder if I talk while I’m out of it, I sure was talkative when I woke up, I knew I was talking too much but I couldn’t shut up!  I know it was the drugs talking; I bet the attending thought I was insane.  All in all it was a good experience, I felt well cared for.
  4. My recovery is much easier than I expected.  My doctor didn’t really tell me much about what to expect to recover.  When Stuart asked him how long my recovery be, he said. “about 20 mins”, obviously he meant that’s how long I’d be in recovery after surgery, but we didn’t really talk about it afterward.  So I consulted Dr. Google, and it said that it would take a few weeks for me to get use out of my hand again, some even said I might have a cast.  I was prepared to have very little ability to do much of anything with my right hand for 2 – 6 weeks.  Boy was Dr Google wrong!  I just have a little bandage, and was told to make sure and move my thumb as much as possible.  Shocker!  I actually have more range of motion than I did before the surgery, but I still have pain in my wrist, it’s just different pain.  This pain is from the incision, it’s not sharp and tight like it was; I could actually live with this pain, I wouldn’t want to, but I could.  Well it is much more painful when I over do it.
  5. Lorraine was willing and able to keep Mindfulness Monday going in my absence.  She is an amazing friend, it blows my mind that we’ve never met in person.
  6. I was able to drive to a friend’s house the day before my surgery.  I haven’t been driving again for long, so going about 30 minutes away from home was a big step!
  7. My dog loves me so much!  She brings me such joy!
  8. I’m now in my niece and nephew’s life.  We’re baby sitting tomorrow night, I’m excited that we will be able to spend quality time with them, just us.
  9. I went to my new PCP for the first time today.  She did make me nervous and I’m not 100% sure I’ll keep her as my PCP, but I’m grateful that I finally found one that was excepting new patients so I could get a referral to see a Neuro-otologist, he’s a Meniere’s specialist.  I’ll tell more about this visit in an upcoming post.
  10. for my husband, again.  He was so wonderful this past week.  He took me to my surgery and took the next day off and half a day on Thursday to take care of me.  He does take really good care of me.

I have much in my life to be thankful for, like the TToT challenge from Ten Ten Things of Thankful  They are a great community and I’m so happy I found them….Thanks Faith.  I’d love to hear what you are thankful for this week, tell me about it in the comments, or join in the challenge to post Ten Things of Thankful .  (There is not a requirement, or a limit to the amount of things you list. 10 is a goal, if you are having a challenging week and can only post on thing, please share it….and you can share what you are having a hard time with, this community is very supportive.

Coming soon: First, a little update about my recovery, and second, my experience so far with Medical Marijuana…stay tuned.

(please forgive me for not being able to get around and seeing what so many of you have been up to lately, I hope you understand.  If you’ve had something happen and you want to make sure I’ve seen it, please share.  I never want to miss what is most important to my friends.)

Ten Things I’m Thankful for This Week

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gratitude15 Comments

Last week was my first time participating in the Ten Things of Thankful challenge, and it made me feel really good.  This week my ten things were not as obvious; I think that  makes it even more important to take note of them.  I’ll be the first to admit, I did not have a good week.  A lot of pain and stress has taken hold of my body, I’m holding on, but it’s getting difficult.  It’s time to step back and figure out how I can make things a little less demanding.  Every weekend is filled with so much to do, when it gets to be Monday I’m in full flare.  That has to stop, but I really like my busy weekends. I haven’t been able to do any of these things in so long, it does my heart good to be able to do them now, but my body is not as happy with me, and I’m afraid if I don’t slow down my body is going to make me.

I’m so very thankful:

  • for my amazing friends who keep me going every day.  Some I “talk” with almost every day, some I don’t keep in touch with as often. but I know they are there for me, and I am so very, very thankful for that.  I can only hope they know I’m there for them too.  I love my people.
  • that I didn’t get really hurt when I fell down the other day.  Yep, I fell, again.  Hey, it’s been a while, and I didn’t fall because I was dizzy or anything like that, I fell because I stepped on something slippery and my foot flew out from under me.  Mostly, it just scared me.
  • that I was able to go back-to-school shopping with my niece.  It’s so much fun getting to know my niece and nephew, I’m so grateful we can now spend so much time together.
  • that a local friend of mine texted me today saying that if there is every an emergency I can call on her.  That really meant the world to me.  She’s local, and I haven’t even seen her yet, I must rectify that.
  • that I have Air Conditioning.  It has been dangerously hot here; I honestly don’t know how anyone could live here without A/C.  There are so many homeless people here, I don’t know how they survive in this heat.  I’m so grateful I have a safe home and don’t have to live on the streets, my heart goes out to those who do.
  • that I have been having fun learning to decorate cookies.  I’ve only just begun to learn about it, but I’m having so much fun discovering this new art form.  I attempted my first watercolor on a cookie this week, it turned out pretty cool, not perfect, but not too bad. 20180725_121650
  • That my father-in-law is letting me use one of his cars, and it’s a really cool car too.  I’m just beginning to drive again, after a few years, so it feels amazing to be able to get to go somewhere whenever I want.  I’ve only gone on one errand so far, I’m very nervous driving here because I don’t know the area and I can’t hear the GPS.  I need to get a GPS that I can see without taking my eyes off the road, that would make things much easier.
  • for cooler mornings.  I’m trying to get up earlier so I can enjoy the weather before it gets too hot, some days I make it, other days, I don’t get out much.
  • that my surgery is soon.  Just got a call this evening that my surgery date has been changed to the 7th. This is causing a bit of inconvenience with Stuart and work. as that was supposed to be a training day for him, I’m grateful he will still be able to take me.
  • that I was able to do write a post.  With my wrist pain, migraines, and additional pain this week, I didn’t think I’d be able to get this done, I’m so grateful that I could do it.

What are you thankful for this week?  I’d love for you to share with me just one thing you are grateful for this week!!

I’ll try and write more about my surgery soon, a little mini update before I have to disappear for a while.

I’m always thankful for you.

 

Ten Things Thankful 07.20.2018

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gratitude13 Comments

I was over at my friend Faith’s blog, Little Lord Oscar Dandelion, if you haven’t been over there, check her out, she has some amazing short stores and she’s just really cool too! She shared a post from Ten Things of Thankful and posted her own list of things to be thankful for, you can check her list out here. I think this is a wonderful idea, I have not been paying enough attention to the things in my life that I’m very grateful for, I think this will help me bring that front and center. I think it’d be super cook if you joined us on the challenge.

Ten Things of Thankful (I do want to point out that the rules say “Although the number ten is in the title, that is more of a suggestion than a hard and fast rule. Had a rough week and can only come up with one thing? That’s OK! “I’m thankful that situation X wasn’t worse” is a perfectly acceptable post.”

  • I’m thankful my surgery has been scheduled. (I’ll be having surgery on my wrist on the 9th of August, I’ll post more information on that soon)
  • Our house closes tomorrow….unless something unforeseen happens our house in NC will no longer be ours soon.
  • We started looking at houses here in Tucson this week and we already have a couple we are interested in…cross fingers we pick the perfect house, this will be our forever home.
  • My father-in-law has a car he’s letting me drive…and it’s a really cool car too.
  • I’m learning to decorate cookies, it’s an edible art form…cool.
  • I’ve been able to admit I might possibly have an eating disorder. I know I’ve written about this before, but it’s worse/different and I’m scared/desperate. Admitting this is the first step, I think, to getting better.
  • I was met by my niece and nephew today with the tightest hugs ever! I feel so loved.
  • I was able to play a game with my husband, his sister and her husband and I didn’t get competitive, I just found it so much fun, I laughed so hard…mostly at myself!
  • I went to the medical cannabis dispensary for the first time and it was very interesting, I learned a lot, and found out I need to learn much more.
  • I had a few hours yesterday with a great reduction in migraine pain. (I took a heck of a lot of medication to get to that point, but it sure was nice to have that break)

I think I could actually add a few more, like I’m very grateful we have A/C in this 112F+ days, I have a big bathtub, I have been able to cook often, I found a few new cooking shows….yes I can find all kinds of things to be grateful for….Oh I have one! Stuart took me to this little park today and it was gorgeous! A little oasis in the middle of the desert, it was amazing!

Aqua Caliente Park – photo by Wendy Holcombe, all rights reserved.

Don’t forget to share your list Thankful list, I’d love to hear all about it.

Up next, more photos from the part.

Thinkfulness Mondays (filling in for Wendy): thankfulness; appreciation; gratitude

On By LorraineIn Bipolar, Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, Gratitude, Guest Post, Life, Mindfulness, Quotes6 Comments

Wendy chose the theme: thankfulness; appreciation and gratitude to highlight what a Mindfulness Turkey Day should be. Of thankfulness for what we have tangibly, but most importantly, for those intangibles: the fairy dust; the miracles; the possibilities; grounded in our moments; spreading hands and hearts. Appreciating the touch of a hand; a donation to a food bank; thankful for the moment with friends; aware of the needs of others; and appreciation on the need for us to help.

This Saturday is giving Saturday at my local library. I am thankful I am able to provide some tangible help: toys and books for children and clothes for their mothers.

Wendy has a nasty migraine making working on the computer right now feel deadly, so I stepped in to help – what are friends for? Please send her messages of support as she deals with yet another round of migraines, cluster headaches, vertigo, and back pain. She got so far, but needed to rest her eyes. I so understand, so here I am offering up quotes about thankfulness, appreciation and gratitude. But I would pose we should think of “thinkfulfness” – the ways in which our minds wrap their synapses around the mindfulness approach to living – including celebrations of ourselves, friends, families, and perhaps through donations, or volunteer work

So, I searched beyond my usual sorts of quotes (with Wendy’s assistance), and have more than Wendy’s usual three. These resonated with me in terms of thankfulness, appreciation and gratitude. A cornucopia, and over abundance of meditations on gratitude, thankfulness, and appreciation.  I was unable to post Wendy’s lovely image; instead an unedited collage of my back yard.

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.“ G.K. Chesterton

“Every day, spread the magical stardust of thankfulness into your life.” Terri Guillemets

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Anon

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” A. A. Milne

“Don’t cry because it’s over, be happy because it happened” Dr. Seuss

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” J F Kennedy

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

“In the end, maybe it’s wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.” Elizabeth Gilbert

“We take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” Cynthia Ozick

images are copyrighted to Lorraine; unable to upload Wendy’s marvelous images.

And to end on a musical note: a song discovered by a search that seems to fall within the theme of thankfulness.

Josh Grobin: Thankful

Somedays, we forget to look around us,
Somedays, we can’t see the joy that surrounds us,
So caught up inside ourselves,
We take when we should give,
So for tonight we pray for,
What we know can be,
And on this day we hope for,
What we still can’t see,
It’s up to us, to be the change,
And even though we all can still do more,
There’s so much to be thankful for,
Look beyond ourselves,
There’s so much sorrow,
It’s way to late to say, I’ll cry tomorrow
Each of us must find our truth,
It’s so long overdue,
So for tonight we pray for,
What we know can be,
And everyday, we hope for,
What we still can’t see,
It’s up to us, to be the change,
And even though we all can still do more,
There’s so much to be thankful for,
Even with our differences,
There is a place we’re all connected,
Each of us can find each others light,
So for tonight, we pray for
What we know can be,
And on this day, we hope for,
What we still can’t see,
It’s up to us, to be the change,
And even though this world needs so much more
There’s so much to be thankful for.