The 30 Acre Wood: Grateful Is As Grateful Does

The Butterfly Posse - Debbie,
Annie and myself

My dear friend and fellow Bona Fide Butterfly Annie Gregson attended a workshop a couple of weeks ago by life coach Jennifer Louden. The day after she was back, Annie left me an adorable blank journal on my porch. On the inside cover, she wrote a touching and inspiring note that, in essence, was to remind me of what we are all capable of doing if we just believe in ourselves.

I am a stationery junkie and as a result have innumerable notebooks, binders and journals scattered about the house, many of them with the first several pages filled in before I move on to something else. I think I have some sort of papyrus ADD. But this book was so cute, just the right size (and LINED! she knows me!), I had to come up with a special use for it, and something that I would continue to use.

So I made it my Gratitude Journal. This is not a new idea, but a new idea for me. At the end of each day, before bed, I jot down 5 things I was grateful for that day. No big explanations, just a quick five things. It gets easier with practice and I highly recommend it. It makes you feel good, and who couldn't use a little more of that in their lives? Here are a couple of my favorites from my pages:

1) Good November weather. Normally the dreariest month, November has been uncharacteristically sunny and dry. Highs in the low 40’s, lows in the 20’s, the sun and lack of wind has made the chill tolerable. And who couldn't benefit from some extra Vitamin D?

2) Finding my necklace (a gift from Larry) that I feared was lost in a horse stall. It was on the rug in front of the woodstove.

3) Warm socks. In the morning, I put my socks on the steam dragon on the woodstove. (He was retired from steaming because he didn’t hold much water and filling him was a pain in the neck, but he holds an honorary position on top of the stove.) The socks warm up quick, and then you put them on… heaven!

4) When the dead whatever under the kitchen cabinet that I can’t get to finally finished decomposing… and stinking.

5) Not having to bring in firewood.I love it when Larry gets home early.

6) The view of the lake on my way to/from work every day. Depending on the weather, it can have fog rolling off it, or a purpley sunset reflecting off it, or some other fantastic natural scenic phenomenon. How many people get to see that every day? Which leads me to...

7) Living in an area with no billboards, the scourge of the countryside. Put one plus mark in the APA's column.

8) Having my health, in all its increasingly creaky glory. I see so many folks with ailments, limitations, on a dozen medications, etc. I'm grateful for being as sound as I am at 49 and for the physical work I'm able to do. Although the flexibility thing could use some improvement.

9) County fairs. Okay, this one isn't recent, but there's nothing like a good county fair. They're the epitome of summer country living. This year I took my friend Judy to her first county fair, and her enthusiasm and excitement were infectious. We ate ourselves sick and laughed ourselves silly.