Hi friends 🙂
I have a confession to make… Well it’s not much of a secret butI might as well start from the beginning… So, it’s been 8 months since we left New York and moved to London. And yes everyone who knows me will tell you that I wasn’t too happy about it and that i ‘d keep complaining about how much I miss NY… Well, granted I still do miss it but that past few weeks after some experiences my eyes have “opened” wider to the world…
I have met so many incredible people through this blog, people that deal with really bad situations and come out winners! And also i ‘ve met some amazing fighters, in my line of work (spinal cord injury research), who try as hard as they can every day to gain their life and their independence back… so a few days ago it hit me! We, people, are so blind! We keep complaining about things we don’t have, thing’s we can’t do, things we are missing…and of course we miss the point! We miss out on life, on what we have! It is easier than it sounds to stop seeing all the good things in your life… to wait for the big haul! Don’t get me wrong following your dreams and working hard to achieve them is different and am totally for it. But not “seeing” or not being grateful/happy/excited about all the good every day things that are happening is like missing out on your life!
So after all these thoughts, i decided to be a little more mindful about my everyday life. And this is how the “Daily Gratitude” journal project began for me 🙂 Cheesy?!?! You bet! But you know what, taking these 5 minutes (and not every day since then it makes me feel pressured to do it, only when I feel like it) to reflect and write down a few good things that have happened can completely change your attitude towards your day and people…
For example, yes I was having a few pretty frustrated days at work and London was getting to me… but after thinking and digging a little deeper i saw… the “light” LOL! But seriously, I thought “yes work can be stressful and not always great, BUT how many people get to do what they choose and what they really love???”. Where I come from certainly not many.. Also I reminded myself how lucky I am to have gotten this opportunity to be here! In such an amazing lab with a boss that believes in me enough to give me the freedom I so much need when it comes to my work 😀 So my after thoughts? “Really Ellen? Complaining about what?!?!” … oh yeah i do talk to myself quite a bit … 😉 Also I did started to look at exercising (and of course running) from another point of view as well! I don’t “have to” work out, I don’t “have to” put in this long run… I am lucky enough to “GET TO” do this! I am healthy and strong and I get to workout and run and exercise! So yes another thing to be grateful about… Don’t take it for granted EVER! Honestly, I don’t take anything for granted any more…
Another up side? If you are a stationary (and notebook) junkie like I am, you get to use another notebook 😀 I picked this little beauty at a discount the other day and totally love it!!
Give it a try – if you are not doing already – and let me know what you think! You could even go fancy and use one of those “bullet journals” if your hand writing is nice and you are crafty enough. Apparently they are the new craze, I wish I could write/paint/draw as good so i could do this but no chance LOL!
Happy Wednesday (hump day 😉 ) every one!
