Week 5 of The Kindness Challenge is all about being grateful.
It’s so easy to wish, want and wonder about a different life. But it’s a fine line between being envious; wishing you had someone else’s life and aspiring to better your own life through hard work and learning.
You can have ambitions whilst accepting and finding enjoyment in where you are right now.
Gratitude is the feeling of being thankful.
After the death of my younger brother, I found it difficult to be thankful or find pleasure in anything. I spent a large portion of my time asking “Why me?” I felt that life was unfair, and was consumed with wishing things were different. I was in a very negative spin.
Understandably.
Every situation – even difficult ones have opportunity for learning, even if we cannot see it at the time. It’s the proverbial every cloud has a silver lining – difficult as that may be to acknowledge.
I survived the difficult times and am now stronger.
I am able to relate to people who are going through tough times because I have been there and have empathy and understanding.
I am clearer on what’s important in my life and therefore live more authenticly.
That is because I am grateful.
I understand that all it takes is a telephone call to change your life. All we have for certain is this moment. When you understand this – you become grateful for the little things.
I post weekly about the little things that make me smile – they’re small moments in the mundane that make me smile and I acknowledge them with a photograph.
That’s the important bit – don’t let the magical moments pass you by.
Make a note of them, journal or photograph or simply list them in your diary at the end of every day.
The more you notice, the more little miracles you will find.
Don’t know where to start? Before you go to sleep think of three things that went well today or before you jump out of bed in the morning, spend a couple of minutes jotting down who or what you were thankful for yesterday.
Interested in finding out more about The Kindness Challenge? Hop on over to The Richness of a Simple Life – you can join at any time.
The Shimmer Within Her 
Love the reminder to not let the magical moments pass us by. In the rush and stress of life it is so easy to miss them. The is week my kids pointed out two beautiful rainbows and 2 beautiful sunsets to me. I would have missed them. So thankful to have the opportunity to slow down and savor the individual moments. One thing we noticed about the rainbows is that they fade away really quickly. If we are not living mindfully and in the moment so much beauty fades before we even know it’s there.
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Yes! I love rainbows – and you are right, they’re not around forever. Hope your day is full of little ‘moments’ like these š
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I loved reading this. Every time I wanted to jump in with something, you said it. Being grateful and recognizing that the little things are really the big things; that hits home with me. Like you, I seemed to find this or figure it out after incredibly difficult times. -Jennie-
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We’re obviously on the same wave length here Jennie. We have to be grateful – it’s instrumental in our happiness. Have a wonderful day full of little things š
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Yes, we are on the same wave length. Thank you, and enjoy the little moments. -Jennie-
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Hugs š
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I do a 365 grateful project on Instagram that really helps me be more aware of the little things. It also really makes me pause and think about what I can take a picture of and photography is one of my favorite creative outlets so I get to be doubly creative and grateful š #itsthesmallthings
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I’ve just looked at your Instagram – fabulous way to document your amazing moments. Love that you do this every day – I’m a bit of a ‘when the moment strikes’ kinda gal. I might put this on my to do list for next year. Thanks for the inspiration š
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You’re welcome! I’ve done it twice and I love it!
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