Do you practise gratitude?
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.
It’s the little things 12/06/16
It’s the little things that make me so happy I could burst into a million pieces and shower you with happy glitter.
Here’s a round up of all the little things from my week that have made me smile ’til my cheeks hurt.
This week has been warm with little bits of wonderful sprinkled throughout.
I’d love to hear about your little bits of wonderful.
Nicky xo
I Think I’ve Found My Tribe
There’s no feeling in the world like the one when you find your kindred spirits.
I’m still such a baby at this blogging lark. Four months old, I’m barely sleeping through the night! But I am learning every day and the thing that makes it so amazing is the people I’m connecting with.
Yes, they come from all walks of life.
Yes, they live in all four corners of the world.
And yes, their stories are as varied as the weather.
But they’re here. Doing what they do. Connecting. Sharing. Embracing. Supporting.
Now that’s my kinda tribe.
I’m honoured to say that I’ve been nominated for some awards recently, so I thought I’d do one post about them all.
Sharon from Curious Queendom nominated me for my first ever award (thanks for being there from the beginning) – this little beauty called Infinite Dreams Award.
From Dream to Plan nominated me for the very inspiring Versatile Blogger Award.
Ioana From Music Teacher Lifestyle nominated me for this super gorgeous award.
Daisy in the Willows nominated me for this epically awesome award.
All four blogs are worthy of a mention and great places to hang out. They’re unique and inspiring in their own way and are the definition of what makes blogging great. They’ve have been so supportive towards me with their comments. Thank you so much.
The awards all share similar rules so I’m going to do a mixture of them all…
The Rules
Thank your nominator and link their Blog on your post.
Answer the questions you feel cool answering or share facts about yourself
Come up with new questions or use the existing ones for your nominees
Let your nominees know. You can pick the number of nominees.
Things you need to know about me
I’m a sensory gal – I eat with my eyes; love sounds such as laughter, music, the rain; crave the feel of soft things on my skin; am seduced by smells such as fresh coffee and perfume; adore eating Thai food and totally love hugs.
My blog is where I write to inspire people to go out and find their happy place, find what makes their soul sing and find themselves along the way. My motivation is to make someone, somewhere smile every day.
I think you are all amazing. Believe it.
I’m addicted to quotes – I get excited when I find the perfect one for just the right occasion.
I love beautifully wrapped gifts – coordinated paper, bags, tissue and ribbon makes my heart do little star jumps.
I’m easily seduced by a pretty cocktail.
I dislike chick flicks – will always opt for the action movie.
My kids are my happy place. Period.
I have an eclectic taste in music – I can switch from classical movie soundtracks to Caro Emerald to Five Finger Death Punch to nineties hip hop to eighties hair metal, depending on my mood!
I still haven’t decided what I want to do when I grow up.
Blogs I think are worth checking out
Things I need to know about you
Name one amazing thing that has happened to you this week?
Where do you see yourself and your blog in five years time?
What’s your favourite colour and what does it make you think of?
If you were given an extra 12 hours tomorrow, how would you spend them?
Do you know someone who is awesome? Tell me and then tell them.
I know I totally broke all the rules by putting four awards on one post – but hey, isn’t that what blogging’s all about? Your story your way?
Anyway, the main reasons we do these awards are to share blogs worth sharing and to get to know each other better – and I believe I’ve done that with bells on!
I apologise if you’ve already been nominated or this just isn’t your bag, baby – I won’t be offended if you ignore it! But if you want to, you can choose one of these (or all) awards to claim for yourself.
I cannot wait to get you know better – drop me a message when you post.
Awesome and epic, versatile, lovely and infinite dreams are amazing things to be nominated for. However, I’m only as awesome as the readers who inspire me day after day to keep on writing – so thanks to my tribe out there, reading my stuff.
I’m so glad I found you 💋
Nicky xo
Wordless Wednesday
The Shimmer Within Her 