The Gratitude List

Gratitude - noun 
       The quality of being thankful ; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness






There are lot of things in my life that I take for granted, be it people or things I consider to be essential parts of daily life. I came up with a list of 10 things or people that I feel I should be appreciating more, obviously there are many more that could be added but these were just the first 10 that came to mind.


1. My family - I'm so lucky to have such a supportive and loving family who have helped me through a lot of rough patches which I can't imagine was easy for them,

2. My boyfriend - potentially a bit cliche but I'm honestly so grateful for everything that he does for me, and to be with someone who's so incredibly caring, loving and genuine and makes me more happy than I could ever imagine possible.

3. My friends- when I moved to uni I really found out who my real friends were, which didn't turn out to be that many. But the friends I've made through uni are like a second family, I'm lucky to live with three amazing friends and have so many more who are so supportive and funny, when you're away from home your friends kind of become like an extended family and I'm so grateful for that.

4. My senses - I've worn glasses since I was 12, but I didn't really think that I should be appreciating my senses until I started dramatically losing my eyesight. As I'm coming to terms with having to learn how to deal with being visually impaired I'm realising how grateful I should be that I can hear, and taste and all those other things that just seem to be there everyday.

5. Education - not everyone will have the same educational opportunities that I've had, some haven't even had the chance to go to school at all. Education has given me that chance to have the aspirations that I have, and to learn.  I can't lie and say that I loved being in school, but I loved learning, and I still do. There's so much to learn about the world.

6. Internet - now I can see how you could say this is a little pathetic, but without the internet I'd have no blog, and to say that I'm proud of my blog is a bit of an understatement! I love blogging, and writing and the internet has introduced me to so many things that without I'd never had the opportunity to try. Not to mention that Skype exists for when I'm away from home.

7. Running water - I feel like something so simple as running water that I've always had in the house goes almost unnoticed, but compared to some parts of the world it's pretty amazing that we can just turn a tap on and have drinking water. I definitely don't appreciate the little things enough.

8. The comfortable life I live - although I watch my spending, I've never been in a position where I don't have any money at all, which makes me incredibly grateful. I've always got enough money for essentials, and I'm particularly grateful that I've never been put in a 'not enough money for food' situation.

9. Food - along a similar line to the previous one, I've so incredibly grateful and lucky that I've never gone without food. I find myself not appreciating food as much as I should do, I should be more thankful for what I eat, and respect my body with the right foods more as I'm lucky enough to have that choice.

10. The small things - I said that I don't appreciate the little things enough, and I really don't. Fresh fruit smoothies, sunshine, Autumn leaves, big salad bowls, books, Spring time... All things that make me fuzzy and happy inside but things that I don't really appreciate the way I should.


What things or people in your life are you grateful for?

Em x

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