Gratitude

I have something to be thankful for every day. However, I do not take the time every day to express my thanks. In New Zealand we have been blessed with decisive leadership amidst the coronavirus pandemic, which has meant we have been out of lockdown for just over a year. This means we are able to meet in person with family and friends, something many around the world are only just beginning to be able to do again. As well as this, I have a full-time job working with good people which allows me to pay my rent and have food to eat. I have time to play my guitar, and write stories, books, and poetry. I am allowed keep fit by playing ultimate frisbee, and am able to be part of our congregation, meeting at church and praying.

What I have decided to do, is start my day by expressing thanks for at least one thing, even in my groggy waking up state. I will also end my day in the the same way, as part of my bed-time routine. This post is my way of reminding myself of this effort.

Today I am thankful for a supportive church congregation. I found out at the music team rehearsal before the service that I would be singing as well as playing the guitar for the second half of our service.

Playing the guitar and singing is something I practice, and I am reasonably comfortable doing it with songs I know. But, preparing to play and sing unfamiliar songs is a very different thing to preparing only to play the guitar. Following the chord chart, while reading the lyrics, and singing, is something I need to practice at least the day before, if not for several days beforehand. So then, the support before the service from our music director – who is also a good friend, and from others after the service, saying I had played and sung well, helped me move positively into the rest of my day.

For the rest of the day I had planned to move through the last 2,500 words of the current edit of my novel manuscript, write and publish this blog post, and learn a little bit about Ancient Greece by running around it a little bit (playing Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey). Instead I went out for lunch with a good friend, went to the Royal New Zealand Air Force Band free concert for the currently running Jazz Festival, then spent time afterwards discussing the merits of sermons, lectures, and tutorials, as different methods of learning, over a coffee. When I got home after all this, I edited one scene of my novel, wrote this blog post, plugged my electric guitar in and jammed out a bit, had a lovely conversation with someone from church, and watched an episode of Taskmaster with my flatmates. Not exactly what I had planned, but time well spent all the same.

I am thankful for being able to make these choices in how I spend time, especially when I need do less intellectually demanding tasks.

I am also thankful for each and every one of you, taking the time to read this post.

Thank you, dear friend.

* * *

What are you thankful for this week?

* * *

Take time to appreciate, and keep on keeping on being awesome.

PEACE.

Cover photo by wewe yang from Pexels.

Advertisement