17 things to be grateful for

1. So, I am grateful that I can sit down and type away on my computer connecting to those that are reading this blog and having a moment also thinking about their own gratitude. Which is something that I do every time I read someone elses "I am grateful blog". Gratitude is a skill that builds resilience. And I could lament about my leg being painful to walk on as much as my horse's abscess is preventing him from skipping about, but instead we both lie down and stop... waiting to heal.

2. I am grateful that I am resilient, despite sometimes being a little complainer about life, I do more than survive. So I am grateful that I thrive and flourish as much as my children do too.

3. Stopping to write, I realised that it was the 17th Day of the 7th Month and I was thinking about how much has changed in a week. Most especially as Oli (my oldest son) turned 17 on Friday. And with his new found freedom (Licence to drive) he went off to visit family in Auckland. So I am grateful for the wisdom of 17, a year of learning to drive, a year of being an adult and all the new things that he has had to learn. So I am grateful that he is safe, free and happy in his life.

4. I am grateful that my son (Oskar) has prioritised church on a Sunday and I am accompanying him. A few weeks in and we are starting to see people we know from the community and I am honoured to be a part of the community here in Mangawhai. I am still unable to sing as I choke up with joy during worship.

5. The sunshine, today I am grateful for extra sunshine and that the horses get a break from the rain. Our paddocks start to dry out a little. Whilst also being grateful for the rain for our water tanks.

6. My health, after having covid a week ago, I am glad to have recovered and am grateful for the time off with the boys to get a few things done around the house, once the lethargy subsided.

7. I am grateful that my equine therapy business is growing. The networking of colleagues also stretching out beyond our shores (NZ) as we open up again to the world and the possibilities of connecting with others overseas in person doing this work.

8. I love that I spent a bit of time networking before Covid and have some lovely friends abroad who keep me alive with their conversation and musings and are aligned to who I am today.

9. Whilst loving the new friends. I am truly grateful for my old friends, some as old as me and going out for dinner together. For being able to socialise with old and new.

10. I am grateful to be living in the countryside, by the beach - actually to be living in Te Arai is a blessing. My turangawaewae. Which is always fulfilling.

11. I am grateful that I know how to override autocorrect. LOL - or simply that I don't take myself too seriously and can let go of things that I cannot change. Even if those things present themselves as if I could control them. So I am grateful to let life just happen.

12. I am very grateful that I know how to cook, to make yummy food and be creative in what I and the boys have to make. At the same time, I am also very grateful that the boys are earning money as they have expensive taste and they couldn't do what they love without that extra pocket money coming in.

13. I enjoyed last night an evening to myself, watching what I liked on the TV. But more importantly just the silence...

14. I am grateful that I have a youthful outlook. Not showing my age, despite my occassional physical limitations. I expect to play and dance. I am grateful for fun.

15. I am grateful for support. Support from others in the different areas that I am interested in. That, that support flows freely, be it that I want to jump higher or ride in the forest at a walk, or to excel in my studies and create new opportunities for myself, I am grateful to those who help me get there. Who support me in my journey of life.

16. I am grateful for my gorgeous Tilly dog, who makes me laugh as she greets everyone with her smile and sneezes. It was cute to hear from one of the Horsome children who visit and learn about the horses. That their dog doesn't bark, she just sneezes instead to say hello. That is cute.

17. I am truly grateful that I feel safe and secure. That is a wonderful thing. That although there are many atrocities happening around the world and in our own country. That I feel safe.

I think I could write more things to be grateful for now that I have got past Number 17. But I will stop there.... Writing what one feels grateful for truly lifts my heart up and makes me content with being exactly as I am in the moment on a sunny, Sunday.