Todays little gratitude challenge is to spend 5 minutes writing about all the wonderful things you currently have in your life – not things you want, but things you already have…..

A buddy of mine who is also doing the challenge is writing ten things each day he grateful for, so I will follow his lead today and write 10 wonderful things in my life.

I’m going to not mention any people or things, just circumstances….:

1. I get to choose each day how I will spend it.  Being recently retired you do find that you are sometimes busier than what you expect, but that is often a good thing as you can say no or you can say yes.
2. I go into my shed and am grateful that I have a lot of tools and projects to do.  It is my intention to die with at least 10 projects on the go.
3. I am pretty physically okay.  Yeah, I smoke, still, but I am still here and know that my health really is the most important thing to have a happy and active retirement.
4. I am constantly finding new and interesting things to read.  Just lately I have discovered new genre of novel and a few non-fiction books.  I am also finding that they are cheaper and I have learnt to read them on an ipad which I don’t mind as you can read a night without a light and highlight and save text.
5. I am enjoying learning to drive and use my new Kubota!!
6. I really enjoy talking about and planning the things we are going to do around the new house and garden – a big job but one I am looking forward to.
7. I am really enjoying doing more writing.  I am doing a bit of everything including this!
8. I am meditating more and enjoying it – I really think it makes a difference.
9. I am happy with not keeping up with current affairs and watching the news.  It is not that the news troubles me, it is the reporting and sensationalising that gets me going.  I don’t need that in my life – and if it is something important enough someone will tell me.
10. I like to enjoy being with the people I am with and not worrying about those I am not.  We so often wreck an interaction because someone didn’t call us for a while, or when scheduled, or visit, instead of just enjoying the moment when they do.

I just wrote my little descriptions above and decided I would try and get it into a list of one word to best describe what I was really grateful for from each set of circumstances:

1. Choices
2. Projects
3. Healthy
4. Reading
5. Learning
6. Gardening
7. Writing
8. Meditating
9. Positivity
10. Appreciative

Being grateful and showing gratitude, even if it is by not complaining, does make you feel better.