an attitude of gratitude

I have a LOT to be grateful for.  Three happy, healthy, beautiful, and intelligent daughters.  A loving and supportive partner who respects me.  A vibrant and beautiful mother who just stared down cancer and sent it running for the hills. True, loyal friends. A roof over my head and food on the table.  A job that helps pay the bills.  And an awesome cat! :) Does all this make my life perfect?  Of course not!!  I have anxieties, insecurities, worries and fears, just like ALL of us.  But I strive, as best I can, to keep a positive attitude.  Admittedly, there are days when this is easy to do, other days, not so much.  Lord knows, current events in the world of late have put all of us to the test when it comes to keeping an upbeat attitude - but when I started this blog, I made a conscious decision to keep the tone positive here.  It's not that I'm taking a hide-your-head-in-the-sand attitude, and please don't call me a Pollyanna - believe me, I'm MORE than aware of the ever-more-prevalent struggles the world faces as a whole, and of the private battles we ALL fight as individuals, on one level or another.

So do I sometimes think twice then, about the relevancy of a blog I started to basically talk about my hair? You bet I do.  But on the other hand....this can also be a little escape hatch, if you will, which I can turn to as a pleasurable outlet when times are good - OR bad.  And in turn, perhaps the same for you, in some small way. So I'm just going to keep plugging along here...yep, with an attitude of gratitude.

Have you ever heard of a happiness (or gratitude) jar?

A jar of happiness! (Source)

They first came to my attention through my favourite writer, Elizabeth Gilbert. The premise is simple - at the end of every day, write down one thing on a scrap of paper that made you happy (or grateful) that day, and pop it in the jar.  At the end of the year, you should have a years worth of happiness/gratitude to reflect upon!  A great idea in principle - but I must admit, I have yet to start one.  However, I do have this blog...and it occurred to me that over the last few weeks, I've been reminded by a few events in my life that I do have MUCH to be grateful for (besides the list I opened this post with) - and I may just be sharing some of them here as a sort of "virtual" happiness jar (and in the process, sharing a few practical things with you too!) :)

In the meantime...how about you?  What do you have to be grateful for? :)