I read a post by a friend of mine, who has an amazing blog called The Last Krystallos (please check it out). In the post Lisa talks about “the little things” in life that sometimes don’t get noticed. Her words really hit me and as I pondered them, I realised I was oblivious to the little things sometimes.
For example, I noticed today that quite a few of the daffodils that line my garden path, have started to shrivel up. I stared at them, wondering did I really appreciate them when they were in full bloom? Is it just me or is spring just zooming past?
As I pondered their dying beauty, I couldn’t help but wonder if we are sometimes in too much of a hurry to notice the great blessings we have in our lives, or too focused on the hardships. As I write these words, my kids are bouncing happily on the trampoline (best £80 I’ve ever spent), I’m about to start cooking dinner, and Stephen has almost finished work for the day.
I have a habit of counting my annoyances rather than my blessings. The amount of times, I’ve actually listed all the things in my life that are undesirable and making my life hard. A symptom of depression no doubt and often a trigger for my anxiety, but that exercise, I suspect, has little benefit to me. I really want to, whilst things are feeling a little better mentally, work on this.
By the time, I’ve reached this paragraph, my kids have argued over something or other, Twin Two has come off the trampoline crying because it got a bit rough for him, and I’ve realised I turned the knob the wrong way for the potatoes, so they’re cooking on number one. Annoyances indeed.
Okay, anyway, I’ve decided to start a “count my blessings” list on Google docs (other word processing apps are available). I might give this a go for one week and post my findings. It can be like an experiment. Seriously, who wants to join in with this? Anyone?
I’m going to start with:
1. Daffodils that are still in full bloom.
2. Dry weather for my kids to play outside.
(My kids do own shoes, I promise!)
And... go! Let's See what happens.