Extreme Gratitude

We never know what a day will bring. Although a great barometer is what your attitude feels like when you jump out of bed in the morning.

For whatever reason, I bounded out of bed today with glee. Not a dance, with glee.

It was a solid warm sleep with sweet dreams, I didn’t hear raindrops on the coach house roof. I wasn’t running late.

I had time.

To savour the morning. 

I packed in the usual routine. When I opened the door I was greeted with a soft oasis of glimmering morning colours on the reflective light grey ocean.

Again, I had the time. To stop and pull the iPhone out and take a picture.

The morning row to shore reasoned peace with each dip of the oar. 

I was so grateful.

The stage was set. For a beautiful day.

Tonight I nestle in with the words extreme gratitude.

Money Rules

We’re born with nothing. When we die, we leave with nothing. How did the in-between get so muddled?

There’s this huge necessity for acquiring things and stuff. A car. A house with all that goes in it. The need for a vacation. Saving for retirement. Which adds up to financial pressure.

In the morning before I leave the boat I rub the Buddha’s belly. To remind myself to come back to the now and to put a smile on my face. Grateful for my health, my family and my friends. That’s what counts.

I grow tired listening to people complain about not having enough. Especially money.

Then I hear tales of survival in poverty pockets around the world. A woman who had to go to work so she could feed her children and tied her children to a tree because she didn’t have anyone to look after them.

Why does money rule? 

Grateful For Living

John told me today that he was lucky to be alive. That he savoured each day with gratitude. Some years ago he’d had half his intestine removed. Some kind of rare protein deficiency in his blood I believe.
John has a boathouse next to the one I am working in. This was a fruitful conversation as were accounting for doing things right. We both agreed that taking the time to do a job properly was better then going half ass. In this case we were referring to the job I was working on. It was an old boat. The varnish was badly checked. Instead of patching I’d started from the beginning. Stripped it all down and sanded it clean and smooth.
John left and the words “Life can change in a heartbeat,” echoed in my mind. We all know that.
I immediately thought of the day I had arrived home to a Tsunami warning sign posted on our security gate. As I hadn’t tuned into the radio, this came as a complete surprise. An earthquake in Chile the cause.
This led my thinking to the ash cloud, flooding, forest fires and hurricanes. Yes, life can change in a heartbeat, not only with your health - but with the world we live in. The world as we know it changed forever with 911.
I took a deep breath and carried on. Grateful for the opportunity to live today.