Decades Of Gratitude

I’m blogging through Julie Hester ‘s 7 Days of Gratitude with the prompts suggested by her. Today I’m sharing going into my past looking at decades of gratitude.

Decades Of Gratitude

Make a list of every decade of your life: ages 0-10, 11-20, etc. For each decade list the people, places, objects and learnings you were grateful for then, or are grateful for now, as you look back.

I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and travelled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.

Oliver Sacks

0-10

My parents. Siblings. My grandparents. Uncles and aunts. Cousins. Teachers. Memories of being loved and protected. Finding my love of reading and of dogs. All the homes and towns we lived in. Memorable experiences. Laughter.

11-20

Changes big and small – both within me and in our circumstances. But some fantastic experiences too. This is the time I began to make friends that were a part of my life for many years. I had wonderful spiritual experiences too. Life wasn’t easy though, and a lot of what went on in those years impacted me. Looking back, I’m grateful for these times too. I learned a lot.

21-30

Most of my time was spent working, but I enjoyed my work and had wonderful colleagues, many of who continue to be in touch with me to this day.

31-40

This was a time of adventure when I took the road less travelled and worked towards reinventing myself. It took courage. Grateful for the support of my parents.

Also, probably the darkest days of my life. I made several bad choices. Invested in relationships that hurt me deeply. But again, I’m grateful, because through it all I learned to value myself more.

41-50

I found love. Got married. Moved cities. Renovated our house. Got ourselves a lovely dog – Pablo. There were a lot of difficult days too – surgeries, illnesses and accidents -but we survived – got help, found support. And then, quite on the spur of the moment, we moved cities again. No matter what, I’m grateful for it all, especially that I found love and my best friend in one package! 😉

I also discovered writing and blogging and what a journey it’s been.

51 onwards

Another time of loss and grief – the passing of my parents – and also the loss of the idea of family. And the unmasking of a lot of people I looked up to.

But I’m grateful that I stood up – finally. Grateful to have my husband in my corner, helping me to keep things real.

Once again I’m grateful for my writing, my blogging and everything that I am learning every day.

At 56, I’m so glad to be alive and blessed that I can look back on the 5 plus decades with deep gratitude.