44 reasons to be grateful

Today is my 44th birthday. That must qualify as my mid-forties!  I'm probably getting close to being half way through my life.  Although I plan on living well into my nineties, if not to 100.  I think that would be fun.  I might get a letter from King William, himself!  Anyway, in celebration of my birthday I've made a list of 44 things that are a blessing to me and which make my life wonderful.  And my intention for the coming year is to live more gratefully, and more gracefully. 

'Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It's a way to live.' 

Jacqueline Winspear

1. I am exceptionally grateful for my husband, Glenn - his steady love, his hard work and his creative spirit.

2. I am grateful beyond words to have two healthy, happy, talented, beautiful daughters - Talya and Anika - they fill my heart, my days and our home with love and laughter.

3. I am extraordinarily grateful for my Mom, who gave me this life and who loves me exactly as I am.

4. I am infinitely grateful for my Dad, whose spirit lives on each day in my heart and whose memory I will cherish forever.

5. I am unbelievably grateful for my sister, Sarah whose generosity knows know limits, and who knows me better than anyone else in the world - she is my best friend.

5. I am eternally grateful for my brother, Raymond. He is the most steadfast man I know.

6. I am deeply grateful for my friends - far and near, old and new.

7. I am so very grateful for my health.  I am so blessed to be strong and fit. I will do whatever I need to nurture and maintain it.

8. I am incredibly grateful for Yoga - for all my teachers, and for the ancient wisdom which has been passed down through the generations and is available to us today. It has changed my life in so many ways.

9. I am grateful for my yoga students - who return each week to my classes and who remind me why I love to share the joy of Yoga.

10. I am grateful for Shelby, the most beautiful Birman in the world.

11. I am grateful for books, for writers and for the joy of language, words and stories.

12. I am grateful for our local library - and for the greater Auckland City Library service!

13. I am grateful for the internet - information, communication, connection - the world at the touch of a button.

14. I am grateful for our home - and for the Home we are going to build in the coming year - a place to put down some roots.

15. I am grateful for my South Africanness - my birth place, my roots, my history, my first home.

16. I am grateful for New Zealand - the place I live, my second home, the Land of the Long White Cloud, the place of a thousand shades of green.

17. I am grateful for international air travel!

18. I am grateful for our school, the opportunities it gives our kids, the wonderful teachers and especially the Montessori class!

19. I am grateful for my comfortable bed, and the blessing of a good night sleep.

In addition to all of the above, I am very grateful for 

20. sunshine - nothing feels better than the feeling of warm rays on bare skin.

21. fresh air and healthy lungs

22. long walks on Muriwai Beach, in fact any beach - especially at low tide

23. invigorating swims in the sea

24. butternut soup on a cold winter's night

25. homebaking

26. denim jeans

27. painted toes

28. a warm shower in the morning

29. clean sheets

30. new undies

31. red wine

32. dark chocolate

33. sauvignon blanc on a sunny day

34. fresh vegetables - pumpkin, aubergine, zucchini, capsicum, tomatoes, ....

35. fresh fruit - feijoas, pineapple, crunchy apples, peaches, plums...

36. fresh herbs, especially basil, coriander, rosemary and parsley

37. roast chicken

38. espresso coffee - 'flat white'

39. my Pandora bracelet!

40. my thick, dark brown hair

41. my walking shoes

42. hugs

43. hand written letters and cards

44. birthday celebrations!

Happy Birthday Me!