Thirty One Thankyous

Well before I get  to the summing up a month of gratitude part, just had to share what Liongirl and I fossicked up at the op shop today. We were, in our favour, dropping off some baby toys, curtains and a big bag of miscellanea. It does appear to take two of those whopper D batteries so we are not sure if it works but for $3 it had to come home. In fact even the box was cute.

Unbelievably something amazing popped up at the Salvos just in time for my birthday in a few weeks. Cannot wait to bring it home, just need to find the right moment to tell Legoman that he needs to nip down there on the weekend with the trailer........

We had a girls crafty kind of day today. Very much inspired by our other op shop find-  a very cool retro book all about shapes. Time for a shape inspired art work. I helped with a lot of the snipping but miss Liongirl's prowess with the scissors is quite astounding. The only problem is that she does tend to just keep going and going until all that is left is a pile of confetti.

So, what about my pledge to 365 days of thankyou notes? Handwritten snippets of gratitude snail-mailing their way around the country. Well amazingly I am on track, thirty one cards completed. I have taken time to appreciate and thank friends, family, kindy teachers, swim coaches and neighbours. Many of these wonderful people have then taken the time to either phone, text or email me with gratitude for the kind words that I have sent their way.

I have not written one a day, usually I will sit down at night, get in the zone and write three or four. Being in the zone of this concentrated positivity seems to be having a very powerful flow on effect on my general thinking about my life. I would not describe myself as a natural optimist. I am enthusiastic and love to see change and improvement but the analytical aspect of my personality means that I am prone to dwelling, ruminating and preparing for the worst possible scenario. Only now I am learning to focus the intensity of my thoughts in a stronger, more positive and meaningful way.

I have a huge list of people still to thank, but little worried thoughts do crop up. Will  I run out of people to send cards to? Will it diminish the value and meaning of my cards if the recipient knows I am doing a gratitude project? Most amazingly, some very positive moments have also popped into my life this month.

After nearly a year completely stalled on what to do with Betsy, in the last month we have installed new blinds, met with a building designer, picked and eaten our first cucumber and surprisingly, I won a fantastic blog giveaway- something I really wanted and needed. And just wait until you see that Salvos special coming home for my birthday. These experiences were by no means the desired intention for this project, but they are greatly appreciated. Anyone inspired yet? Perhaps just start with one card and see where it leads you.

Gratefully yours, Mel.