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| Grateful for the light that comes in through this window. Favourite seat in the house. |
I’m so late to this party that it almost feels like I shouldn’t be getting out of the cab to knock on the door. I read an article this morning about #365 grateful and immediately decided I wanted to do it. And then I watched this clip with Sam Worthington and it sealed the deal.
“We’re all racing to get to the end of it. We all know what’s going to happen at the damn end, so why aren’t we slowing down and appreciating the detail and the simplicity of the stuff around us.”
The best thing about the internet is that it’s always there. The worst thing about the internet is that it’s always there. You don’t get to the last article, walk outside and throw it in the recycling. I read books on my ipad with social media flickering behind me. I write blogs and articles while my phone lights up, beeps, and notifies me of its existence. I am constantly distracted. And when I’m not distracted about the right now, I’m busy thinking about the what if when. The what if when is a killer.
Well, what if when it comes time to…
G and I went out for a coffee a couple of weeks ago. We talked about holiday plans, tickets to Australia at Christmas, what to do for Spring Break, and then wondered when the school would notify us of next years start date so we could think about early flight bookings. A little bit later I mentioned to G that time was moving too fast, that I wanted it to slow down. “Well, look what we’ve just done? We’ve just finished making plans for the next 12 months.” Plans that we would now wish the time away waiting for.
“8 more weeks until we head back to Australia kids!” And the countdown begins.
I’m going to take a photo each day. I’ll put it at the top of the blog with a little caption to the picture. If I’m going to slow things down I need to take time to reflect. Time to be grateful. Time to stand still.
While time rushes past, I’m going to try and grab it; just even for a second, a moment or a minute. I’m going to be conscious and grateful.
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I wrote this post last week. Then I read this wonderful post. Coincidence? I think not….. http://lifewithadoublebuggy.blogspot.nl/2013/10/freeze-day.html Starting today my own 365grateful …. Thank you!!
I love this idea. I had my own breakdown (or as some of my followers are encouraging me think of it) breakthrough this week and I came to the startling realisation that we just *might* be trying to do too much. I think that being an expat adds a level of complexity to already complex everyday parenting lives. We have to plan trips back to the family, deal with moves, changing jobs, changing cultures, changing school systems and somehow fit in the daily worries of what will go in the lunchbox tomorrow. And often there is no one there to help us get from A to Z other than ourselves. We survive by running forwards, scared that if we stop to think about things, we’ll realise just what it is we have taken on and end up scaring ourselves half to death…or maybe that is just me.
So I love this idea. Taking a moment to snap a shot, savour the activities or non-activities in the house and focus on the here and now, I need to do this. And making it just a moment, and not an hour long contemplation makes it seem doable.
Thanks for sharing!
What a great idea, to take a photo every day – just to stop long enough to look, think. I wander around with a notebook and try to do that with my writing, but it doesn’t always work (there is a limit to how many times I can write about the rain!)
Looking forward to your pics.
Very true! Sometimes we need a reminder to stop and smell the roses…
Love it Amanda. I’ll be checking in. xx