7 for SEVEN: A gratitude practice

Hello again my loves, I am so filled with gratitude for you.

We are off to a great start for 2017. The first week is history. Things are kinda settling back into normal routines as the school term opens this week. This means more traffic on the roads here…but I digress. I feel like this is the week, the year really gets started.

…every Monday, we post seven positives from the previous seven days of the week as a reminder of what we have so that the week starts out on an upswing. There is much truth in the belief that happy people attract good things, so it is important to start the week out right. Sometimes it’s the more grand, but other times, it’s the simple things.~ Key + Arrow

7 for Seven originated at Key + Arrow and now let’s get into my 7 for this week:

Weekends.

Friday was the kind of work day that makes you grateful for the respite of Saturday. I felt like I earned a month’s alary on that day alone. But I survived and guess what, I get to do it all over again today. Ha! However, I am grateful that I have a job to go to when the me-time of the weekend is over.

Coffee with friends all year round.

The Christmas season is the time of the year when most people catch up with or make the extra effort to see family and friends. I am grateful that I have a tight cohort of awesome family, and friends who are family, who make the time to connect all year round.

Beach Please.

I am thankful for ‘Beach Please’ messages that get answered with a ‘Let’s go!’ I love that I live on an island in the sun that is so small (a good and a bad thing sometimes) it only takes a 45-minute drive to the soothing sound of waves crashing. I am ever grateful for friends who are always down for an adventure.

Belly laughs.

During my morning walk on Saturday, I met one of my friends on the hill and we just fell into step and continued the journey chatting to the top. On the way back down the conversation got to football (soccer for some of you) and favourite ‘man-crushes’. Side note: Trini men will only ever talk openly about man-crushes when it relates to sports…mostly football.

Anyways, he mentioned his all time favourite, who happens to me mine as well. But he is an Arsenal fan *side eye* so his second favourite is Thierry Henry. I responded, (with my bad self) with this quizzical look on my face…Meh…Thierry??? Ugh, I not impressed. The man literally took off downhill in a sprint and I heard the words – Don’t diss Thierry!!! in his wake. I laughed so hard, I was wheezing! These fragile Trini male egos. I am laughing now as I type this. That reaction was priceless; and no…he never stopped.

Living out Loud. 

God has a way of sending you messages. I had this post scheduled before the Golden Globe Awards last night. And it was written with this quote I found that describes perfectly how I’m trying to live my life and what I strive to do every day to create such a life. French novelist, Émile Zola said, “If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.”

And then Viola Davis had this to say as she presented the Cecil B. DeMille Award to Meryl Streep: “You make me proud to be an artist. You make me feel like what I have in me is enough. My body, my face, my age, is enough.” And she went on to say that Meryl encapsulates Émile’s quote perfectly and I was like…hey! I just found that quote and started reading up on him. What are the odds? So I came back to edit this portion to add this bit and you can watch Viola here.

Coffee presents.

As you get older, Christmas becomes less about receiving gifts and more about giving – whether it is spending time with loved ones, or something more tangible. So it always special when I am the recipient of a thoughtful gift and when that gift happens to be coffee – I am over the moon happy. Extra points for it being from a local roaster!

You.

And finally, I am grateful for you dear reader, for taking the time to read, comment, support and encourage me. This blogging community is everything. Thank you. I see you and, I appreciate you.

I hope that by continuing to pay attention to the little things, the mundane details that make up all the blessings in my life and by sowing the seeds of faith and gratitude, I can truly carry with me and reap the rewards of “positivity + balance + bliss” throughout the days ahead.

Thank you for reading, I appreciate you! This is me blowing some glitter and confetti on you because you’re super blessed to have received the gift of another 86,400 seconds today, to spend any way you desire.

Make those seconds count!

I love hearing from you…what are you grateful today? How has 2017 started for you? Feel free to share below!