Things I am grateful for this year...

I'm not a big one for new year celebrations. I try (!) to approach each day, and if desperate, each hour as a fresh beginning, rather than seeing the changing of years as a time to make changes. I say try, as it doesn't always work.

No matter what my day has been like, I take time each evening to reflect on things I am grateful for. I decided on New Year's Eve I should reflect on just a few of the writerly things I am grateful for in 2011.

• Generosity, laughter and support from friends and family

 

• Enthusiastic and supportive students and teachers.

•  Melbourne Writer's Festival Regional Tour

    

• Supportive & generous fellow children's and y.a. authors and bloggers.

• Talented and hardworking editors - Mab!

• New editions and new books

• Time and a place to write

  

• Inspiration 

And then there are all the incredible things in my non-professional life that I am truly grateful for...

I am a very lucky person.

Wishing you much peace, happiness and abundance in 2012.

Time to take stock...

This morning when I sat at my desk, I looked out the window and marvelled at the beauty of the day.
And then I thought of friends, reeling after a heartbreaking tragedy on the weekend.
Six lives, gone.
Countless friends and families devastated.
A cruel, cruel accident that is impossible to comprehend.
Life is fickle and heartbreaking and again I am reminded of the importance of gratitude and of making the most of every moment.
I am grateful for:
my daughter's laugh
blue skies
my husband's sense of humor
honey eaters resting on the fence outside my window
my niece's wicked giggle
my friends
my family
my home
my life...

The Big Stuff

 Since reading a few years ago, about the benefits of focusing on gratitude, I've been keeping a gratitude diary.
Each night before I go to sleep, I list at least five things that I'm grateful for. Some days the list fills a page, other days reaching five can be a challenge. (You know the days!).
My diary is nothing flash - a spiral bound notebook - and the entries are often scrawled and are always simple.
So today I thought I'd list a few things I'm grateful for, in no particular order...

• Calls and messages from friends to say,'Thinking of you!'
• Our resident frog's song during the drizzle.
• My two year-old niece's comment 'It's my birthday next week. Don't forget!'
• My daughter's delightful laugh, nearly always provoked by my husband's sense of humour.
• My brother's hilarious Facebook posts.
• My nephew's delight at finding green and purple berries on a bush.
• Footy starts this week!!
• Ideas coming together on the page.
• Blue skies (just looked out my window)

For me, a pathological list keeper, a gratitude list helps me focus on the simple stuff - the important things in life. What are you grateful for?