#Gratitude Challenge Day 11

This is a 14-day gratitude challenge. You can read more about it here: Personal Excellence.

Day 11: List 3 Things You Tend to Take For Granted

This is a really hard one for me. I don't generally take things for granted. I don't assume that this or that will "certainly" be here tomorrow. We've lost everything, had to rebuild our lives, more times than I can count, it seems.

The things that I come the closest to taking for granted at this point in my life or have taken for granted in the past, I guess, would be as follows:

Monet "Sunrise" @wpclipart.com

1. There will be a new day. Like the song says "The sun will come out tomorrow." However, we aren't guaranteed tomorrow, so we shouldn't take it for granted. We should live and love like this is our last moment on earth.

2. Grandparents live forever As a child, I couldn't imagine ever being without my grandparents. I had never met death and so didn't think about it happening to them someday. We are mortal beings, so they didn't live forever, at least not here on earth. They are alive and well with our Heavenly Father.

3. Health. Although I started out life with respiratory issues, I never could have imagined as a child the health issues that I am facing today. As far as I know, COPD didn't even have a name when I was a kid. I've abused my body in a multitude of ways and it has been abused by others. I can't just assume that everything will be fine tomorrow. COPD is progressive; it will just get worse.

Ways to address the above issues:

1. I will try to be more into the current moment and make sure that my loved ones know how much they mean to me.

2. I can't change my childhood thoughts regarding my grandparents. However, learning from them that no one lives forever, I should pay more attention to those that are here with me now and, again, let them know how much I love them.

3. I will continue to research ways to improve our diets, ultimately achieving a pure vegan lifestyle. I will continue to do what I can to reduce my exposure to harmful chemical fumes. I will increase the breathing exercises that are meant to increase my lung capacity. I will also continue to try to find ways to earn money from home so that we can move to a more rural area, out of the shadows of the coal plant that is within sight of our home.


Daily Journaling: Three Things I am Thankful for Today

1. I am thankful for reliable transportation.
2. I am thankful for newborn kitties (we have 4 new ones!)
3. I am thankful for the rain that we have been getting over the last week.