Reasons to smile

My last two blogposts have been distinctly less than cheery. I make no apology for that: too much online presence, particularly on social media, presents an overly glamourised version of reality and I have always aspired for this blog to be an honest reflection of reality. 

That said, my life also remains filled with joy and laughter and many blessings for which I am incredibly grateful so in the name of balance now feels like an appropriate moment to share a long overdue blog post that's been unfinished in my drafts folder for a while.

There are always reasons to smile ... even in the cold, dreary winter months! But sometimes we do have to remind ourselves to seek them out, or at least to recognise them. Following previous incarnations of various joy / gratitude journals, when the nights started drawing in and the clocks changed, I started another.

My intention was to continue until the clocks changed back again but I realised I was going to run out of pages in my notebook so instead, I made the final entry on 22.02.2022 

Some days I had to think harder than others but there was never a day with nothing to say. Some are big things: news, achievements, events, celebrations. Many more are little things: sunshine after the rain, a passing affirmative comment, a favourite dish, flowers heralding spring, a moment of shared laughter, coming in from the cold to a hot cup of tea. On some days it is a perhaps slightly incongruous mix of the two. It is a varied and wide ranging collection which captures something of the beauty of nature, my gratitude for the many privileges of my comfortable life, and perhaps more than anything the love and friendship of the many wonderful people I share my life with. And now it stands as a reminder of the many things which filled me with joy and with gratitude.

I ran out of pages, I stopped taking the time each day to make a note: but I haven't run out of reasons to smile.