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Geraniums in my garden: a gratitude blog

There's a lot wrong with the world, but you know...there's a lot right with it too.

Life is a bitch sometimes and the only way we can accept that is to practice accepting life on life's terms.  I admit that I can be a bit of a diva and I definitely have a lot of feelings.  I am in recovery from a number of emotional issues...I have in the past wanted other people to take responsibility for my life and absolve me, but in attending 12 Step groups and through my faith in God, I have become a person who is a lot more functional.....

A daily gratitude journal is a wonderful way of seeing the positive in life and rising above my present circumstances.  I've had the good fortune to have a number of wonderful people in my life, including friends and family.  One of the people who I had a very close connection with was my beautiful Grandma, Hazel Cook.  She and I spoke often on the phone and she would say to me in her soothing voice, "nothing lasts forever, Deborah, dear.  Good, bad, or indifferent".  I adored talking to her when I was in my twenties, but I'd give anything to be able to speak to her in my thirties and forties, because she was so wise and so dryly funny.  I used to joke that if I rang her and told her that I had murdered someone, she would say "well, you have been under a lot of pressure, and I'm sure you didn't mean it!".

Geraniums and roses were part of Grandma's garden, along with mint and tomatoes.  She had a beautiful, thriving garden that was perfect for long afternoons reading a book, a rousing game of hide and seek, or whiling away the hours creating little fairy houses made of petals, moss and bark.  Whenever I see a geranium, a rose, smell or taste mint or tomatoes, I think of my Grandma and how lucky I was to be so adored by a wonderful woman, who I adored in return.



Every time I see a geranium, I am encouraged.  I want to be a geranium in your garden, and to acknowledge every day that I am blessed, in a non hashtag way!

Today I am grateful for: My physical health, my children, the people who love me, access to good health care for me and my kids, I am grateful that there are places I can go to be understood and people who get me.  I am grateful for Facebook and the access I have to online groups where I can talk about my truth.  I'm grateful for coincidences that mean that I live next door to a wonderful woman.  I am grateful that if I make a mistake I can apologise. I am grateful to have a roof over my head and my needs being met.

See you tomorrow for more gratitude.

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