30 Days of Gratitude Day 29 #30daysofgratitude

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to put my feet up. Mostly because it rarely happens! Like most working parents I am always on the go. In fact I spent the entire Easter Weekend working. Pretty sucky. But I did get my novel away and get a lot done. But life is about more than career and ticking off your to do list. Life is about joy and happiness. My happiest times are always with my boys. So this week I will be finding the time to put my feet up and relax. If my workload and baby allow it, I will be grateful.

30 days of gratitude

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What are you grateful for?

 

 

30 Days of Gratitude Day 28 #30daysofgratitude

Today I am grateful for art. While I don’t find a lot of time to do my own art much, I still find joy in others. I love art galleries and museums. Discovering new artists is also one of my favourite things. Below is some of my art which I did years ago. I am going to make sure that I start drawing more this year. The last picture is a drawing of my son and I by Holly Thomas. I love it and we have it framed and on display. It was a wonderful present from Holly.

art catherinebalavageartist cathernebalavageart

hollyart

 

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What are you grateful for?

 

 

30 Days of Gratitude Day 26 #30daysofgratitude

Today I am grateful for social media. Social media is not perfect. It can stop us engaging with the real world and make our concentration worse. But as a self employed freelancer and a (relatively) new mum, I love it. For those who work from home, the internet is like our working office, those on Twitter and Facebook our work colleagues. It stops us feeling alone. We feel connected. Social media has become the social register of our times, a way of keeping up with friends and family. It has negatives but it also allows anyone to promote themselves and have their voice heard. While some of those people may be trolls, many others are good, decent people. I have met some of my friends on social media and my husband added me on Facebook the day we met, hurrying the dating process along. Social media has made the world more democratic, and for that we should all be grateful.

social media 30 days of gratitude

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What are you grateful for?

 

 

30 Days of Gratitude Day 25 #30daysofgratitude

Today I am grateful for the long weekend. Four days of family bliss. Happy Easter everyone.

easterbunnyphotocredit-wikipedia

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What are you grateful for?

 

 

30 Days of Gratitude Day 22 #30daysofgratitude

30 days of gratitude, #30daysofgratitudeToday the world woke up to the terrorist attacks in Brussels. It seems that a week does not pass without some awful terrorist attack somewhere. Last week it was Istanbul where a suicide bomber killed three Israelis and an Iranian. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said that Turkey is “awash with terrorism” and the President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would use all its military and intelligence might to battle “one of the biggest and bloodiest terrorist waves in its history”. Why is this in my gratitude series? It is a good question, but a harder one was what to choose to be grateful for today. The flip side to terrorism, to death and pain is joy and life. I am grateful for that. For kindness, for every breathe. Today as I watched the news of the terrorist attacks in Brussels on the BBC I looked at my nearly one-year-old son. As he watched the screen he did not know what was happening. He was just fascinated by the lights and the noise. A panic started to rise in me. What kind of world is my son growing up in? The thought made me feel sad and I felt even more protective towards this beautiful little bundle.

But we must find the positive. The beauty in life. We must carry on and not let the terrorists win. They want us to be scared. To feel fear and change our behaviour. To hate each other and be sad. But we won’t. We will persevere. We will find the joy, the love, we will carry on with our lives. Today I am grateful for that.

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What are you grateful for?

 

 

30 Days of Gratitude Day 21 #30daysofgratitude

Today I am grateful for walking. The health benefits of a walk are numerous, and I also find it helps me clear my mind. My son also likes to nap in the pram so it is how I get a break. When I have a lot of work on I will go for a walk through the park to a coffee shop or café. Usually by the time I get there the baby is asleep and I can get some work done. The baby also loves walks, he looks around and finds everything fascinating. It also helps to work off some of the many biscuits I eat. London is beautiful and I love walking around, taking in all of the history. It makes me feel very grateful indeed.

Gillray's Steakhouse and Bar view London Eye

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What are you grateful for?

 

 

 

30 Days of Gratitude Day Twenty #30daysofgratitude

Today I am grateful for good manners. I see a lot of stuff on social media, or overhear conversations where people complain about the lack of manners in today’s society. And that is sometimes true, but in my experience there are plenty of people with good manners. For every person who does not thank you when you open the door for them (yell ‘you’re welcome’ at them. It’s really satisfying) there are people who go out of their way for you. I remember struggling to get the pram and the shopping through the door of my apartment block and having a man in a van stop, roll down the window, and ask if he could help. I told him it was okay as I did not want to inconvenience him, but another two people also offered to help in this instance. I see a lot of this when I am out and about with my son. People holding doors, smiling, offering to help with shopping, even giving advice. It makes me happy. The worst is when people are not only rude, but also ungrateful. Ingratitude is one of the worst traits a person can have. So let’s all think of some things we are grateful for today. It leaves you feeling happier and healthier. Promise.

pee1_Sunsetswim_1

 

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What are you grateful for?

 

30 Days of Gratitude Day Eighteen #30daysofgratitude

Catherine Balavage, 30 days of gratitude, #30daysofgratitude , musicToday I am grateful for music. I love music and it is very rare that there is not some background music on in our house. I don’t have a favourite type of music. In fact, I don’t think anyone does. If a song is good, who cares what genre it is? Music can make us happy or sad, it can get us going and it can lift us up. Nothing evokes a memory like a song, some songs I cannot even listen to anymore because they bring up a bad experience, others make me smile. So today I am grateful for music. Here are some songs I love at the moment.

 

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What are you grateful for?