Gratitude Journal

I’m grateful we made it to Florida alive !

I’m grateful that my daughter is giving up her day tomorrow to help prepare Christmas Eve dinner. I’m also grateful that I have a loving family to celebrate Christmas with.

I am grateful for the day of baking I have ahead of me. My kids and my husband help and our house has the most amazing smells as we go.

We are making classics from our childhood to share those memories with our kids. We are also working in a few new options to keep things fresh and potentially make new traditions.

I'm grateful that my dinner went very well last night. Dad and bro seemed to like it and we were all feeling good and upbeat. I'm grateful that my husband cleaned up afterwards, perfectly.

Fern, that is wonderful that you are sharing family recipes with your kids. Have you written down any? I am so happy for the family recipes that were written down; both my mother-in-law's and my family's. My mom created a family cookbook a couple years before she passy away. It's a treasure!

I'm so happy to hear about your enjoyable dinner with your Dad BirdDancer. That's so wonderful!

Yes, I have them written down. Some my mother wrote, my mother in law wrote another and I wrote down the one I learned from my Grandma. I emailed that one to all of my cousins so they could have it too. It is so important and special to keep the traditions alive The family cookbook your mother created is such a wonderful idea!

I am grateful for all of the wonderful memories I made with my family this year. We had a really hard holiday season last year due to my episode. I am so very grateful to be doing well enough to be the wife and mother I truly want to be for them.

I'm so glad to read that, fern. It is indeed important to savor the present days and not let the past permanently ruin them. I imagine your family felt very happy and relieved this holiday season. Though scary events may not be completely forgotten, they don't have to haunt us forever. And we learn from them, which is a bit of a positive that can grow from a negative. I know this from my own experience with my bipolar illness. I learned it as a child after witnessing my mother's epileptic seizures. People must learn to go on with life even after the deaths of loved ones. It is part of life.

Grateful to be flying home today and seeing my cat

Very well said BirdDancer. I couldn't agree more. I especially agree with the positive that can grow from a negative. Sometimes negative experiences act as powerful catalysts for change. I have experienced that several times in my life. Sometimes bonds and anchors to things that are holding us to a particular place break. The breaks are often quite painful, but in time they allow for freedom of growth in a new direction. The pain of the past, especially in the loss of a loved one, is real and we often need to allow ourselves to feel it... But... Opening our eyes to look for the lessons offered can lead us to amazing places.

I am grateful for the triggers that have come up for me recently. They stirred very strong emotions and fearful thoughts, but I was able to pair the experience with all of the knowledge and emotional growth I've gained. I have been able to find new perspective on a number of things that contributed to my mental breakdown. I still have a lot of work to do as integration can take time, but I am grateful I was able to put into practice the straregies I created for myself without running from my past.

Thanks for bumping up this thread, fern, and sharing about your recent successes. I know that it does feel good when we can use coping skills and various other strategies to manage thoughts, anxiety, triggers, etc. My husband and I were doing an "exercise" of sorts like that yesterday, thinking about our future move.

I'm grateful that I feel pretty good, physically. I'm still dealing with a GI issue, but it doesn't make me feel physically unwell. It's actually more of a psychological annoyance, at this point. One lucky minute could change that. I won't go into details. I'm working on it.

That's awesome that you were able to spend time like that together doing those exercises to prepare for your move. Addressing your feelings as a team and creating a shared intent and vision of your future is a powerful way to assist in the manifestation of your future.

I'm glad you are feeling fairly well and I hope the GI issue resolved itself!

I am grateful for my brother. We are continuing to foster a more meaningful relationship with each other. I genuinely enjoy his company and insight.

I am grateful for PC and the many wonderful people here.

I am grateful for the beautiful snowfall today.

I am grateful for the Bipolar Forum! Through this forum, I don't feel alone in being bipolar.

I am grateful for silly moments with my kids. We've mostly played today and enjoyed ourselves with a dance party, video games and just general foolery

At this moment, I am grateful that I am calm and feel OK! I am grateful that at this moment I am not afraid of what may happen.

I’m grateful that a good family friend stopped by just to say hi and chat today. I always laugh when she’s around.

I am incredibly grateful to be able to laugh with all of my Being!

I'm grateful for the daffodils outside our cave

Oh daffodils! I LOVE them!

I am dealing with some rather painful joint issues right now...and I am thankful for the staircases in this house! Every time I climb a set, I repeat how thankful I am for the stairs! Although they are incredibly challenging right now, even frustrating, they keep me stronger than I would be without them.

Gotta Love It!

I am grateful that some things change and also grateful that some things come to an end!
I also LOVE daffodils!

I am grateful for the same. I love it when seemingly endless loops morph into spirals

I am grateful for my Valentine. He's the Yang to my Yin.