{"id":8155,"date":"2014-10-13T17:37:09","date_gmt":"2014-10-13T15:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/responsive.jozikids.co.za\/zaparents\/?p=8155"},"modified":"2022-06-09T20:25:26","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T18:25:26","slug":"the-grateful-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/parenting\/being-present\/the-grateful-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"The grateful challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been doing the rounds on social networks. Someone nominates a few people to list the things they\u2019re grateful for over 5 days. Which is nice. I guess it gets all of us thinking more about what we\u2019re happy about. It makes us more aware or conscious of the things we have in our lives that we may take for granted. But I don\u2019t think I read through anyone\u2019s list until the end though because after a while, they all started sounding mysteriously similar.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not judging. We all have the main things in our lives that we\u2019re grateful for\u2026 our kids, our partners, parents, a roof over our heads and a shiny BMW (hey, different strokes right?). But I think the \u201cchallenge\u201d was to go deeper, to really ponder over what we\u2019ve been given in our lives that makes it all worthwhile. To step back, out of the chaos of what life has become, and imagine it if it were any other way (bearing in mind of course that we\u2019re looking at those less fortunate than us so as to be grateful). It\u2019s easy to become overwhelmed with the daily rituals and feel that you\u2019ve just had enough…but remember that it could be much worse.<\/p>\n

With the internet and so much information at our disposal, we\u2019re so much more connected with what\u2019s happening in the world, even far, far away from us. We have the opportunity to know what people experience and endure in places we will never visit. And this gives us the perspective to accept what we have and make the best of it.<\/p>\n

Naturally, this article would be incomplete without me listing a few things that I\u2019m grateful for. And yes, I have taken some time to think about it. So here goes:<\/p>\n

1. I\u2019m grateful for my life experience thus far. As difficult as it may have seemed at certain times, it makes me who I am, it\u2019s taught me the value of things and helps me realise what I want (and don\u2019t want) from my life.<\/p>\n

2. I\u2019m grateful for a mother who has shown me how to persevere, how to always be positive, how to be compassionate and how to make roti (ok, I can\u2019t really make roti but she did try teaching me how).<\/p>\n

3. I\u2019m grateful for my family. Having healthy, normal kids who teach me something every day, even if it\u2019s just that a bottle of Nutella never lasts more than 3 days! Having a caring husband with a high level of tolerance and patience and a great sense of humour!<\/p>\n

4. I\u2019m grateful for chocolate and ice-cream because let\u2019s face it, these 2 unassuming things make everything better!<\/p>\n

5. I\u2019m grateful for the simple things, like my converse All-stars, for sunny days, for caller id; hot showers, good health and baby shampoo (love the smell of it!). For hand lotion, track pants, the smell of rain and my 3 best friends.<\/p>\n

Truth is, most days we\u2019re all just trying to survive the day. To finally get to bed but still thinking of all that we\u2019ve done and all that still needs to get done (really need to sew that button on my son\u2019s school pants) . Sometimes I think it just helps taking time out to savour the moments, to enjoy, to be present and feel the blessings.<\/p>\n

This article was originally written for Jozikids by Fatima Kazee in 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n

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