Although we know gratitude is an important element in our growth and development, it’s not always easy to tune in to that higher frequency. These gratitude points may seem simple and it’s certainly easy to take them for granted if you tick all the boxes, but for many people, ticking all the boxes is what they may be praying and hoping for every moment of their lives.
In years gone by, education was unattainable for many. Even basic reading and writing skills didn’t become common place until relatively recently in history. And they still aren’t a universal given.
Learning about something you are interested in can become a life’s work, a passionate hobby, a talking point and of course something to be incredibly grateful for.
If you have online access and/or a decent library nearby, you are in a perfect place to learn about some basics that will evoke gratitude, understanding, confidence and self-empowerment…. Let’s Go!
Look up at the sky.
Is it overcast? Is it raining, snowing, is the sun shining brightly?
Simply Google ‘how are clouds formed?’ or ‘how hot is the sun?’ or ‘weather patterns in my region’ and you’ll get results from the met office, education platforms and children’s learning sites. Start there and let your curiosity take you wherever you want to go.
Check out you local library for historic weather patterns and, dare I mention it, delve into the reasons for global warming. It’s not always as straightforward as the media would have us believe!
If you’re going to create a project, keep notes and log the sites where you found good information. Don’t be afraid to explore the children’s learning sites. They can really inspire you to go further.
The roof over your head.
Read about historic or even ancient civilizations and imagine how they lived every day.
If you want to go back a long, long way, the Earth’s Children books by Jean Auel are a fabulous read. They’re fiction but the author has been commended for her detailed research and they give us a powerful insight to what life must have been like for life on earth around the time of the ice age.
Or maybe you could fast forward and find the date your home was built, and unless it’s a completely new build, research the history of that time. Was it built during the war years or between them? Is your house a Victorian town house and would they have had servants back then?
Your Beautiful Body
Anatomy is a subject to explore and be amazed by the trillions of cells all doing their bit.
It’s huge subject and an incredibly interesting one. Choose a ‘department’ (!) first e.g. skeleton, endocrine system, organs, even bacteria, of which we have many and varied forms. Grab a book on the human body in general if you don’t know where to start and then delve into the part that interests you most.
And how about exploring physical movement and enjoying a yoga or dance session. Access to the internet and a willingness to move is all you really need. Getting physical isn’t always at the top of the list when you feel drained by the current situation, so take your time. Give yourself a break and explore other options. Even sweeping the path to your house may take a while and get you moving some muscles you haven’t used for a while. And you can be grateful for a clean and tidy path!
Can you see?
If you’re reading this, there is so much more to read.
Not only reading and/or studying books, there are the visual arts as well, from pottery to photography and everything craft. Your gift of sight allows you to appreciate beauty in nature, art and almost anything man-made.
And not only can you appreciate visual beauty and pure creativity, you can also get creative yourself.
Whether you want to get messy with pottery, painting or cooking or whether you want to get into some delicate embroidery the arts and crafts world is so vast, every subject has many books dedicated to it and they keep on coming.
And, as well as enjoying the moment, you may even find yourself with a small business to run using your new found skills and creative ideas. Once that creative button is pushed, it’s human nature to want to explore further.
Do you have food to eat?
Even if the fridge and larder are looking a bit sparse, there’s possibly something you could rustle up for dinner.
Collect some recipes you know will work for you and add ingredients to your shopping list – but remember to cross off any unnecessary items if the budget is tight.
If there are allergies or food intolerances in the family, research the alternatives and use them as guinea pigs in your new-found life skill! Check nutritional values as well.
Often people with food allergies can be deficient in certain minerals and vitamins. A simple example would be perhaps a lack of B vitamins when you stop eating meat.
A few veggies can produce nourishing and warming soups for the winter months and some delicious vitamin-packed salads in the summer. Why not grow some? There’s a handy download ‘Growing Everyday Vegetables’ on the Growing page. And don’t forget many herbs have healing properties. Explore the possibilities and create delicious flavoursome meals every day. ‘Growing Herbs at Home’ will get you started! Find this popular download on the Herb Books page.
Do you have access to clean water?
All life-forms (as far as I know) need water to survive.
Are there ‘clean water’ projects you could get involved with?
Water covers around 70% of the earth with approx. 95% of that figure accounting for the oceans. We still have little idea of what lies deep within the oceans but the life contained within these huge bodies of water is fascinating and well worth studying. The other 30%-ish of water on earth is made up of fresh water; lakes, rivers etc;
The water we drank thousands of years ago must have come directly from these fresh water sources. Now, we mostly have filtered or treated water to drink, although a lot of it still originally comes from rivers. The rest is sourced from underground pools.
Research water science such as the Dr. Masaru Emoto’s experiments, performed in the 1990’s. Sceptical? Maybe have a go at it yourself!
These 6 bigger picture gratitude and learning points will help overcome those feelings of despair that sneak in uninvited from time to time.
To your happiness and well-being
Linda x
P.S. One of the best ways to stop and smell the roses is literally to stop and smell the roses (or coffee!) This little book is probably one of the most well-known in the self-development genre and it’s really worth a read. Bringing yourself to the ‘now’ will help you find the gratitude that will make you feel great!
The Power of Now
A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment: (20th Anniversary Edition) Eckhart Tolle
“Surrender to the present moment, where problems do not exist. It is here we find our joy, are able to embrace our true selves and discover that we are already complete and perfect.”
healthylivingbooks.org 