Today is Gratitude Day!

Continuing my list of '100 Gratitudes', I am grateful for...

61. Christmas - our tree is standing tall in the corner of our lounge room with gold, red and silver tinsel and baubles. Presents are spread out underneath. I have a nut roast recipe ready to try on saturday and I've got a couple of family members to spend quality time with. The weather outside is cold and wet - perfect for a cosy christmas day! I can't wait! Three more sleeps.

62. my 2011 diary - I like having a new year spread before me and I love my new, crisp diary with its pages of empty day notes to be filled up with activities and events. Who knows what I'll get up to in 2011? Only time will tell. :-) Of course, there is one major event I'm looking forward to - my wedding day! Yes, 2011 is going to be a life changing year. One that will forever stand out from the rest. Bring it on!

63. friends - when my partner and I announced our engagement we were flooded with congratulations and well wishes from friends. I was amazed by the response. Not because I considered myself friendless, but because I was reminded of all the wonderful people I know and just how much I am cared for. It was brilliant to be able to share my joy with those closest to me; the people in my life who really understand what this all means to me. The people who will be with us to celebrate our big day. I'm so grateful for my friendships, and glad that I am able to be a friend myself. My only hope is that I am always able to offer my friends the same level of love, support, joy and compassion that mine give to me.

64. the moon - reading about last night's lunar eclipse got me thinking about how grateful I am for the moon's existence. And while I'm amazed by her celestrial magic and tidal forces, that's actually not the reason I've included her in this list. I include her because of a particular day in my life that occurred not long after I'd moved to London. I was home alone, in a new city, with nothing to do so I took myself off to see a movie...alone. I'd never gone to the movies alone. In fact, on that day as I rode the bus to the cinema I felt as if I'd never done anything alone in my entire life. This wasn't true of course, but the feeling of independence and freedom flooded me. So much so that I consider it a real turning point in my life. I was twenty-one years old and away from everything that was familiar to me, and yet I wasn't scared. It might sound crazy, but that simple act of going to the movies alone, in a foreign city, made me feel liberated and empowered. I spent the whole day out on my own, with a smile on my face, and that night as I was cleaning my teeth I looked out of the bathroom window and saw a beautiful bright white full moon staring down at me from the clouds. Seeing the moon then, in my enlightened mood, was life-affirming. I felt as magnificent and capable as the moon herself. And that was something I'd never, ever, thought of before. My mind and heart had opened a little that day. And it was the beginning of an important shift in me. Even now, whenever I spot a full moon, I'm reminded of how I felt on that day. And I always smile.