Maybe not so grateful in the past
I used to be quite negative in the past I think, I was not happy with my life, the situation for as long as I can remember, there was always this feeling of not belonging where I was. I always said that I'd move to an island with a great warm climate when I'd grow up as well. Maybe jokingly, but deep down this matched the feeling of not belonging quite well. I see it now, I was not supposed to stay in the country that I grew up in. The world had much more to offer to me to broaden my horizon and learn about my passions and skills along the way. I needed to explore the world for that to understand.
The deep feelings of not being happy, have eventually made me a not so positive person in general. I don't want to say that I was always negative, but when there was a problem, the glass used to be half empty, not half full! This is the other way around for some years now. I'm well aware that there was a lot of built up anger, negativity inside of me that needed to come out before I could change to be a more positive person.
Becoming a mom changed me
When I became a mom, I changed and started to stand up for myself more. I felt that intense power of protecting the cub from the world as most moms probably recognize. I didn't make the best choices blinded by love, but in the end, all I did, even if not the right decision afterwards, was intended to be the best decision for my child. Looking back, I was just not wise enough to stand up to the world in many cases and see things coming. Sensitive as I am, I always believed people were good in general and had good intentions in most cases. Which made me blind for signs.
Slowly, I grew in this role of being a mother and learned to see things differently along the way.
The little things started to matter
Just a smile from my child, a giggly that sounded as the most adorable thing I've ever heard, or a purring cat that came to comfort me when feeling sad or in pain would made me realize that these things matter. They matter a lot. I used to not see the beauty of nature, now I do, and nature makes me feel Zen, calm, and gives me a clear mind. I appreciate it every single time it matters, and I'm fully aware of it as well.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Since I started being more conscious and noticing the little things that give so much joy while just watching, I also started to say thank you more often. Or give hugs, or even a smile.
My favorite way of showing gratitude
Probably in most cases by letting someone know in words. If I read a wonderful article, I leave a valuable comment showing why I enjoyed the article. I think it means so much more to write an in-depth response rather than just saying the two words "thank you". In some cases, thank you is more than enough, it depends on the situation and what I show gratitude for.
On top of that it also depends on how much something touches me in the heart, or inspires me. And is this something online or in real life? If my partner does something that I want to show my gratitude for, I may say thank you, give a hug, a kiss or write him a note.
Gifts or small efforts that bring great joy
I also enjoy showing gratitude by bringing some item from the store when I bump onto something that I feel is great to give someone as a thank you. Or maybe even better, create it myself. An example is my daughter enjoys it a lot when I draw something and she will color the drawing. We had an agreement during the lockdown period to teach her how to sleep without a meditative music on the speaker.
She made a deal with me, today I will not listen to it, and you draw me something (I was free to pick what I would draw), and tomorrow the other way around. For months we've continued doing this. I thought of something new every single day. Sometimes I'd draw her doll, other days it would be a nice holiday scenery.
Every single morning she was happy and took the drawing to my partner who was usually already working in the office, and shout "Daddy, daddy, look, look, what mommy made me!". He'd tell me as soon as I'd wake up how happy she was and that alone made me continue doing it for months. I get all emotional thinking about her reaction while writing this. I'm grateful for having a child that can be so happy with the tiniest things that cost me little to no effort.
Let's not forget smiling!
A smile can go a long way, and I noticed that smiling at a homeless person for example, can brighten up their day. While I can't help them with their true needs usually, I can do the thing that cost me no effort or time, while passing them, SMILE at them rather than ignoring them as if they aren't there and don't exist. These people already feel invisible quite often and by acknowledging that they are there, they may feel a tiny bit of empowerment. I never forget to do this when a homeless person seeks eye contact.
Receiving gratitude
I love when the little lady comes to me out of nowhere, I want a kiss and a hug!!! And then gives me the most sincere hug you can imagine, not because I did something to make her happy at that moment, but because she wanted to say "I love you" because she felt she needed to share that at that moment. There's honestly nothing better than that!
I also love when she crafts something or draws something and says it's a gift for you without it being my birthday or anything. Of course I also enjoy just a simple thank you or hug/kiss from my partner. It's just that when it comes from a child's mind, it's extra special.
This makes me think back of the enormous smile from a little gypsy girl a few weeks back. I think it was the last day we needed to wear masks in stores and it was so hot in there wearing one. We stood in line and in front of us was a little gypsy girl, seeking eye contact. She probably heard us talking another language that peeked her interest. When we looked at her, she smiled, not just a small smile, no I mean one with the twinkle in her eyes as well. She kept smiling, and therefore I kept smiling as well, here smile lightened up my mood when feeling too hot and annoyed by my mask. She literally made me happy instantly.
Looking at receiving gratitude online, I enjoy valuable comments with compliments or people that say they are inspired by something they read in my article. That alone mad it worth my time to write an article. It gives positive vibes and that's what the world needs!
Grateful for the connections here!
I have to share this here in this article as well because I bumped on @samstonehill's fantastic article just before I started writing. I want to show my gratitude to each and every one of you out here on the platform that has inspired me in any way since I joined. Some have inspired me to give me the answer about a topic to write about when I was wondering what to write, others may have inspired me to be creative or get the flow going when feeling blocked physically. Of course, I feel grateful for those that have supported me by voting my articles and showing continuous support along the way.
But many of you, like @misslasvegas, @trucklife-family, @samestonehill and @eco-alex (many more!) have inspired me by sharing their knowledge and skills that are so important in today's world more than ever before. People that have been conditioned to live in a certain way, depending on other people's skills by (for example) hiring a pro rather than trying to created/build something with their own hands first, are now in need of education more than they have ever been before. In the real world, I would have never connected with you probably, and I'm so happy that Hive made that connection possible.
I enjoy it so much when I bump on article's like this one from @samestonehill:
It's not only a joy to read and look at the pictures, but also a huge inspiration and need to share this with others that may need a push in the right direction. Or at least see what's possible. Thank you for sharing this journey with the community <3 Give his post a visit and show it some love please, I promise you that it's worth your time!
Conclusion
There are a lot of ways to show your gratitude, many more than I have spoken about above. These are just the first things coming to mind, and as the article is already quite lengthy, I will not go into the matter any further. I thank you for stopping by and reading it until the end.
Hopefully, you will have a wonderful weekend!