Do you sometimes find yourself doing the things you do every day or every week and not really paying attention to what you’re achieving. Or are there things someone close to you does on a regular basis that you take for granted?

It’s very easy just to carry on with your regular routine and not appreciate what it takes to keep maintaining all the little things in your life. And it’s even easier to stop appreciating the little things that other people do for you that make your life easier.

A lot of humans I know have been saying lately that they don’t feel as if they have a purpose in life, or that they think nothing they do is worthwhile. If that sounds familiar to you, take a moment to think about what you actually do every day that is positive, that is essential, that makes life better for yourself or others.

Go on – sit down and write a list! I’ll wait.

Did you include getting out of bed? Did you include washing yourself? Did you include putting on clean clothes? Did you include making meals? Did you include doing the laundry? Did you include changing the bedclothes? Did you include interacting with other people in even the smallest capacity?

You may not have considered things like that as being worth adding to the list – but they are! Every little thing you do contributes to your life of those of others running more smoothly. And it’s always worth taking stock and appreciating those things as positive impacts you have on the world, even if it’s just in a tiny way.

One of the things I admire most about my humans is that they make the effort to express gratitude to each other for those things that might otherwise just becomes part of daily life – a part that is overlooked or taken for granted.

Annie always thanks Dave, every time he buys heavy drinks at the supermarket, or changes the bedclothes, or especially cleans the bathrooms!

And Dave always thanks Annie, every time she makes a meal or does the laundry, or washes the dishes.

Even though those are the things they’ve taken on as their assigned chores for the household, they’re things the other one really doesn’t want to be responsible for, so they’re grateful that they’re getting done.

And because they both always thank the other sincerely, they know that the thanks offered is also sincere, so it doesn’t become rote and meaningless.

So, next time you do something for yourself that improves your life, in however small a way, or the next time someone else does something for you of a similar type – take a moment to appreciate it! You may find it happens a lot more often than you think.

Don’t forget to let me know how you get on – or if there’s anything you’d like me to talk about in an upcoming blog post!

 

You can email me at wisebearstanley@gmail.com

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