This week’s habit carries on from everything I’ve been shifting the past few weeks. It’s about seeing life with fresh eyes, the people in it, the lessons it brings, the love we sometimes forget to notice.
Gratitude.
Everyone’s talking about it. It’s the buzzword of wellness.
“Write three things you’re grateful for.”
We’ve all done it.
But let me ask you something:
Do you really feel it?
Does it sink into your bones?
Does it change how you show up in your day?
For me, it started getting real when my health crumbled. And even more so watching my mum walk through her own health challenges. That kind of stuff pulls you into the now. It strips the nonsense away. Suddenly the little things, your morning cup of tea, a laugh with a friend, the fact you can walk outside and breathe fresh air, become sacred.
Last week’s habit got me thinking a lot about those transition times, the first few moments after I wake up, and the last ones before I go to sleep. That’s where I have started to place my gratitude. Not just writing it out, but feeling it. Letting it soak in. Waking up with a sense of “Wow, I get another shot today.” Going to bed and acknowledging what actually went right instead of dragging the day’s worries with me into sleep.
This isn’t about ticking off a gratitude journal to be productive. This is about presence. About perspective. About shifting your internal state so it carries you differently throughout the day.
When I really feel grateful, everything changes. I breathe slower. I listen better. I soften. My tone of voice, my posture, my decisions, they all land differently. I don’t react the same way when things go wrong because there’s this quiet foundation of “I’m still lucky to be here.” That’s what I mean by going deeper than a list.
This experiment I started months ago,was about changing my habits and to make them stick. It was meant to shake off a few excuses and get my health and energy back on track. But here’s the truth: it’s rewiring me. I can feel it in my thoughts, my choices, even in the way I speak to people. These aren’t surface changes. This is DNA deep.
And maybe it takes a health scare or the slow heartbreak of watching someone you love fade to realise how much of life we take for granted. Why is it that we wait until the end of someone’s life to tell them what they meant to us? Why does it take loss or fear to say, “You matter to me”? We spend hours scrolling and double tapping on posts, but when was the last time you actually called that person you’ve been thinking about for weeks?
This week I’m making the phone call. I’m writing the letter. I’m waking up and feeling my gratitude in my heart, not just in my head. I am choosing appreciation like it’s oxygen. Because honestly, it is.
We only get so many days. So many people to love. So many chances to say the things we carry inside. I don’t want to miss any more of them.
If you’re reading this, consider it your reminder. Make that call. Say the words. Don’t wait for life to remind you what really matters.
Gratitude isn’t just a habit. It’s a way of seeing. A way of living. And it’s one I intend to keep.
