Things I am grateful for:

[Juls]

Today I am grateful that I have this board where I can talk and interact with some really terrific people.

I am grateful for my family, and for the new house we just bought.

I am grateful for my job, even though there is temporarily no a/c. LOL

I am grateful for the quality of life that I am now living, and for my husband who helps to make that possible.

I am grateful for my sweet kitty sitting here next to me and keeping me company.

I am grateful for the fact that it is a little cooler today, and I am not having any hot flashes right now.

Juls

[2stop]

I am so grateful for finding this site and all the super special people on here.

I am so grateful for HOPE, because even a month ago I thought all hope did was give was a false sense of things actually getting better.

I am grateful for my children and my husband who have supported and encouraged me through so many rough times.

I am grateful for the ability to Forgive, and the blessings and peace it brings.

I am grateful for LIFE..after so many years of running scared from it, for today at least..I am embracing it.

I am grateful for my dreams, your dreams, all dreams...it is the foundation of many wonderful and exciting experiences!!

[Juls]

2Stop,

That is beautiful.

Juls

[Lilya]

Beautiful thread and a I feel good reading it.

Here is my contribution:

I am grateful for my health - and having survived my life!

I am grateful for my daughter, my fosterson, nieces and nephews who make me both crazy and happy,

I am grateful for my job, my editor and wonderful people I work with,

I am grateful that I can function in life and contribute to society, publish my books and organize festivals, and in so doing, enrich some peoples lives,

I am grateful for my youthful follies who inspired a book I published,

I am grateful for having a wonderful father who tought me the true value of freedom,

I am grateful for all the wrong things I did and all the mistakes I made, because it was a blessing in disguise,

I am grateful for the men in my past - may they rest in peace (truly)

I am grateful for my travels, my friends and the people I´ve met on this board,

I am grateful for my house, my two countries, my beautiful city, Paris, and my two cats, Jupiter and Shiolin. :p

Use adversity

[Juls]

Today I am grateful that I have teeth. LOL Yesterday I went to the dentist to get some work done, and they are really aching today, but at least I have them.

I am also grateful for my friend Edith. She is an elderly woman with whom I have been friends for many years now. I spent about an hour talking and laughing with her on the phone today.

Juls

[2stop]

Today I am grateful for the chance to learn to live again. I never thought in a million years I would embrace life like I am now!!

I am grateful for the resiliency of the human spirit and that so many are willing to share their struggles and that we can help each other through anything..I forget who the quote is attributable to but it basically says That we are all angels with one wing, we need each other to fly~ I love that!!!

[Juls]

Today I am grateful for the rain.

Juls

[Lilya]

I am grateful for beingt single and celibate.

To be honest, I feel a lot better this way. I woke up and had coffee and croissants in bed. No boring husband saying: "I don´t like bread crumbs!" I´m taking a day off and starting the weekend early, I decided to take my niece to the zoo and then taking her to the jewelers for earrings. Later we´ll be having light dinner in the gardens of Hotel Ritz. And I´m going to spend Christmas on the Gran Canaria with a female friend.

No boyfriend or husband to organize the day, I´m free as a bird!

Definately, no more boyfriends, no more husbands!

Use adversity

[Juls]

Hey Lilya,

Don't rub it in too hard o.k.? LOL

Juls

[2stop]

I am grateful today for choices.

[Lilya]

Today I´m grateful for being able to get out of the city. The heatwave does not seem to go away and the pollution is so bad i have a sore throat. People are dying here. And no air conditioning anywhere but in supermarkets!

But I´m on my way, free as a bird...

Use adversity

[2stop]

Today I am grateful for this site to come to, no matterhow rough I am feeling I can almost always feel much better after being on here!~ Thank you SR~

[2stop]

We are buying our own home!!~My husband just called..and we are approved for the loan!!~ We have wanted to do this for 10 years, never thought it would happen...Thank you Lord!!

[powerpuffgirl]

Wow, what a great thread. Today's meditation in the women's book is about gratitude...

i am grateful that today I don't wake up angry at God for letting me live through the night

I am grateful for my sobriety, which allows me to be present for all of the wonderful things in my life

I am grateful for my new home, where I have a pond and fields and everything I ever wanted for my dog and daughter.

I am grateful for the opportunities now open to me because I don't spend every waking moment looking for something outside of myself to feel better

I am grateful for my dreams, which I always remember and give me a look inside myself

I am grateful for a sober, supportive fiance (8 days until the wedding!!!) who doesn't expect me to be perfect

And yes, I am SOOOO grateful for these message boards, where I have found unconditional love and no judgement, even when I duck out for a month or two!

hugs to everyone...we ALL have so much to be grateful for, even 1 day sober - just the desire to stop is a huge gift.

-Lura

[Juls]

Lura,

Great post. Thank you.

Juls

[Lilya]

Today I´m grateful for my holiday in the South of France,

for being able to accept my 14 year old niece over the top hormone tempers with serenity,

Being able to enjoy my blues and jazz with my wonderful friend who left all the kids with her husband to enjoy some girl time with me,

And surviving the heatwave... maybe. 42 degrees in Paris right now - and I have to take 4-5 icecold showers a night, go to bed in a wet nightgown and still being able to fry a chicken on my bedside table!

I´m glad to see you all again. Tammie, congratulation on your approved loan! I´m truly happy for you.

:shades:

Use adversity

[2stop]

Today I am grateful for a program of recovery and that my HP is helping me grasp concepts that I thought I'd never "get"...Today I don't need any one's permission to be happy..I can be happy no matter what!!!!!!~
I am also grateful for such an awesome site as SR to share not just my struggles but my victories..big...and small.....Love ya all!!

[Juls]

I am grateful for the skills I have as an esthetician. It enables me to interact with so many neat and interesting people. I have a young woman client who is having problems with acne. She is 23 y/o and is a single parent with a 15 month old boy.

She doesn't have alot of money, and because of the way I work, I can do treatments for her and not have to charge full price. Today she asked me if I thought guys are turned off to women who have acne. We had a really good discussion about it, and I felt good that this young woman trusts me enough to talk about these things.

Juls

[Heavens]

Dear people,

This reminds me of the song "My favorite things" because counting blessings is one of my favorite things to do. I am always saying I like to count blessings instead of sheep when I am having trouble falling asleep.

I am grateful for the Higher Power that created me and gave me the ability to be grateful.

I am grateful for the ability to love and to receive love. To give and to receive.

I am grateful for my friends here that remind me of recovering, healing things like being grateful.

I am grateful for my womanhood and for having had children.

I am grateful for my children's health and happiness.

I am grateful for my family and my extended family.

I am grateful for myself -- the gift of health and life.

I am grateful for my ability to enjoy the things around me -- music, nature, the sights and sounds of children playing, the way things taste, smell, colors, and the senses and all the good things I can enjoy with them.

I am grateful for having some talents and gifts to bring to the table of life and to contribute to others.

I am grateful for my job.

I am grateful for my ACA friends and for Rhonda and for my friends at church.

I am grateful for fun and play and laughter.

I am grateful for having found some acceptance in the world, and for finding some recovery tools that work, if I work them.

[2stop]

Today I am grateful that I have hope, and for the 12 steps that makes each liitle step I take much easier to do!!!~

[Lilya]

I am glad that the heat is down and the heatwave seems to be subsiding. Many people died today in the city, a neighbour went out, got 43 degrees fever and died on the spot. The mortuaries are full and funerals are all over Paris.

I am grateful for my big family, and that my cats seem to be surviving- they lie in the bathtub with waterbowls all over the tub.

I could use some livegiving Prana right now. Please remember me in your prayers.
I´m still strange in my head and wobbly. This is the worst heat I have experienced in my life!

Use adversity

[Heavens]

Dear Lilya,

I empathize with the heatwave, although Charleston isn't as hot, I don't think. Nobody has died. When you say 42-43 degrees, you must mean Celsius, right? Here, we are still backwards enough to speak in terms of Fahrenheit, although the rest of the world uses the other form of measurement, metric, and they told us that in school for years. Anyway, here, it is about 90 degrees fahrenheit. Not the hundreds that it has been at times, or at some places now. Hang in there like Garfield, as my old English professor used to say during paper crunch time.

Love ya,
Nancy

P. S. I just looked up on my Weatherbug what it would be here in Celsius, and it would only be about 32. Wow. I feel for you. Keep on with the cool baths.
I hope it continues to drop.

[Lilya]

Thank you so much, Nancy.

Yes, it´s getting better. The problem with long heatwaves - and this broke all records and caused lots of deaths - is that the buildings in Paris and other European cities are very old. I´ve lived in buildings from the 15th centuries and they just become like baking ovens - infernos. There is no air condition in them, you only have them in big malls and cinemas, department stores etc. It´s stupid and primitif. The winters are so cold, Parisians don´t think we need air condition during the few summer months. Silly!

I remember the real Parisian springs and autumns you hear about in the old songs, but when I was growing up there. I remember wonderful light temperature in April and May, and then cooler weather in August and September. Now it´s freezing until May, then all of a sudden you get life-threatening heatwaves. No wonder nature is turning against us; we have abused it for so long.

It was declared a disaster and the army has gone in to help clean out the dead bodies. Some old people have not been found until the stench reaks out. It reminds me of middle ages! "Cross your doors and bring out the dead!"

Did you study in England? You mentioned an old English professor. He must be very uncomfortable if he has been in the UK.

Thanks for your warm thoughts. I really appreciate it.

Use adversity

[Lilya]

And I´m grateful for the warmth I feel from all of you on this board. I really believe we can help each other and that together we´re doing a good job of it.

Use adversity

[Juls]

I am grateful for my six year old daughter. She is growing up and maturing and is becoming a real help to me. She offers to help with things around the house, and while she can definitely be a challenge, we have so much fun together.

Tonight we were playing with Legos. They were in pretty pastels of blue, pink, green, yellow, etc. We laugh and get silly with each other, and I hope she will always feel good about talking to me. My sister-in-law's daughter is 11, and she says that she (the daughter), doesn't want to talk with her, or show affection, things of that nature.

My son is 26, and we always hug and tell each other we love each other. It is so nice to have that relationship with him as well.

Juls