Showing gratitude is one of the simplest,

yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.

Randy Pausch

 

Gratitude is not just a quality but a virtue. It is also a way of life. In recent years I’ve experienced quite a few things, and frankly, I think I’ve seen the colors of the rainbow, the whole spectrum and no sunglasses were needed! Quite a colorful show and I’ve had no time to be bored, not even for a minute.

These events or being a witness of many of them taught me a great deal of patience, humility but also to look up and take the time, not to question (although oftentimes I found myself saying wth? Why me, why us? What did we do to deserve this? ),  to simply say Thank You.

We recently celebrated Thanksgiving Day in Canada (which comes first before our neighbors in the south) and it really is one of the most important holidays of the year.

It is a special day when people take time off from the numerous activities and happenings in their lives and come together, family and friends and sit at the table and give thanks for everything.

A special occasion to enjoy each other’s company over a delicious feast of entrees (salads, appetizers), main dish (Turkey), sweets (pies, cakes) and of course drinks.

Now, I believe that there shouldn’t be a specific day to count our blessing, we should give thanks EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Life is a one-time show, and each day that passes by will never come back, EVER AGAIN. That is why we must make the best or do as much as we possibly can with the 24 hours granted to us.

On my Travel Bucket List, I share a long list of places I dream of visiting and things to do.

However, it never occurred to me to make a different kind of list, one that simply states everything that I have been blessed with or bestowed upon me.

After our Thanksgiving Dinner, I sat down with a cup of coffee and wrote it down. Allow me to share it with you.

Here is The Gratitude List, 50 things I am grateful for…

1-Being alive

2- Being healthy

3-Having a roof over my head

4-Eating 3 meals a day

5- Being able to see the sunrise, sunset and stars

6- Have my parents, siblings, nephews, nieces, in-laws, big extended family

7- Finally finishing my new blog which I’ll launch soon! (It took me longer than I thought or planned but I finally did it) Stay tuned!

8- This laptop which has been around the world and back

9- The software needed to create this Gratitude List

10- Being connected and knowing incredibly smart, fun and cool people

11- Having a great network of professionals worldwide

12- Living in a great and beautiful country

13- Living in a democratic country where I can speak my mind and have many options

14- Having my best friend for the past 25 years

15- Honest and long-lasting friendships in many countries

16-Doing what I love and love what I do

17-Being a polyglot (I speak and write fluently in 5 languages: English-French-Spanish-Italian-German)

18- Being a writer and travel blogger

19-Being a photographer

20-Having a 5 year-old travel blog

21-All those wonderful opportunities that have come my way thanks to the blog

22-The trust from companies, colleagues and readers

23- Having lived in 7 countries (El Salvador, Canada, South Korea, Italy, Spain, Australia, USA)

24-The many adventures in 30 countries that have made me stronger and even more grateful

25-Those angels in disguise I met during my travels around the world and helped me when I truly needed it

26- Being a book reviewer

27- Books (they take us to other worlds)

28- Being in contact with some amazing authors

29- Having reached my goal of reading 50 books in 2016

30- Having visited my country of origin, El Salvador and gone on many road trips with my family

31- Learning about the Mayan World (I’m quite obsessed with it)

32- Visiting Guatemala

33- Visiting Costa Rica

34- Visiting and learning all about coffee culture and harvesting

35- Taking a walk on the wild side at one of the world’s most beautiful National Parks

36- Staying and recharging batteries at Costa Rica’s leading eco-luxury hotel

37- Feeling the fear and going Zip Lining in the Tropical Forest

38- Going river kayaking

39-Sailing on board a catamaran

40- Cycling in Southwest Florida

41-Discovering Riviera Maya: Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, Cozumel

42- Visiting Helsinki, Finland

43- Living and studying abroad in Le Marche, Italy

44- Falling in love with Rome, especially Trastevere (where I hope to live in one day)

45- Living in Barcelona, which has a very special place in my heart (Go Barça!)

46- Having been to the following U.S. states: New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Michigan, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Florida, California

47- Exploring Ontario (Bruce Peninsula: Tobermory, Lion’s Head, Wasaga Beach, Barrie, Kingston, Ajax, Hamilton, Niagara-On-The-Lake, Niagara Falls)

48- Discovering different neighborhoods in Toronto when I lived there for 2 years: Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, Downtown)

49- Living and working in Seoul, South Korea for 2 years, some of the best of my life and honored to have been a teacher.

50- YOU! All of this would not be possible if it wasn’t for you dear reader. Thank you for the opportunity to inform, educate and entertain you. I sincerely hope that you will enjoy your visit and I thank you in advance for your time and support. Thank you, merci, and gracias!

I could easily go on and name 100 things I am extremely grateful for and life has definitely been quite good and generous with me so far.

Of course there are important and hard lessons I learned which were quite difficult to overcome and helped me become who I am today. I look back at them now and see that it was necessary even though they caused quite a lot of pain and sadness. However, I am wiser and understand why they happened and quite frankly, I am very glad they occurred. It takes a mature person to acknowledge that, so I guess I have learned those lessons pretty well and ready for more of what life has in store ahead.

As they say, life is a roller coaster. You go through ups and downs, so you better buckle up and enjoy the ride!

So that is The Gratitude List, 50 things I am grateful for.

Now it’s your turn.

Tell us…

 

What are YOU grateful for?

Can you make a list and count your blessings?

 

Share them with us in the comment section! You can use #GratitudeList on Social Media and I’ll be checking yours.

Until next time, Hasta la próxima!

Tashi Delek, All the best always,

K 🙂