It’s Sunday morning, a nice bright one here in London. I’ll be spending the morning in rather than at the pool with my little boy, our usual Sunday routine is broken as the poor thing has a terrible snotty nose and head cold. But he’s not miserable thank God.

 I just tidied up my kitchen table- come writing desk area where I dump all my books, paperwork, note pads and the like and came across another writing prompt book that I have. It has a prompt for every day of the year!  The prompt under today’s date is very fitting for a Sunday, considering that many feel that Sunday is a day of rest, to give thanks and a holy day. I’m not a religious person, more spiritual then a religion follower- but I do feel that Sunday is a rest and recharge/family day so I’ll use  today’s  prompt and give thanks today. What are you thankful for?

 Writing Prompt: The Internet is full of rants: Help tip the balance today,simply be thankful for something or someone.

I wrote a list of things I’m thankful for and here’s why.

Health: I’m so thankful for my overall good health as without it so many things for me would be impossible, working to provide for my family, looking after not just myself but my family and of course the ability to write and complete novels. I don’t just mean physical overall health I’m  thankful for my mental well being too. Often, we forget about this  to be unwell does not just mean a physical pain, a person can be unhealthy or unwell and you would not know it to look at them, that’s because it can be hidden – in their mental well being.

Last week I read a blog post about a lady who has a husband that’s currently seriously unwell physically, it made me stop and think about how precious life is, and how being health is something to be thankful for, even if you’re broke!

My car: Not in a materialistic sense at all, more practical sense. I laugh as I write this as I can visualise my battered old banger of a car downstairs. But you know what, she’s mine and she has done me so well over the years. And in the winter months she always starts no problems. With a toddler I can’t imagine life without my beloved little car. From food shopping, to day to day nursery school drops and pick ups then I dash off to work, if I never had a car life would be a lot more harder in terms of mobility. Public transport on the whole in London is excellent, but expensive and  when you need to go you need to go! And it’s not always the quickest form of transport when you have a busy day of errands to run  and a two year old that would take about a week to walk to the end of the road LOL.

Home: I mean this is the sense that many many people are homeless in London, well all over the world to be honest not just my home town. That said, the cost of living is so extreme over here I don’t know if there is anywhere that actually compares to it? During the recession we had in 2007, many people lost their jobs and as a result their homes. I can’t not imagine (especially with a child) being homeless or having no where to lay my head at night that is safe , warm and dry. My home truly is a safe heaven for my family and I . I’m thankful for it, I think I’ve just taken it for granted. But when I thought about it as I ran through my list of things to be thankful for if you have a home you’re blessed and lucky, no matter how big or small as many people don’t even have a cardboard box.

I have in the past at Christmas donated to the charity Shelter to help feed those who are homeless at Christmas. I donated the cost of what it would be to feed and offer a bed for a night for one person. I felt good about doing this, one year I’d like to maybe help out serving food for those who visit the shelter during the festive season. Home is precious don’t take it for granted. Just keep it tidy. 🙂

Son: My life changed the day I have birth to that little munchin! For the better and I would not change a thing. There’s not much for me to say here apart from children are a blessing, motherhood is a joy.

Ability to read and education: This is another thing that I think many take for granted, the ability to read and write. I thought about the little girls who were snatched away in Nigeria as they were learning to read/being educated. From what I remember when this was all over the news, this is not something that’s approved of in their community for whatever reason for females to be educated. It’s sad, not just because they are little girls or females it’s sad that anyone is denied the chance to learn, read and write. I tried to imagine life without being able to read. I had a hard time ! Life would be so difficult without this ability. Or the right to freely learn. In the UK education is free up until the age of 19, as a qualified teacher year after year I see so many youngsters waste this great opportunity and mess about in class. I tell them in a no nonsense way in many countries education is restricted and not free, finance depends on how far you go within education.  I don’t personally believe the two should be linked, I guess I’m thankful for our system in the UK when it comes to education.

Mum: she’s just the best! Truly she is. I can’t say much more. Thanks mama.

The internet: What the hell were we all doing before the internet came around? I can’t even imagine life now without it. I’m old enough to remember when it first came in, my mum ( like everyone else) had the dial up internet and an old style desktop PC. But I’m thankful for the internet as without it, my weekly shop might be a struggle if I don’t have time to get to the supermarket,  I’d not be able to connect with all you wonderful people, I’d not have met my wonderful snail mail pals who are miles away from me in different time zones, my career as a writer would not have kicked off with a publisher that’s in another country. Research for writing would mean a lot more leg work. So many things would be different without this wonderful creation. It has it’s usefulness, even if sometimes you do read a lot of crap on it. Let’s use it today to be thankful with our internet usage and ”tip the balance” as this writing prompt prompts us to. What are you thankful for? Let me know I’d love to hear your list let’s not rant today, let’s give thanks today.

Happy Sunday, have a restful, peaceful and family centred day.

Thankful