Happiness is catching

I stumbled across an article on one of my facebook binges which said the first step to achieving authentic happiness is writing a gratitude letter.

I can’t think of a better subject than my mother – after all, I wouldn’t be here without you and Dad and your love and support - and you read this blog without fail.

Dear Mum,

I think you are pretty cool. At 59 you can still do a hand stand, you want to travel the world (again), and you are way fitter than me.

I have you to thank for instilling a sense of adventure. When I was little you used to tell me about your voyages as a little girl travelling by boat to and from New Zealand and England – you showed me pictures of what you looked like when you were my age and I thought you looked so pretty (and I still do).

Even though you worked when we were growing up, you found time to do all sorts of creative things with us like make little characters out of felt and build elaborate places out of play dough. You gave us a wonderful childhood and we lived in the most magical place, Golden Bay.

You are always on my side, and when I was being bullied at school you went and fought for me even though I told you not to. I now see that was the right thing to do and if I ever have kids, I would do the same. You have never disapproved of my choices in life and you have let me be who ever I want to be. You’ve always had such confidence in my abilities as a writer and as a person.

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful relationship with you now, and we were fortunate enough to have our own adventure together. You came and visited me at Big White ski resort in Canada and we travelled to Costa Rica and Nicaragua together. While we had a difference in opinion on how to spend our time, I wanted to lie around and relax in the warmth and you wanted to pack the day with exploring, I cried when our time was up. The two trendy back packers on the airport shuttle bus thought it was so cool how I was travelling with my mum.

I love how you make a real effort with the people in my life and you always make them feel welcome and want to get to know them.

You are an awesome grandma, an amazing mum and a kick ass friend.

I love you,

Rose

Hopefully you have someone in your life that you want to write a gratitude letter to too - quite a teary experience, I must say! But a useful exercise to remind us how lucky we are!