Gratitude Sunday

I've been spending some time over at WoolyMossRoots' blog recently and today I am plucking up the courage to join in with her Gratitude Sunday linky.

So this week I have been feeling grateful for friends and family members who come to stay.

I am lucky enough to have a friend from many years ago, school days in fact, who though I don't see her often, when we do get together the years roll away and our friendship is as fresh and enlivening as it was over thirty years ago. It is wonderful to have conversations with someone who knew you before you gave yourself limits, before you allowed yourself to be molded by anxieties and doubts. For a day or two recently I was reminded of the person I was in my late teens and early twenties, confident and unfazed by challenges, pretty much ready for anything! It was a good feeling and I am grateful for that glimpse of myself in her eyes.

Having people to stay and taking them out for walks and to see the sights helps me to be grateful for where I live. Our surroundings can just become the unnoticed backdrop to life if we don't maintain a purposeful consciousness of the world around us.

Seen through a visitor's eyes I am reminded that the world is indeed a beautiful place and I am grateful.