GRATITUDE JOURNAL - Day Nine -

 Good evening, my beloved readers!

How have you been doing today? Today the prompt I bring is the following:

Write about someone who has helped you in a time of need.

First and foremost I will always be grateful for my family and - answering today's prompt -  today is no exception.

About 15 years ago or so, I was out of work and completely devastated. I was still living with my parents, my brothers were thriving in their own fields and I was still very insecure about my own professional skills. 

At times, when I get too worried or too sad, I paralyse. I don't know how to move forward. I start overthinking and feeling anxious all the time. My dad saw that at the time and he pushed me to move forward in his own way. He talked to me in a way that was so eye-opening and motivating that I couldn't do anyhting else but get out and make it somehow. 

After much soul searching and job seeking, I landed a job that until today has brought me more joys than disappointments and A LOT of learning. I'm grateful for having that moment with my family and I'm grateful for having many friends who have known me in my lowest and still decided to stay by my side and support me unconditionally.

Tell me about that special someone or special people in your life :) 

💖💖💖 END OF DAY NINE 💖💖💖

Gratitude Journal - Day Eight -

 Happy Monday, bloggers!

I hope you had a lovely weekend. Today the prompt I share with you is:

List three things about your health or body that you’re thankful for.

I've always had some kind of complex with the shape of my body but never with the way I eat so that's something haha.

Considering three things to be grateful for, I would go for:

• Choosing what to eat without any hesitation is something I value immensely and this is so much more important since the day I started living by myself some 9 years ago or so. 
• I'm grateful for being healthy and not suffering any difficult illness. Last time I had to undergo surgery it was 3 years ago and from that moment I decided I would never allow some health issue to be unattended for so long.
• I'm thankful for being fit enough to resume the gym after a 15-year-hiatus and still enjoy it.

What are you thankful for regarding your health and your body? Let's talk about it!

💖💖💖 END OF DAY EIGHT 💖💖💖

Gratitude Journal - Day Seven -

Hello my beloved bloggers!

Happy Sunday. This is today's prompt:

What is something about your work or studies that you appreciate?

This is a very interesting question. I've always loved learning English since I was a child and when the time came to decide what to pursue academically I immediately thought about English. 

In my country English is taught as a Foreign Language and because of this there aren't many university degrees dealing with English culture besides English Language Teaching, Translating and Interpreting. I chose to follow English Teacher Training Course for four years and then I graduated first of my class.

Since that very moment, my love for the profession just deepened and at one point I had the craziest idea of immersing myself in the language so I began to listen to, read, watch and write in English. So much so that I eventually started thinking in the language more than in my own mother tongue - which is Spanish by the way 💜.

Going back to the prompt of the day, I truly believe that what I appreciate most about my work is that I get to teach it to everyone who wants to learn it, I get to speak it with anyone who wants to share a conversation in that language and I get to meet people from all walks of life in the process who are also teaching me a lot of things that I'm so grateful for.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

I remembered a quote just now from Confucius that rings SO true to me:

"Choose a job you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life"

💖💖💖 END OF DAY SEVEN 💖💖💖 

Gratitude Journal - Day Six -

Good evening, bloggers!

I hope your Saturday is going well. This is my prompt for today:

Describe a memory that makes you smile every time you think about it.

This is a tough one, guys. I'll do my best and reminisce about the many times my family, my grandparents, my uncle, my aunt and my cousins spent weekends at a beautiful house that my grandpa and my uncle had built many many years back. 

The joy we had being all together playing sports, going to the pool, eating by the barbecue and spending day after day sharing memories as a family it fills me with much much joy and warmth in my heart.

I'm sure many of you have had a similar experience of joy. What is yours about?

I'm GRATEFUL for my family, the moments we shared as kids and the moments we get to share now as adults. I appreciate every minute of it.

💖💖💖 END OF DAY SIX 💖💖💖 

Gratitude Journal - Day Five -

 Today's prompt reads as follows:

What are three simple pleasures that you’re grateful for today?

When I first read this question, I thought of only one thing to write about. However, as the day went on, I realized that I had more. Here are my three simple pleasures I'm thankful for:

• The English class I taught online to my private student: what started one year ago as a grammar and speaking class ended up turning into a conversation class and I'm so happy about it. The topics are never.ending but the most gratifying thing is that it is always so spontaneous and filled with so much fun that it is impossible to get bored on either side.
• Going to the supermarket in the evening just before night time when the sun is still setting is so rewarding. The whole process of it beginning with putting on my headphones, walking those 800 metres to get there and choosing what to buy.
• Having an impromptu dinner plan with a close friend of mine because she was just in the neighbourhood. She texted me, we went to have dinner near my house out in the open with  wonderful summer wind blowing smoothly. The icing of the cake was ending the night with two delicious scoops of icecream each one of us.

💖💖💖 END OF DAY FIVE 💖💖💖 

GRATITUDE Journal - Day Four -

Good evening, bloggers!

I hope you are having a great day/evening. Today's prompt goes as follows: 

Reflect on a recent experience that brought you joy

I befriended him 18 years ago. We started sending messages online and then we moved to MSN Messenger. Since that first summer in 2007 til today he has become one of the most important friends in my life. 

Not so long ago, he introduced me to this world of roleplaying games similar to D&D but immersed in the world of Warhammer. I learned the craft - I still get mixed up with all the rules - and last time we played with other friends of his he let me host the game for the first time. I was flabbergasted. I didn't know whether I would do it well. Through ups and downs, I managed to pull it off and it made me feel like I had accomplished yet another thing. 

I know it seems silly and shallow when you read it but to me it was a lot of internal struggle: the idea of leading - that terrifies me. Having done this tiny thing for the firts time in this new experience of playing roles in a board game allowed me to conquer fear of being seen in a crowd.

This last thought reminds me of yet another milestone that happened last year - rounding up December 2024. I was celebrating a friend's birthday with some other friends and we had decided to go to a night club. Inside there were many stages and in one of those stages you could have the chance to sing karaoke in front of a crowd. 

One of my closest friends in this group insisted on going on stage with her and sing a song. I accepted immediately because singing is one of my favourite things to do. Again, the idea of performing in front of a crowd was petrifying to say the least but I decided to conquer my fear and do it anyway no matter how it went. It was last year's highlight no doubt.

I'm GRATEFUL for being shown these opportunities in which I can face my fears and overcome them. 

💖💖💖 END OF DAY FOUR 💖💖💖

Gratitude Journal - Day Three -

 Good evening, folks!

I hope you are having a great day. Here we are again with another prompt below:

Write about a place that makes you feel happy.

This is a broad subject to discuss in just a few lines so I'm going to devote more than a paragraph. Bear with me.

Starting with my own home, I feel the happiest in any room where I don't feel the need to do something compulsory. Let's delve a bit into it. First, my bedroom: the room where I sleep, I practise  meditation (listening to sleep stories for example) and I read before bedtime. It's the quietest place in my flat and I feel grateful for that. I still need to make some improvements regarding clothes and find some suitable fragrance like lavender or the sort that can help me go to sleep in a more relaxed way.

Next, my kitchen. It's the brightest room in my house during the day and because it  is integrated in my living room - being separated with just a breakfast table - it allows me easy access from one area to the next. I love cooking, I drink a lot of mate and I keep most of my plants in this section of the house.

Going third is my studio. It's the smallest room in the house but it is the room where I have my work stuff: laptop, bookcase, wardrobe and - luckily - a window where the light comes in. I enjoy being in this room because I can not only work remotely but also watch shows, listen to music or read online.

In order not to make this post so extensive I'm going to stop right here. 

Do you have a favourite spot? Is it indoors or outdoors? Let me know and thanks for reading!

💖💖💖  END OF DAY THREE 💖💖💖 

Gratitude Journal - Day Two -

Hello again! 

Here we are with Day 2 of our January Challenge and this is today's prompt:

What is one aspect of your daily routine you’re thankful for?

It is very difficult for me to choose in any given situation. Choosing for me implies that one is more relevant, more significant than the other(s) and I try not to do that in general but I know it's something I need to work on.

Considering that my daily routine changes when I'm working and when I'm on holidays, the one aspect that remains and the one that I am MOST thankful for is the time I allow to have for myself to do what I want: some days is listening to music, others watching a show on my laptop or on TV, some other times is reading. It is never the same pattern. It mostly depends on the mood I'm in at that precise moment.

I consider myself to be very sociable and I truly value the time I spend with my family and my friends but whenever I get the chance to be on my own I find real joy in just being in the moment.

What about you? How would you answer this question? Share your thoughts in the comments :)

Have a wonderful day!

💖💖💖 END OF DAY TWO 💖💖💖 

Gratitude Journaling - Day One -

It's been a long time since I last wrote something of my own and with the excuse of starting a new year - and with it new projects - I decided I wanted to give GRATITUDE JOURNALING a try. 

This has always been on my mind since I first heard of it but for whatever reason it never came into fruition. As with every new project or task ahead, the first step is always doing some RESEARCH so here's what I have learned so far:

• USE PROMPTS if you don't know where or how to start journaling
• MOST COMMON TOPICS to write about: FAMILY, HEALTH, NATURE, FRIENDS.
• FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE aspects of life.
• CREATE A HABIT - do it on a daily basis at around the same time every day.
• CHOOSE A JOURNAL that helps you stay MOTIVATED - I wondered whether to do it handwritten or digital but given the fact that I hadn't been writing on my blog for a long time I thought it would be a great idea to start my journey here WITH YOU.

I believe this is it. Today marks my FIRST DAY so I'll start with a prompt right below this introduction. Please share your thoughts, recommendations and any improvements you think I should be working on.

LET'S MAKE A STARTING GOAL: GRATITUDE JOURNALING THROUGH JANUARY 2025.

PROMPT NUMBER 1:  List five people in your life who you’re grateful for and why.

MY PARENTS (1 UNIT) I'm grateful for my parents being still in my life and sharing every single moment I can with them. They are my foundation and I owe EVERYTHING to them.

MY BROTHERS (1 UNIT): I'm grateful for my brothers because it's through them that I have learned the ability to share, debate, argue and love other people around me. 

MY FRIENDS (1 UNIT): I'm grateful for the friends I still carry with me after so many years together sharing laughs, cries, misunderstandings and time apart. Some of them are engraved in my heart, some others have taught me harsh truths and then there are those who have fulfilled their mission for a while and decided to follow their own paths. To ALL OF YOU I say THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. I'm who I am today because of everything you taught me.

MY WORKMATES (1 UNIT): I'm grateful for the people I work with. Some mates have become very close friends, some others are great people to work with. Considering my bosses in this group, they have shaped me in so many ways professonally that I have nothing but gratitude towards each and every one of them.

MY NEIGHBOURS (1 UNIT): Since the day I started living alone in my block of flats, I have never had any disagreement with any of my neighbours and I am very grateful for that. 

💖💖💖 END OF DAY ONE 💖💖💖

A Toddler Serial Killer short story (inspired by true events)

In the small, sleepy town of Worcester, nestled among rolling hills, there was an unusual shop that always seemed out of place—a haberdashery run by an eccentric old man. The shelves brimmed with peculiar trinkets, buttons, and hats that no one seemed to need. Locals said the shop carried a darker history, but no one ever had the courage to ask.

One rainy afternoon, Valentina, a cherubic toddler with wild curls and an unsettlingly wide smile, skipped into the shop clutching a Hershey's chocolate bar. Her parents, blissfully unaware, had left her to roam freely while they browsed the nearby bookstore.

The old man behind the counter raised an eyebrow. "What brings you here, little one?" he asked.

Valentina's large eyes sparkled with mischief as she plopped her chocolate onto the counter. "You have sharp scissors," she said sweetly.

Flabbergasted by her request, the man chuckled nervously. "Aren't you a bit young for crafts?"

Without missing a beat, Valentina reached into her tiny coat pocket and pulled out a crude, hand-drawn list. The words "Mr. Higgs - Haberdashery" were scrawled at the top. Beneath it were names crossed out in crayon.

"You're next," she whispered with a giggle, her grin now unnervingly wide.

The old man froze, a cold shiver running down his spine. He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Who taught you this game?"

Valentina shrugged, her small fingers already reaching for the scissors on the counter. "Nobody," she replied, "but I always win."

The bell above the shop's door jingled as her parents returned, laughing about their bookstore finds. Valentina smiled sweetly at them, her innocent facade firmly back in place.

As they walked out hand-in-hand, the old man locked the shop door, his hands trembling. For the first time in decades, he considered closing the haberdashery for good.

Valentina glanced back, her Hershey's bar still on the counter. "I'll come back for that later," she called, her voice like a melody—but to Mr. Higgs, it was a promise.

THE END

Limericks - Be and Let It Be (by Guada Dodero - the one) Work in progress :p

There was once a girl called Vicky

who held it played her tricky

She saw my face

I thought I aced.

But she ended... leaking!!! 

💧🙈