Gratitude Challenge Day 1

Scent.

Hello, November. It truly is good to see you.

 

On the first day of November, one of my favorite things to do is to go to our local drugstores and grocery stores and buy the clearance Halloween items. I take them home, pack them away and next year, October 1st, I get to open my box of goodies and it truly brings me so much joy. I’m pretty basic when it comes to October. Give me all the pumpkins, cinnamon, cider and beautiful leaves. I’ll skip the Pumpkin Spice Latte, but I’ll take a black coffee any time of the day. Every year one of the best items I find is a candle. Last year, I bought this bath and body works candle at the end of season and let me tell you, lighting that baby this month has filled our house with deliciousness. IT IS AMAZING. Burning the last of it tonight as we watch the World Series with cups of hot cider. Ahh, comfort. It’s like sitting next to a fireplace, except that fireplace is a pumpkin candle and not really a fireplace at all.

One of my all time favorite scents that always make me feel warm and cozy is the smell of a wood burning stove. My grandparents have one at their house and it always reminds me of Christmas and coffee and cookies and love and family. When I drove to work this the morning, I went by a house with a wood burning stove and the smell floated out over the road. It was right at the beginning of my drive, and brought a smile to me face as I started my day. However, what I’m truly grateful for today, is rotten, stinky terrible smells.

I love the laughter when something stinks SO BAD. My dog has had some pretty rank farts lately, and I’ve laughed myself to tears trying to get away from it. Don’t even get me started on the way he tilts his head when that noise comes from his but.

Why is something that smells so awful so funny? It’s so worth smelling a stinky smell yourself to see someone else’s reaction  to it. When my husband and I go driving and exploring, some times we pass farms that have the most tear inducing odors that we both try to hold in our laughter and watch the other person to see their reaction first before you admit to smelling the rotten thing, and then we end up having to pull over in the thick of the scent because we’re laughing so hard we can’t breathe.

Stinks are an experience to be shared,  to quote my husband.

Do you remember the last time you smelled something terrible? Did you laugh?

 

 

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30 Days of Gratitude Challenge

I’ve been utterly exhausted and so frustrated about the amount of negativity and attacking I’ve seen on social media lately. I’ve been lurking in the background swiping through posts upon posts of complaints and negativity and worries and fears. This toxic thought pattern has drained part of my spirit and makes me question why I came out to start this blog and find support out here in the first place.

I’m starting a 30 day gratitude challenge for myself. I need this. I need to reconnect with why I blog about how having a chronic illness impacts my life and my mental health.  I need to get back to gratitude for being alive, for having the gift of this life. I need to determine if I want to continue this. Be the change, right?. I’m tired of the negativity, so I’m not going to contribute to it.

Do you feel drained? Maybe you need this too?  Feel free to join me, I’ll be posting daily throughout November in honor of the month of Thanksgiving- and just reminding myself to give thanks, and to find the light in the darkness.

Here are the dates and suggested writing topics I created for the month to spark a gratitude practice. Feel free to screenshot, join, share and follow along on instagram and twitter, I’m @flareuphope pretty much everywhere. Let me know what you’re thinking of his month and tag me in your posts so I can see.


Chronic illness isn’t fun, but there’s always something to be grateful for. Stay tuned for my first post tonight!