“I am grateful…”

“Thank you”

I was thinking this morning that some things are easier to be thankful for than others. It’s easy to say “Thank you”, for a gift, especially for a gift given on an occasion, such as a birthday. We might even remember to say, “Thank you”, when someone holds a door for us, or hands us our change in a shop.

If we are lucky our parents taught us to always say please and thank you, and schools reiterate the importance of remembering our manners.

This mornings thoughts, however, took me past this. Do we remember to thank someone for things that they may do all the time? Do we thank our loved ones for their contribution to maintaining our home or serving us delicious meals. Do we ever stop to think about the effort that goes into those every day things?

Marie Kondo suggests that we should also remember to thank our belongings for the role they play in our life.

This train of thought started this morning as I took out a clean tea towel. Today, I noticed this tea towel. Really made time to notice it. A bright, sunny butter yellow tea towel that I hung up on the rail. I instantly thought how suited it was to the bright sunny morning. Small flowers woven into the fabric I’d never really noticed before. Then, as I looked closer to the fabric, I noticed small tucks and imperfections.

Stepping back, I was able to ignore these imperfections and really concentrate on the simple beauty of the towel. The colour of sunshine, the softness of the fabric and the work that this simple piece of cloth would do for me this day.

I realised at the time how privileged I am to have such beauty and usefulness in my kitchen… and I did take time to say thank you.

This also brought me to thinking that having this cloth, clean and fresh, is an act of self love for myself.

Let’s think of the tea cloths in our houses. Are they tired and worn and past their best? What is this saying to our subconscious?

Are you keeping them because they still do their job but you won’t use them in front of guests? Is this telling our subconscious that you’ll make do but guests deserve the best?

Are they stuffed in a drawer and crumpled when it’s time to use them? What is this saying to our subconscious? I haven’t got time to store them properly, any old cloth will do, I can’t be bothered.

I made a point a while ago, to only have beautiful cloths in my kitchen, stored away beautifully. Any with small holes, fraying or stains that won’t shift in a boil wash, I always discard. I may cut them and use them as garden rags but they don’t come anywhere near my dishes. I appreciate myself too much to use tatty old cloths.

Today, was simply a reminder to be thankful that I can do that, and that I appreciate beauty and functionality in my life.

What are you thankful for today?