So this month I have realised how much I depend on my body to be functioning at 100% most of the time, which I learnt this month doesn’t really happen so much these days. Maybe I need to take things slower as I get older, or maybe I need to do something like actually exercise. When my body does recover, man, am I so happy and grateful for it. A lot has been happening this month, which has also made me realise that my mind and body are not always in sync: I may want to hold a big party but my body doesn’t want to do the cooking or move any furniture.

This month I have also been able to see some family and friends that I haven’t seen in months or even years. With technology these days we can keep in touch easier than we used to, but it is nice to be able to see people in person too. I am going to try and make more of an effort to visit and see people, which I admit isn’t always possible due to timing or money, but one big catch up every few years isn’t enough.

So, here is my gratitude journal for July where I realise how much I depend on my body and how I reminisce about life:

1 Time and medicine: grateful for medicine helping clear up a terrible rash and also time as I believe it has almost been a week now and the itching has finally ceased. Grateful that my body is able to heal, even though it took a lot longer than what felt like I could cope, the body sure can handle a lot.

2 Ukulele: grateful to be able to play this beautiful instrument, even if I’m not amazing at it, I still love playing it, it just sounds so beautiful.

3 Blogging: grateful to have some time this evening to blog a little, looking at pictures, reliving moments captured, and hopefully relive them again when I read the posts in the future.

4 Work related today: grateful for an impromptu team lunch, grateful to be invited to a networking event held by a client in a lovely area, grateful to be able to meet other knowledgeable professionals who were quite inspiring and had a good life mantra.

5 Free evenings: just to chill and relax and recharge my batteries. Grateful to have the time to be able to just sit and be.

6 My body: being able to move and lift things and reach things as we spent today tidying and clearing up a lot of things. Grateful that my body is able to do this.

7 Recharging batteries: after a weekend full of chores, planning, organising, and booking it was nice to just chill and lose myself in a good film with twists and turns: Spiderman: Far from Home. Grateful to be able to chill for a couple of hours.

8 Catching up with a friend: grateful to grab dinner with a friend who isn’t usually in the centre and grateful she walked me to my bus stop.

9 A couple of things: grateful to the lady who had a pop up shop at work selling perfume, she was friendly, informative, giving out discounts like there was no tomorrow, and very happy giving out samples. Also grateful to have something I worked on a few months ago appear online in the news, not in the way one would expect it to happen, but kind of funny having one of my bosses send the link around the team.

10 Body: I’ve been a little achey and have recently recovered from an epic bruise-like rash, so I’m grateful that my body is recovering.

11 Hubby: grateful that he is willing to put in time and effort and money into organising things so our future selves can thank our current/ past selves.

12 Walking: grateful to be able to walk to work on a Friday and for the streets not to be so busy, grateful the flowers are in bloom and the weather is nice.

13 Sun, food, good company, and board games. Grateful to friends who travelled near and far to eat, drink, and be merry with us; even managed to break out the wedding Dalton that never sees any sunlight.

14 Sleep: grateful to have an epic lie in, the longest I had in a while, to recharge my batteries.

15 A couple of things today: eye for detail: discovered something at work today that I didn’t anticipate on finding and as I was performing the task it made me proud that I had found it. Told the hubby en route home from work and he felt it was a sucker punch to the other side. Long working days like these make me realise how grateful I am to do the job that I do and how much I love the detail in things sometimes. Also reminiscing about our previous trip to Amsterdam visiting the best place on earth: Keukenhof Gardens, just thinking about this amazing place makes me happy.

16 Work: set up something at work, made it somewhat bespoke for its needs, and it was very well received by the team. Grateful that they were receptive to this and I’m excited for the future for this.

17 Dogs: saw an adorable dog on the way to work this morning, ran to the outside of the park peering in and then ran inside the park peering out, so adorable. Also lots of dogs on the walk home too.

18 Walking: grateful that I am able to walk to and from work these days. I learnt a colleague leaves their house at 7am to get to work, and I remember those commuting days a couple of years ago, so I’m grateful to be where I am today.

19 Hubby: grateful for hubby collecting me from work today and sheltering me from the rain. Also grateful that it wasn’t windy today.

20 Planning: planning and organising where we are going for day trips in the next couple of months, grateful to have the time to plan and grateful to be able to visit these hopefully interesting places.

21 Toys: saw Toy Story 4 today and it was brilliant: funny, sad, yet heartwarming and reminded me of the joy my teddies brought me when I was a kid.

22 Air conditioning: even though the office has the AC on full blast and at one point today I put on gloves so my fingers didn’t feel numb when typing, I’m grateful there is working AC. I left work, hopped on a bus, and felt for the first time today the blistering heat. So I’m grateful to have AC, even if it can get a little too chilly in the office.

23 Hubby: it was our seventh wedding anniversary yesterday but I had to work late to finish a report and my husband was very understanding about it, today we spent the evening just chilling out, and there isn’t anyone I’d rather be with to just hang out. Grateful he is in my life.

24 Ukulele: lovely evening playing and having some down time, needed to be indoors away from the melting sun!

25 Family meal: had a lovely meal with hubby and the in laws, a bit chaotic regarding food arrangements, but grateful to have the company.

26 Grateful for impromptu team lunch at work in a lovely restaurant, grateful for a bit of rain to cool down after an epic heat wave these past few days, grateful for the little things like seeing a couple of butterflies today.

27 Friends: grateful that friends near and far came to see us today, friends travelled from the west coast of America, Yorkshire, the Midlands, and just north of the city. Grateful they came and spent the day with us.

28 Good food: grateful to be able to eat good food at this lovely little place that usually has queues out the door.

29 Routine: grateful that I have a little routine in my life in the weekdays to keep me a little sane and to make sure I get everything done that I need to do. I feel sometimes when life gets a little out of control or running away from me, when I just get things done I feel accomplished which gives me back a little control, and that is an amazing feeling to have.

30 Celebration: grateful for friends inviting and allowing us to celebrate their wedding day with them today. Weather aside, everything was beautiful: the church, the happy couple, the food. So grateful to spend this joyous day with the bride and groom, and also to catch up with some friends too. Weddings are just the best.

31 Podcasts: listened to an amazing podcast about Ruth Bader Ginsberg and how she argued a case about male discrimination but within that there was female discrimination, she was so well articulated as well and so inspirational. Also listened to another podcast where it asked you whether you want to be a rockstar or a band member, in life, whether you want to go all out and try and pursue your dreams but if you can’t make it whether you would be happy being a backing singer. It kind of put my career in perspective, which I’m grateful for.