Practicing contentment is something that can be difficult for us especially here in North America where we are bombarded with voices telling us to be discontent. It's called advertising and it continuously tries to get into our hearts and minds telling us we need bigger, better, more and new. The economy thrives on us being discontent with where we are in life and what we have or have not. Contentment is a mindset that we need to practice and choose on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. The key to contentment? Well first off is to quite watching and reading all the adds that tell us how we should be living. Second is learning to look for our everyday blessings and be grateful and thankful for them which leads us to realize all that we really do have. Join us in sharing 5 of your favorites from the last week.
~ fresh air ~ between sitting inside all day working on an online portion of a course I need to take and working on the computer all day I needed to change my view. So I grabbed Tux, threw on my winter outerwear and headed outside to catch the last of the sun for the day. It's still cold here, hovering around the freezing mark but it was lovely outside. No wind, the air was crisp and fresh and the sun peeked out now and again. The fresh air cleared my overworked brain and the movement felt great after sitting all day. Thankful for the blessing of a lovely day to take a walk.
~ clean carpets ~ Hubby has been working hard shampooing all the carpets upstairs. They look and feel brand new again. I'm thankful for all his hard work doing it on his days off.
~ when food takes you right back to childhood ~ there are some foods that I seem to rarely have but that I love and take me instantly right back to childhood. One of those is something my Mom used to give us for lunch on Good Friday. I'm sure we had it other times but it's aGrowing up Catholic, my parents observed the no meat on Good Friday tradition. So for supper we always had fish, and for lunch Mom would make us a plate of cottage cheese. She'd add apple slices so that there was four quadrants of cottage cheese and then she'd put drained fruit cocktail on the cottage cheese. She'd serve it to us with toast and butter. I loved it as a kid and I still love it now. I don't have it often but hubby but a 3 pack of cottage cheese at C*stco and I just got a craving for it. I don't buy fruit cocktail anymore but I had strawberries and blueberries and that first bite of buttered toast and cottage cheese and fruit just bought back all the warm cozy feelings of being a kid. I'm thankful for traditions that my parents gave us, even in such a small thing, that brings warmth and nostalgia.
~ coffee and talk with a friend ~ though we don't get to see each other often, spending time with this friend is so refreshing. We pick up as if no time has passed and it's just easy being in her company. I'm thankful for a good friendship where I can be myself.
~ my local library ~ love my library. I love spending time in there looking for books. It's a time I relax and just enjoy. I love that once again they are offering memberships for free this year and making it accessible for everyone. I love that I can request books for them to purchase, put books on hold online. The library is a great blessing in my life and I've loved it since I got my very first library card when I was about 7 years old.
What are the blessings you are thankful for this week?
12 comments:
perfect quote for true contentment.
I'm with you on the nostalgia regarding childhood foods. For me, that's the Banana Nugget Cookies mom used to make and taught me to make and the recipe originally came from a dear saint in my childhood Free Methodist church..Hazel was an older woman (spiritual mentor to mom) and used to sometimes let us girls roam around on her farm. Oh what fun we had and great attention we got from her older 3 boys. Biting into one of those cookies bring me right back to central NY and the smell of the farm.
LOVE my town library where all members are free and I can literally spend over an hour just browsing the shelves.
I'm with you regarding friends and coffee dates. I LOVE this one certain friend but hardly ever get to see her due to distance but when we do get together.....it's like no time passed.
YAY for a husband who loves with difficult chores.
YAY for fresh winter air walks. I did a few this week too but now i'll be hunkering down inside after work is finally over today.
HAPPY WEEKEND
I love your introduction this week. You are absolutely right--the economies of our countries run on discontentment. Contentment is loving what you have.
Aren't libraries amazing? We can just walk in, and get a book, and read it. And most libraries will use an exchange arrangement for you to get a book even if it is not in their library.
Oh yes--coffee with a friend always lifts our spirits. And so does a walk in the fresh air. And clean carpets.
Have a good weekend filled with coffee, friends and walks.
Good for you for braving the cold to go outside. It is a nice feeling to have the carpets freshly cleaned. What a neat experience with comfort food and nostalgia. I'm glad you got to spend time with a friend and roam around your library.
Hi Susanne. The library was also one of my favorites this week. Great minds think alike for sure - especially when it comes to libraries! So glad you could get outside for a walk and get together with a friend for coffee. I love clean carpets too! I have meals that remind me of my mom too. Glad you had a nice week, now enjoy the weekend. See you again soon!
Great introduction Susanne. I'm really trying to not put things into landfill unnecessarily. Our new(ish) home has a perfectly serviceable kitchen and the bathrooms are good too but I know that some people would have moved in and ripped them out just because they weren't there choice. Same with some of the blinds in the bedrooms. We've kept them and worked colour schemes around them when decorating. And yes I can be content taking a walk in the fresh air or curling up with a book. Our libraries are great and membership is for life unless you move to a completely different area. Have a good weekend.
Your food memory brought back memories for me. We used to have cottage cheese with fruit cocktail, too! And sometimes my mom would give us just the cottage cheese with a little dab of jelly to sweeten it. I can almost taste it now.
That's neat that you can request books for your library to purchase.
Contentment is so rewarding. You had some nice varied blessings this week. Hope you have a relaxing weekend. Happy February to you!
Food memories are amazing aren't they? I love hearing about yours.
What a blessing indeed to have your husband helping with a chore that has such visible benefits.
You remind me how much I take fresh air breaks for granted. With the days warming up around here, the door to my "office" at home is open for cats who can't make up their mind whether they want to be in or out.
Have a great contented weekend, friend!
Beautiful blog
I remember my mom giving us things with fruit cocktail. I like when she made Jello and added fruit cocktail. I like to go to the used bookstore area of our library. I always find a book or magazine of interest. I hope to take my granddaughter next weeks. Time with friends is always nice. Have a great weekend!
You are right people are moaning every day and nobody seems to be happy anymore. The Covid has destroyed a lot ! I was a bad eater as a child and didn't care at all of what was on the table. I ate (not enough according to my father) because one has to ate, but I don't remember anything special which would bring back nice memories. just the opposite as I was supposed to eat everything on my plate and not leave the table before ! As soon as my father didn't pay attention, my mother took from my plate ! What a circus each time, I hated all 3 meals. I learned to appreciate food with Rick, and our son anyway ate for 3 ! I would never have forced him, rather stop, lol !
Oh we love our library as well. The kids have less time to pursue the shelves as we used to now we mostly request books. But such a blessing it is to have one.
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