Good morning lovelies!
I'll be starting a new blog project about gratefulness. In these recent years, there has been much talk about gratefulness, mindfulness, meditation, self-care and other concepts that help you calm down and appreciate life better.
Their popularity can be attributed to being coping mechanisms for people to cope with modern, daily stresses in life. As for me, I find them positive and useful to my own health.
Gratefulness and mindfulness are interlinked, and I find that being thankful for small things help me to be more mindful of people and things in my environment.
In this project, I'll be sharing some of my observations and encounters with you. Often, they are kind little things people have done. They moved me in some way, and I hope you will enjoy reading them.
o n e .
I was at the beach with my parents, when I noticed a family stylishly dressed in casual whites, sun hats and shorts. They looked picture perfect for the beach!
Then I realised they were all holding plastic bags and tongs. They were actually cleaning up the shoreline on their own accord! It was the school holidays, and I have never seen any family doing so before. Everyone else was just relaxing or exercising at the beach.
I was very moved. Thank you, kind family, for taking care of our environment.
t w o .
One early morning, I dragged myself out of bed to swim a the pool. I had a late night and did not have breakfast yet. I plunged into the cold pool and started my laps.
Suddenly, I looked at the depth of the pool and was seized with utter panic. I thought I would struggle, choke in the freezing water and drown. Heart thumping out of my chest, I quickly swam back to the wall.
At that point, I lost confidence in my swimming and was plagued with doubt and fear. I did not dare to swim anymore, unless I was next to a wall. This was rather ridiculous especially when you consider that I used to be in a Sailing CCA. And since no lane beside a wall was free, I just dithered around, waiting for the panic to pass.
So I was just chilling, trying to calm my anxious heart, when an elderly uncle in the next lane stopped swimming and said to me, "I'm done here, you can take my lane."
I smiled at him sheepishly but stayed in my spot. "Thank you, but I'm scared."
He pointed at the pool dividers and said, "It's always good to take note of safety in the pool. If you swim beside this, if anything, you can just grab it."
In my mind, I knew the logic was right. I thanked him and he went on his way.
But fear is sometimes irrational and I hesitated for a long time. Eventually, the more I thought about it, the more I felt heartened by his words, and finally, gingerly swam beside the divider.
Thank you, kind uncle, for being nice when you didn't have to. The panic may seem silly to others but it was real to me.
t h r e e .
Another time, I woke up to gushing water sounds, thinking it was raining. Later, I discovered that a water pipe had burst in the night. The water pooled and seeped into the ground.
The repairmen were called in, and they had to stop the water supply in order to fix it. I thought it would be stopped only for a few hours, but apparently there were many burst pipes in Singapore that day, and the problem was fixed after 12 whole hours!
This meant we had no water to wash, or even flush our toilets for the whole day! Everyone was distressed.
This was definitely a case of taking things for granted. Like many, I do try not to waste resources, but often I do not think much of the electricity or water that I'm using, until the proverbial well runs dry.
So, thank you, pipes, electricity and running water. You are so important, though gravely underappreciated in a place like Singapore.
e n d
Do you have any stories of small kindnesses you have encountered and are grateful for? How do you practise being grateful or mindful? Leave a comment to share your thoughts :) I'll be posting more little stories soon!
Love,
Skye
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