Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. - Denis Waitley

GRATITUDE is ALL that MATTERS

......

I know that I write quite a lot (ok, maybe a little more than a lot…lol)
about gratitude… but you know, it’s one of those contagious things,
that once you learn how to express fully,
becomes somewhat of an addiction hehehe!

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And besides, one expression of gratitude is always going to differ to the next
as each experience in life is unique and independent from another.

I will probably sound like a little bit of a stuck record for the next while
as I transition into a completely new lifestyle –
so y'all are just going to have to deal with it or unfollow me
MKAY!!! Lol

Besides, my expression of gratitude at this point in my life,
is somewhat different to the few shares of gratitude with my Steemit family...

My first truly demonstrative expression of gratitude here on Steemit,
was my GRATITUDE SAVED MY LIFE post,
where I shared an outline of how my life changed for the better,
as I walked the journey of life after divorce...

In fact, at the beginning of my Steemit journey,
I shared many of my rather heartfelt and emotional experiences -
things that I had held on to internally for such a long time,
letting them eat me up from the inside...

Another one of which, was my
HAVE YOU EVER MET YOURSELF POST...

The release of all of this,
is PRECISELY what sparked where I stand today -
because it was in the sharing of those experiences here (specifically)
that changed EVERYTHING for me!

Here comes the stuck record part that you need to suck up lol....

Many of you know that I recently closed a business which I started 11 years ago.
It was an incredibly emotional thing to do,
and although I had planned to get out of the industry
within the next year or so, I had not intended for it to unfold the way it did -
which once again threw me into the deep end...

Except this time, the deep end wasn't anywhere NEAR as daunting....

I have wanted to get out of the design and print industry for so long...
I might have owned that particular business for 11 years,
but I have been working on my own in the field for 17 yrs.

I was tired. EXHAUSTED in fact!

I made my way on to Steemit in June 2017 and after beginning to share my life,
with all the amazing people here,
I VERY quickly came to the decision that I needed to make a change!

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Which was another pivotal moment of realisation in my life,
that I shared here in my GOODBYE Hamster Wheel - HELLO STEEMIT post.

I had been blogging for a couple of years prior,
and previous to that had launched, edited and run two magazines of my own -
one print media and the other digital.

EVERYTHING, every single little detail of my life has led me to
PRECISELY
where my true passion lay.... and that is here...
in the world of communication and engagement.

I received an email from my landlord early January this year,
to tell me that my lease would not be renewed.
I read this email at about 11.30pm at night...
We were still on holiday at my dads place.

I remember looking at it,
briefly thinking about the "emotion" and "upheaval" that was about to unfold...
and then... I SMILED!
That was it! I was done! OUT! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!

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I felt NO stress. NO panic, NOTHING NEGATIVE, but rather... I felt...

RELIEF!!!!

and then... I felt GRATITUDE!

Gratitude for the fact that it had ended before I had a heart attack.
Gratitude for the fact that it had happened before my stress completely destroyed EVERY facet of my life.
Gratitude for the fact that I had now been given an opportunity to live my passion.
Gratitude for the fact that I was actually ALIVE after it all!

I have gratitude for this transition on SO many levels
that MANY others will NEVER understand!!!
I am NOT a person to divulge my stresses, and I have been bottling those
for WAY too long!

I know that this new journey of mine will come with its own set of challenges,
but after everything I have endured,
I know I not only have the skill set to make it work,
but to make a MASSIVE success of it.
I am not a lazy person -
and I have worked my HINEY off here on Steemit too, since I joined...

So, here I am.... now "technically" unemployed....
and a FULL TIME STEEMIT BLOGGER.

WHOOP WHOOP!!!!! lol!

I know I have said this before, lol -
but I am still absorbing the sheer GRATITUDE I feel
in simply stating that fact!

I am once again.... in LOVE with my life!
And DAMN!
is that not the bloody point of life itself?!

IT SURE IS!!!!

I will DEFINITELY do a HAPPY DANCE to that!
Goddamn - I have certainly EARNED ONE! lol

Until next time...

Much Love from Cape Town, South Africa xxx

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