GRATITUDE ......and other things that I have learnt in life.

Licola Wilderness Village, Gippsland, Victoria.

I work with people with disabilities as a personal carer and it constantly amazes me how these people who face the challenges that they do seem to move through life without complaining.


I have come to realise that I am the one that is learning from them. I have learnt that no matter how bad life is that it is still possible to get up each and every day and live a worthwhile life.


I have learnt that it is possible to keep on moving through life, knowing that somehow at the end of the day you will make it out the other side.




I have learnt that I am blessed with the health and strength that I have and that I can get up on my own every single day.

I have learnt to have patience and to be in the moment, neither worrying about what has already happened or what might happen.


I have learnt that I should never take for granted the things that I am capable to do in this life....for there are some people out there that don't have the ability to do all the things they would like to do.


I have learnt to live the best life that I can.....for you never know when you might not have the chance to do all that you want to do.


I have learnt to appreciate being able to do the everyday things that we often take for granted - like being able to shower on my own and being able to walk down the road, being able to drive a car, being able to make myself a meal or even make my bed. I don't ever want to take these things for granted.


I have learnt that there are things I can do in life even when I think I can't do them.




I have learnt that even when you feel as though you have hit rock bottom, you can always get back up and keep going.


I have learnt that I gain more from serving and helping others than I do from being focused on myself.


I have learnt that even when I fall over or don't do something particularly perfectly, that I can have another chance tomorrow to do better.

I have learnt that I can be brave and that I do have the courage within me to do things that I am scared to do.




Here I am in my harness (even when I thought they wouldn't have one to fit me) waiting to go up on The Giant Swing

Free of the step ladder and about to be dragged 18m up in the air


Swinging free and slowing coming down from a ride that despite my fear, I will never ever forget in my life.


I am grateful for the lessons that I have learnt and for the things that I am capable of doing; and I am grateful for the people that I care for, because it is those people that have taught me all of this and so much more.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. "
Melody Beattie