A pursued attitude of gratitude - @philgull

By Philip Gull

A pursued attitude of gratitude

1. I am grateful I don’t hate Tuesdays.
2. I am grateful that Hildengard of Bingen existed.
3. I am grateful that she wrote some amazing hymns that have lasted 900 years and I still love them today.
4. I am grateful that words written in another language can still move me.
5. I am grateful for music.
6. I am grateful music is there for the ill, the tired and those hard of sight, who can enjoy art without having to watch or read it.
7. I am grateful for the friendships sustained through music.
8. I am grateful that some days, sometimes, I believe in a God full of love and care for His creation, and then the world doesn’t seem like such a cold dark place anymore.
9. I am grateful that faith brings so many people steadfast joy in the world, that it makes them truer, better versions of themselves than they otherwise would have been.
10. I am grateful for the Book of Job.
11. I am grateful for the four Gospels.
12. I am grateful for Church architecture, Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox.
13. I am grateful for the Eucharist.
14. I am grateful that there was a time when people could gather round a relative’s sickbed, joined in the believe that their loved one was about to ascend to heaven.
15. I am grateful for hope.
16. I am grateful that if God exists, we can only approach Him by faith.
17. I am grateful we cannot see God.
18. I am grateful everyone at SCA is kind towards me when I believe, and they don’t mock or ridicule me.
19. I am grateful for my dogs.
20. I am grateful that there are two of them, and they have each other.
21. I am grateful for their loyalty.
22. I am grateful for being born in the modern world, because I would have died in childbirth had I been born before about 1950.
23. I am grateful for the advances in medicine humanity makes every year.
24. I am grateful for the NHS.
25. I am grateful for all the people who look after the ill, the tired and the infirm.
26. I am grateful that Jaffa Cakes are 2 for 90p in big Tesco at the moment.
27. I am grateful that when I’m tired, I can sleep in a warm, clean bed.
28. I am grateful for whoever invented the pillow.
29. I am grateful for how cold the flat is in the morning, because it wakes me up quickly.
30. I am grateful to have a fridge.
31. I am grateful for all the parents walking their children to school in the morning, and taking the bus with them.
32. I am grateful for the darkness of evening when I get the bus home, because it relaxes me and lets me see familiar roads in a new way.
33. I am grateful to live in a country where almost everyone drives safely.
34. I am grateful I had my driving test a week before I got seriously ill for 2 years.
35. I am grateful I can drive.
36. I am grateful for the times I’ve driven at night along familiar winding country roads, and felt a lovely sense of isolation from people, and a love sense of being with the world.
37. I am grateful that I have never been bullied. I’m really grateful for this, because I was very scared of it happening all throughout school, on account of my height and being a massive nerd, but no one ever picked on me.
38. I am grateful I read John Keats today and read the line ‘strange thunders from the potency of song’, which is such a beautiful, perfect line.
39. I am grateful I have read many thousand beautiful lines of perfect, regular iambic pentameter, because they have taught me that creativity flourishes within constraints.
40. I am grateful there are, and have been, geniuses in the world.
41. I am grateful they make it easier to be humble.
42. I am grateful Jacob and Alysha are on the course, because I love them but they also show how much Marc believes in us.
43. I am grateful for the daily acts of kindness people show me.
44. I am grateful gratitude is something improvable. I love improving.
45. I am grateful Tom gets in early, so I can work with someone at 8.
46. I am grateful for Tom’s voice and outlook on life when I’m stressed.
47. I am grateful for the cleaning staff, who clean the studio and disguise the true extent of our slovenliness.
48. I am grateful Notes catches me when I write greatful.
49. I am grateful for the invention of musical instruments one day a couple of millennia ago.
50. I am grateful for mechanical pencils, because I’m left-handed.
51. I am grateful for being left-handed, because it means I’m a marginally better cricket through no skill but unfamiliarity.
52. I am grateful I’m in my mid-twenties.
53. I am grateful for Stu’s masterclass.
54. I am grateful for my friend Evie calling me tonight to support me.
55. I am grateful the bus telling you where its stopping because when it’s raining it fogs up and feel like you’re inside a big red submarine.
56. I am grateful for scotch eggs existing because they’re delicious.
57. I am grateful for Tuesday evenings.
58. I am grateful for maps. Maps are beautiful and completely real at the same time.
59. I am grateful for having a great network of friends and family.
60. I am grateful that I have always had family.
61. I am grateful for the foreseeable future, and having family throughout it.
62. I am grateful for the love of my family.
63. I am grateful I can love every member of my family.