Grateful for Gratitude
Today I’m basking in the glow of yesterday’s ninja achievement - getting in and out of IKEA on a Saturday in under seven minutes. To be fair, that doesn’t include the time it took me to park - ten minutes - but even so. I thought I’d share my top tips in case it works for you. My assumption is wherever you are in the world, IKEAs are set out in a similar fashion.
Research the item you want to buy, and have its location narrowed down to the shelf and aisle number in the self-service area.
Take the lift to the returns section, and walk the wrong way through the checkout through to self-service area. Just a short walk - no need to snake through the whole store and lose your mind in the overwhelm of mini-parts of houses and endless gorgeous things.
Retrieve your item from the shelf and ideally, make sure it’s light enough for you to carry so you don’t need a trolley. This removes the nightmare of trying to pull into the pick up area because you can’t take your trolley any further than just outside the lift. (And what do you do when you’re alone??)
Go through self-serve checkouts, decline any kind offers to purchase meatballs with your item, get back into the lift and you’re home free.
You’re welcome.
This intrepid Saturday venture was all in search of a new bedside table that allows for me to have an extra shelf for my books and journals. Before and after shots below. See how I have SO much more room on the top? And ok, I cheated, there is the new lamp as well which I have been wanting for ages.
Was this seven minute IKEA smackdown due to my gratitude practice? Perhaps. Anyway, on with the Sunday blog show.
Also, I am aware of my immense privilege. Also, there are many other things to be blogging about but this.
Yours, with my fingers in my ears going “la la la la la”.
Grateful for Gratitude
Sunday Blog 149 - 18th August 2024
It took me 39 days to complete my 28 day Gratitude Practice. It started with a bang – within the first three days I’d found a ten dollar note at Maccas when I went to use their loo, and then won an Instagram competition which included a 45 minute consultation with my US based writing mentor.
The messy middle included me dropping my gorgeous heart-shaped turquoise gratitude stone (see this blog) and chipping it. I ordered heart-shaped gems online which turned out to be tiny, but look fabulous scattered on my yoga altar.
After the too-small hearts debacle (Temu is persistent and confusing), I went to a gem store in person. Fully intending to purchase another turquoise heart, the range of heart-shaped gems was limited and didn’t include a light blue-coloured one. He showed me a lapis lazuli heart but it seemed too dark. Then he placed a rose quartz heart in my hand. My fingers curled around it reflexively, and he pointed out other stones in vain.
“You don’t want to let go of it.”
I bought it of course—it had picked me rather than the other way around (see image above). Then I read up on the qualities of rose quartz - love and harmony. While my chipped, blue turquoise heart represented communication and writing, what I’ve ended up with is a gentle pink love-infused rose quartz heart. I don’t even remember how the turquoise heart came into my life, I want to remember it leaving, and today I’m going to dispose of its remnants, let it go with, of course, gratitude.
But the gewgaws and faldelals of gratitude really are irrelevant. What I’ve really learned over the last 39 days of my 28 day gratitude practice is a) I’m not very good at doing things every day and b) how incredibly helpful it is to focus on being grateful.
And it’s not just about monotonously listing what you’re grateful for at the end of the day. You can be grateful for what’s not happened yet. The day I tried that exercise, I got mixed up as it looked like I’d already done my gratitude write up. But it was just that everything I’d visualised unfolded throughout the day. Other ideas that don't involve repetitive lists is mentally saying “thank” when your left foot hits the ground and “you” when your right foot lands as you walk about your day. A kind of walking meditation and gratitude practice all rolled into one. You can also be grateful about the good things that will happen to people you love, and extend that to strangers or "the world" at large.
What happens for me when I'm grateful is the chatter of discontent and self-criticism quietens, my bandwidth of creativity and resourcefulness opens up.
So independent of any gemstones, I’m grateful for gratitude.