What I am grateful for this week

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough”.

Oprah Winfrey

My heart is filled with gratitude after completing my first month of blogging this week. I love writing down, every Monday, three things I am grateful for and sharing them with you. I always feel so much after doing this because it makes me appreciate all the great things I have in my life, instead of focusing on the things I don’t have, or the things I am yet to achieve. It keeps my feet firmly and gratefully grounded in the present.

I was also pleased to learn from Psychology Today, that a gratitude researcher named Robert Emmons conducted studies into the link between gratitude and well-being. ‘His research confirms that gratitude effectively increases happiness and reduces depression.’ So there you don’t have to take my word for it – start your gratitude list today!

Here are the three things I am grateful for this week.

One

I am hugely grateful for everyone that has supported me in my first month of blogging. I had the idea of the Wellbean two years ago, but I wasn’t ready to fully open up about my mental health. This year I made it my New Year’s resolution to set up my blog, and I honestly didn’t realise how well received it would be, and how much I would enjoy writing a blog.

I have had messages from strangers, friends, family, fellow bloggers and even colleagues thanking me for being so open and honest about my mental health and they have shared similar stories with me. This means so much to me because I said, if by blogging I’d be able to help at least 1 person that was suffering with their mental health, then I’d be happy – so to know that people are finding value from my blog, makes me unbelievably happy and eager to continue.

Here are some stats from my first month:

• Page views: 4,879.
• WordPress followers: 121.
• Facebook: 185 likes.
• Instagram: 1544 followers.
• Twitter: 437 followers.
• Pinterest: 244 followers.

I couldn’t of predicted these numbers, so if you have contributed to supporting me in any way, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Two

I am so grateful that I live in such a beautiful place so close to the coast, I absolutely love getting on the beach with my dog, and I always feel so much better after walking along and breathing in the fresh sea air.

Yesterday me and my boyfriend Ed took Lucky to the beach and it was so beautiful to see the sun setting across the coastline. It was a little bit chilly so we warmed up with a nice hot chocolate. It was bliss.

Even today I took Lucky to the beach for a walk with my friend’s new puppy called Teddy. It was so cute to see Teddy wanting to play with Lucky. Because Lucky is a rescue dog he likes his own space and doesn’t like some dogs getting too close, but it was nice to see him being friendly with the adorable Teddy in his little jacket.

Three

I am feeling grateful this week that the evenings and mornings are beginning to get lighter. I often find that I suffer with more low moods during the winter, and find that the weather definitely has an affect on this. It’s really nice to finish work at 4pm and still see some sunlight! It also makes me excited for the summer.

What are you grateful for this week? If you’d like to share, please comment below. I’ll be back next week with my new list, have a great week!