Grateful for everyday miracles: Day 9 and 10

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMaybe heat and water aren’t technically miracles, but when they go away, it sure feels like they are! I have a good excuse for not posting yesterday: we lost power. And heat. And water. There was icing in the area and it took down a lot of trees.

But we were really, really delighted to have a generator. Noisy as it was, it got the job done. And Dominion had us up maybe ~30 hours after we lost power, and I am absolutely loving every smidgeon of heat, and so are the cats! The heated floormat has really been the center of the universe this evening.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I know it sounds trite, but I forget that some people have never had running water or electricity, and probably never will in their lifetime. We’re all privileged in ways we aren’t even aware.

I also am one of the few people who can say I’ve NEVER lost power for more than a few hours before. It never happened growing up, or in any of the places I’ve lived. So I was definitely overdue, and I’m glad I can cross that off my bucket list and never deal with it again. Right?

More on the December Sanity Retreat & ContestsOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The holidays can be a beautiful time of family bonding, celebration and beauty. They can also be an overdoing, overspending, overstressing time of all flavors of excess. For the last 3 years, I’ve been delighted to host the December Sanity Retreat and the July Self-Care Retreat. This is our 6th retreat! I wish I could say it was all about altruism, but honestly, it’s been wonderful for me to have an extra excuse to focus on self-care and rein in my natural tendency to need to bake (at least) 18 kinds of cookies.

I know how powerful it is for me to focus on self-care, and I imagine it’s similar for most of you, so as a gentle extra nudge, we’re doing 2 giveaways.

Giveaway #1: Let us hear your voice!

Prize: a $50 nuts.com gift certificate) they are not sponsoring, I just wanted something with healthy gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free, etc. options (US/Canada)

Comment on any of our hostesses’ posts on the Sanity Retreat, like this one. Leave me a comment on how you cultivate gratitude in your life, OR what you’re most grateful for on this week’s post HERE

Giveaway #2: make the challenge your own!

Blog on your own self-care plans, and a post will be chosen at random as the winner. If you don’t have a blog, contact the hostess of the week and they’ll post for you.

Prize: um, ironing out details–either a gift certificate or a box of self-care books, meditation CDs, chocolate and other fun things from me.big orange flutter

As always, self-care is whatever it means to you. So the December Sanity Challenge can be on whatever YOU need to work on to stay sane during the holiday season

Balance around food * Joyful movement * Sanity & stress management * Making space for art, expression, and spirituality * Connection with friends and family

Or whatever else speaks to you along those lines.

The challenge—post on what you plan to do to make your holidays sane, happy and healthy.  Make it specific!  Not just “I’ll get more sleep”, but “I’ll get at least 7 hours of sleep, 5 days a week”.  Not just “I won’t go crazy making desserts”, but “I’ll make a maximum of XX desserts, and space them out over XX time”.  You know what you need to do to keep this doable, and writing it down will help you get there!

I’m delighted to be joined by wonderful hostesses with likeminded blogs:

I hope you choose to join us, too.  Grab a badge and we’re good to go!

We’ll also be meeting up in our Facebook group for extra encouragement and support. You’re more than welcome to join us there.

Posts so far:

My 30 days of gratitude:

 

About Cheryl Harris

Life played a funny trick on me. I've studied nutrition for years, and much to my surprise, found out that I could manage many of my health issues via diet. I've been GF for years, and I've got a bunch of allergies and sensitivities. But it definitely doesn't keep me from cooking, baking and enjoying my food. Thanks for stopping by.
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