Thank You for So Much

I am grateful that I passed on the opportunity to _________ because ________. Rupi Kaur’s Gratitude Writing Prompts

I am grateful that I passed on the opportunity to have more children because I now have seven. I had two bio children, our first was a daughter and she weighed 8# 15 oz. Our son came 3 years later and weighed 10# 6 oz.

My husband was ecstatic. We were together for 15 years. He wanted more children, once we divorced and got back together after a year. I could not do it. I thought two children were perfect. A girl and a boy. And I thought if I had another that baby may weigh 13 pounds.

No one told me babies over 9 pounds are a precursor to diabetes. No one told me about all the precursors, but I know them now.

I grew up with an uncle who used to preach zpg or zero population growth. I always thought it was funny as he had four children. It probably felt like zpg to him growing up in a family of 10 children.

It made a difference to me, even though I thought it was humorous. I practiced birth control using two methods of birth control until I was ready to have a baby at age 21. I was married at age 17, and even though my husband wanted children right away, I practiced safe sex.

With husband number two I inherited a twelve-year-old boy. He is two years older than his sister. Then after 14 years with his father, we were divorced. He continues to be my son and my children's brother.

Now, with the charm, we have been together for 24 years and I have accepted his four children as mine too. They were all adults but one 14-year-old girl when we started dating.

We married when she was 18, as I had just parented 3 teens and decided to pass on the opportunity to parent another teen.

What has pain taught you? Rupi Kaur’s Gratitude Writing Prompts

Pain taught me to not have more babies. I have to say with natural childbirth the pain fades pretty quickly after seeing that baby. And by the time you are ready for the second baby, it becomes, “What pain.”

As I have aged, I often think, “This is why you are supposed to take good care of yourself.” When asked by the doctor if I have any pain today, the answer is always, “I always have some pain. A one or a two pain level.”

I have a friend who is in his 80s and he said he has no pain. I think, “If I make it to my 80s, maybe I won’t have pain either.

My chiropractor said that our pain sensor has amnesia. He said, “New pain is what our brain focuses on, so if you hurt your knee, all of the attention goes to the knee and your back doesn’t even hurt while your knee is hurting.”

I asked him why I should even bother coming in then as the pain relief had just resolved while he was torturing me. Then we laugh!

It is a good idea to have a chiropractor with a good sense of humor. I always feel good after an adjustment and feel the need to visit the chiropractor every few months for an adjustment.

Describe the difference between how you want to show gratitude versus how you actually show gratitude. Rupi Kaur’s Gratitude Writing Prompts

I prefer to show gratitude to someone who did for me, and often I show gratitude to someone else. Or what is referred to as passing it on. It is okay but I still try to give back to the one I am grateful for. It may be a hug, a small gift, or even a quick thank you.

I learned that a show of gratitude isn’t always something big. I feel the need to give again when I am given something big. I appreciate a hug, thank you, a small token versus a big or expensive gift. I enjoy hearing what I have told someone repeated with others. That is a show of gratitude.

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First published by Mercury Press on medium.com