Luke Kirkness: Ticking off reasons to be grateful

Appreciating the little things more has made life less stressful for me. Photo / 123RF

Opinion

The past eight days for me have been incredibly insightful.

Returning to work I'm refreshed and raring to go after a mid-winter holiday in Auckland … not quite the surf beach getaway I was hoping for but it did the job.

Before I headed away, I started to feel bogged down in my work, stressed and lost my spark for life. These feelings have washed away and here's why:

My week and a half off in the City of Sails was great, though it started off poorly with the Highlanders falling to the Blues in the Super Rugby transtasman final.

The majority of my time thereafter was spent catching up with friends and family.

Throughout the break I drank too much, exercised too little and spent more money than I'd have hoped for — I've got gorse in my pockets until payday now.

What I learnt after my week and a half trip to Auckland was quite insightful. Photo / File

And as I reflected on the week that was while driving back to the Bay of Plenty, it hit me: I'm damn lucky but struggle to appreciate just how fortunate I am.

I don't fully appreciate the little things in my life that make it great. I don't think I'm the only one either.

Thinking about my Auckland trip, it didn't bother me how much I was spending or what it was on either. Not everyone has this luxury.

In the past year, thousands of people across the region have lost their livelihoods due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Just this week Kawerau's Tasman paper mill ground to a halt for the last time.

And if I needed constant reminders, I live in a low socio-economic suburb where you can find sadness of some form down just about every driveway.

Before I left for my holiday, I wasn't quite my happy-go-lucky and boisterous self and I'm not quite sure why — in the grand scheme of things I had no right to be.

I have an interesting job, live in a beautiful part of the country, am healthy and have a good work-life balance.

If I thought long enough, I could fill this entire column with a massive list of blessings.

So why was I feeling so down in the dumps? I think it lies solely with not appreciating the little things. Since I've started doing that more, the world seems a little brighter.

My unique job is a major blessing of mine. No day is the same - here's me making scones in Pak'nSave Manukau in 2019. Photo / File

Each morning since my eureka moment I've listed reasons to be thankful, checking my notes throughout the day to remind myself. It's been hugely beneficial.

These reasons could be a roof over my head, food to eat, a reliable car, warm clothes and so on. As I mentioned earlier, the list is probably endless.

When we feel hard done by the world, it's very easy to fall deeper into a hole of despair. In these moments, I'd urge you to think about the blessings in your life.

And don't underestimate the power of taking a holiday from work — even in winter — to reset and get the cogs moving again.