Dear grateful sea. Thank you for writing to me.
I’m having some trouble with sadness these days.
Part of this I think is dealing with the depression
that my husband has had this year. It seems to
be intensifying as he is dealing with trauma from his
childhood. He and I live in a lot of silence.
Also foran accumulation of issues from my work over
the years seems to be catching up with me.
I have had the very good fortune of being
able to work part time. I really don’t think I
could have worked full time this year.
I don’t think I had it in me. But part time is going
so much better for me. I will soon be filling
my time with some enjoyable activities
and that should help my mood quite a bit.
To all my friends here I send my love.
I was especially glad to see Sylvie had written in
and am delighted to see new people coming into
this community. Wonderful to hear from you Sylvie
and a big welcome to our new members.
Thanks again dear grateful sea for reaching out to me.
Many blessings to all.
Mary

Dear Serafina and All,
You posted a beautiful picture with the word Welcome a day or two ago. Pilgrim commented that it would be wonderful to have that picture at the top of the Gratitude Lounge page. This would be exactly in line with Anna’s desire to be more welcoming to people who are new to the Gratitude Lounge! Pilgrim’s idea is excellent!!
Could we do that? Could your Welcome picture have its home at the top of the Gratitude Lounge page? Please find a way and let us know.
Thank you!
Mary

Hi. It’s been too long. I have dropped in more than once to post but decided each time to try to catch up. By the time I was mostly caught up, it had gotten to be too late. So I am coming here without trying to catch up first on how every one is doing. I hope everyone is well. I have been thinking about being grateful and I realize that I could be happier by being grateful. I could use this so much more than I do.
For the month of October I have been working part time. Yay! It actually happened. I am playing with finding a balance between structuring my time and allowing myself unstructured time.
I really love to do nothing. Play on my iPad. Nap. Watch tv shows.
I love that. But too much of that and I get groggy. Darn the grogginess!🙃
I have practiced bad habits of over working during my work week and being in recovery mode during my off time. So now I have an opportunity for a better life. But this requires moderation. What? I don’t have to work 12 hours on work days? Nor 10 hours. What? I can relax and be active on days. This has eluded me for many years.
So I am finding I have to force myself to do enjoyable things outside the house. And also just get myself up and going on my off days. I have to build up my self discipline muscle because this baby just wants to sit. So this is what I am working on while I have the good fortune an opportunity to have a nice life. Could anyone even wish fo a happier problem.
A few things I have forced myself to do. Working out at the gym. I did not want to go. But I did twice last week (it’s a start) and plan to do so Monday Tues and Wed of next week. I have been doing some art. My plan is to work on a piece of art every day. I use the term art loosely so as not to feel pressured. The point is to get some art materials in my hands and do something. I have been enjoying this..
I have been enjoying spending time with my kitten ( actually my 23 year old cat) Marvin.
So I am going to see a movie with my husband. It’s called Parasite🤨⚠️. Might be intense for me, but we shall see. So I have to get up and and start moving around.

Love to all of you.!!!
Mary
I always , always proofread, but no time so this might be weird. Spellcheck errors and whatever.
Wishing each one of you a lovely day.
You are in my heart always.
Mary

Hi Anna. I often wonder the same. I remember when I first joined I felt a strong sense of being the new person. I didn’t feel like I was getting the same amount of responsiveness when I commented as people who had been here for a long time were getting. Part of this may have been that I would often respond to the question of the day rather than stay in the gratitude lounge.
It seems to me that new people are received very openly and with welcoming words from so many here. But I think there is no avoiding the fact that they don’t yet share in the history we have with one another. Nobody likes feeling like the outsider. Perhaps as part of welcoming a new person each of us could introduce ourselves by saying something about ourselves or our own history so that a person would feel less like a new person among old friends. This would give a new person a chance to connect more easily. This could feel awkward though. It would require a lot of openness on the part of each of us here. But to me openness only feels good when I want to be open, and I don’t always feel comfortable being open. And the Gratitude Lounge should always feel like a very safe place for all. So I think this could be just one of many possibilities, and words of welcome would always be wonderful and would be enough. But I think Anna, you have opened up for this community the question of how we can best welcome a new person. It does not surprise me that you, Anna, being such a deeply caring person, would think to bring this up. I think this is an excellent question that we all can reflect on.