The first day of the rest of my life – gratitude in everyday life. This morning I woke up with that thought. Today is the first day of the rest of my life. That thought was the very first thing that landed in me when I opened my eyes. Before I got out of bed, I felt gratitude for receiving yet another new morning to wake up in. One more day here in life – isn’t that fantastic?
I got up. The cat was sleeping so deeply that I had to wake him. The coffee was already ready. I lit a candle in the kitchen even though I sat down in the living room. There is something about lighting a candle that gives the morning an extra calm. Maybe someone else wakes up and is met by that light. Maybe I myself, when I go to refill my coffee cup, am met by that little warmth.
A Day with Pain – But Also with Gratitude in Everyday Life
My neck still hurts, and now I also feel it over my left eye. But with Ipren, Alvedon and some tiger balm, I get a few hours of relief.
Yesterday turned out still, but in a new way. After two days in bed, it was wonderful to get going again and feel the scent of home and food. I cleaned the kitchen, cooked the meal, and let that be enough as physical work.
The Smell of Meat Patties and the Joy of Cooking
When I stood there frying my meat patties – and there were many – the whole kitchen smelled wonderful. I was careful to save the pan juices to make a really good sauce.
Yesterday I tried frying the onion before mixing it into the minced meat, but as I already knew, that’s not my thing. It has to be raw, grated onion to give the real flavor. Now I reminded myself once again. This time made it clear to me: raw onion is what I want in the mixture.
This time I also mixed in rolled oats instead of breadcrumbs. It made the meat patties extra juicy. I built up the sauce with the pan juices – and it tasted delicious.
Big Thoughts in the Small Things
Already in bed, the thought of gratitude started living in me. I felt joy that the room was warm. Gratitude for the geothermal heating that gives both warmth and hot water. Imagine that someone figured out a machine that can pull heat from a mountain!
Just being able to turn on a tap and get drinkable water is actually huge. A hundred years ago, people had to go outside and fetch water, no matter how cold it was. When I stay in that thought, I am filled with peace. Such thoughts can lift an entire day.
Like yesterday, when the little one didn’t have time to wipe the table before school. Instead of irritation, I only felt joy that he had eaten breakfast. It really feels like the first day of the rest of my life – gratitude in everyday life makes the difference.
A Longing Made New – Maybe a Swim?
I have missed my new-old habit of bathing in the lake. I miss my bathing sisters, our little laughs, and that calm that always settles afterward. Maybe today I will dare to try again. Maybe a swim can make the pain go away, or maybe it will make it worse. But then I will know.
Just the thought of a dip gives my body a kind of new energy, as if the lake is already calling me. Read here how I once again picked up my morning swims -> An Early Morning Swim Filled with Gratitude
Taking Care of My Thoughts – An Old Habit Returned
It feels like I have taken back an old, important habit. I have once again started taking greater responsibility for how I handle my thoughts and how I choose my feelings. Maybe I’ve been doing it for a long time without thinking about it, but right now I am clearer, more active. I notice how I consciously replace thoughts that don’t bring joy and how I hold on to the ones that carry me.
Because here lies the gain. I can choose – choose whether I want to live in happy feelings or in unhappy ones. Just writing the words gives me a wonderful feeling, because I have a choice. An important choice. And I choose happiness.
This makes me live more and more often in the feeling of well-being – despite the pain and despite the longing for my son and the little grandchildren.
A Little Star for Planning
I also want to recommend the astrological planning calendar I mentioned earlier. It will follow me through the coming year – as a compass for thoughts and small moments of reflection.
The planning calendar based on the stars applies for next year. If you buy it via this link, you get a 30 % discount. Use the discount code Astrocalendar30.
This is not an affiliate link. I earn nothing from sharing it, but just want to recommend it because I myself find the calendar interesting. The discount code gives you 30 % off if you want to try it. My thought is that the calendar will eventually help me plan breaks and choose thoughts and self-love more consciously. This may not be the author’s idea – but that’s how I plan to use the one I bought.
Between the Lines – AHA Mirror
This post is not only about meat patties and gratitude. It reflects a conscious choice to live here and now: that every cup of coffee, every smell of food, and every little thought can become a place of joy – despite pain, longing, and the days that cannot be changed.
And in the stillness there is also the courage to try again – maybe a cold swim that awakens body and soul.
What it says about me as a writer: Presence. Care. Creativity in everyday life. An inner strength that dares to try and keeps choosing joy.
Questions for You as a Reader
What fills your mornings with gratitude?
Do you have a little everyday miracle – a scent, a routine – that carries you through the day?
When was the last time a small thought changed your entire day?
What would a cold morning swim give you right now?
Reflection
The simple things are often the greatest. A candle in the kitchen, the smell of fried meat patties, running water, a cycling joy in the evening light – and maybe a morning swim. That’s where gratitude lives, in the quiet miracles that make a day worth living.
The first day of the rest of my life – gratitude in everyday life makes me choose happiness every day.
Yesterday has already settled into history, where I chose happiness. Tomorrow awaits further ahead. But right now, I can choose to live in happiness – because this is where life happens. – Carina Ikonen Nilsson
Autumn projects and joy in everyday life fill this morning. Coffee, a lake swim and creative energy give strength while the greenhouse rests until spring.
Good morning. Yesterday I didn’t write a post – I was fully occupied with my autumn projects and joy in everyday life. The morning was quiet, just as it is now, and I simply let it be. I sat in the silence, reflecting and gathering energy for the day’s tasks.
It was only four degrees Celsius when I took off my bathrobe by the lake. Yet it didn’t feel cold – the sun shone and warmed without burning. Mist floated across the water, and the scent of moist soil blended with the freshness of the lake. Everything was beautiful and still.
A Morning Swim that Brings Joy
The swim felt almost ceremonial. The water was still 15 °C (59 °F) – cool, yet surprisingly warm on the skin. I swam 200 meters together with my morning-swim friends while the sun glittered on the surface. The sense of well-being lingered as I drove home, as if the lake had given me an inner glow of joy.
Consciously choosing joy can begin with something as simple as a morning swim.
Autumn Projects in the Greenhouse
Back home, I continued with my autumn projects. The greenhouse was put to rest. I removed all tomato and cucumber plants, scrubbed pots and walls, and enjoyed the pleasant rhythm of the work. I also washed our bed linens – perhaps the last time this year they could dry in the crisp autumn sun. That evening, as I slipped into the sheets, their fresh scent became a small, luxurious moment of gratitude.
Creativity and the Words of Kay Pollak
While cleaning, my thoughts wandered. I’ve promised myself to finish the garden before moving down to my basement studio of paints and canvases. There, a new painting awaits – a joy painting. I picture water and mountains with the words “Choose Joy” dancing across the landscape. Maybe it will become something entirely different when the brush meets the canvas, but for now the idea burns like a gentle flame inside me.
Your Turn – How Do You Welcome Autumn?
How do you receive the autumn season and all its possibilities?
Do you start new projects when the air turns sharper and the mornings clearer?
Or do you, as I sometimes do, simply let the morning be what it is?
I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment. Your autumn project might inspire someone else.
Reflection
Today I choose joy. Maybe it begins with a cup of coffee, a 15 °C swim, or the scent of sun-dried sheets. In these small moments, I see how Kay Pollak’s idea—that we can choose our attitude—becomes real.
Yesterday has already settled into history, tomorrow is waiting further ahead. But right now – this is where life happens. – Carina Ikonen Nilsson
AHA – Between the Lines
Writing this made me realize that it isn’t only the greenhouse that rests. I, too, am gathering strength. The swim, the thoughts of painting, and the earthy scents are ways to meet a new season with gratitude instead of stress. AHA insight: Joy is a choice that starts in the simplest actions.
Your Voice – Between the Lines
Beneath the surface, this text is about the courage to slow down—to give yourself permission to finish one phase before creating the next. It’s a reminder that joy often grows when we stop chasing it.
An early morning dip filled with gratitude. Here I tell about the battle between two voices – the one who wants and the one who doesn’t – and how the will finally won. A moment of nature, courage and quiet joy.
Welcome sign at Ragnerud bathing place on a rain-soaked morning – the place of my grateful swim.
Two Voices Inside Me
Today it finally happened again, even though it began with nagging from the one who wants and the one who doesn’t. The one who doesn’t want has won for too long and taken ground inside my body. She is strong and doesn’t give up easily, and has been winning ground for a very long time, far too long.
But today she had to give in. Already at six o’clock this morning the other one – the one who wants – began to open up to the possibility of really doing it. Her voice fell silent only to rest and try again. This time she didn’t give up. She found possibilities and wove them into every word she spoke to me and to the one inside who doesn’t want.
Now she had the strength; her voice was clear, no longer whispers but firm pointers: now you do it. “But the swimwear is in the motorhome,” I said to myself. “That hasn’t stopped you before,” she replied. “But it’s cold,” said the one inside. “You freeze all the time these days.” The one with the will answered: “That hasn’t stopped you before.”
The two of them went back and forth all morning. I sat with my laptop in my lap and listened to those two.
The Decision and the Journey
At the very last minute I decided to listen to the right voice and the right will. I listened to the voice that wanted and made sure to act. Out to the motorhome, find the swim bag, back inside to brush my teeth and grab the car keys, then into the car to actually do what was needed – drive ten kilometers, and I’m there, in paradise on earth.
But today didn’t turn out as planned, because when I arrived at the bathing place my swim-sisters had already finished. Today they had decided to bathe at 8 o’clock and I thought it was at half past eight. But that didn’t stop me.
A Morning Swim of Gratitude
They drove off and I took off all my clothes, which were really only a bathrobe and underwear. On with the water shoes and down into the lake. I had promised myself to just dip in. If it was cold it would be enough to lower my body into the water and then get out.
But if you knew how wonderful that dip was – not cold at all, only pleasant. Simply as wonderful as it gets. My body and the memory within it were completely present there in the water. I smiled and floated for a while.
I know that neither my husband nor my swim-sisters think it is okay to swim completely alone. That meant the swim became a shorter one. Yet every second there in the water, in nature, with my naked body floating in the lake, held a value worth remembering. Me, the water, and the sky.
Wonderful is a pale word for the moment. No word comes close to how I experienced this swim. Waves, wind and rain – and yet something beautiful unfolded inside me.
The silent beach after my swim – the water, the sky and the red building as my only company.
A Morning Swim of Gratitude – The Victory of Gratitude
It became something to remember as a moment of taking care of myself in the best possible way. As I write these words, I am filled with deep gratitude that I let the one who wants win the first battle of the day.
She won, she triumphed, but I – with all my selves – won the greatest prize. Finally, a swim again. I am now swimming in gratitude that fills my body. Thanks for all the beauty that was with me this morning.
It is almost as if those two wills also carry gratitude within them. And the greatest gratitude is that I listened to her – the one who wants. Even though it felt reluctant and a bit uncomfortable, she won. I acted – and within that action lives gratitude. -> Would you like to explore more about how swimming can ease pain in the body? Visit Swan Song and Body Work. – this older post is only in Swedish.
AHA – Between the Lines
This post is about more than a swim. It is a victory for the courage to choose what you know is good, despite resistance. A story of how small, decisive steps can fill the body with strength and quiet joy.
I chose the will and met gratitude. Yesterday already rests in history; we can do nothing about it. What happens tomorrow belongs to tomorrow. It is right now, in this very moment, that I sow what I may harvest later. Right now – this is where life happens. — Carina Ikonen Nilsson
Callout to You as Reader
Do you also have a “one who wants” and a “one who doesn’t” inside you? How do their voices sound – and which one won last time?
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