We always wanted to start blogging to share our experiences but never really had the time or maybe the drive to do so until now. There’s a lot of topic that came in my mind but I guess I want to start with how we became grateful and hence the name of our site- The Grateful Possums.
It was May 2013 when A and I decided to work in Dubai and got blessed with jobs that we thought we wanted at that time. We were paid well and was able to go home for vacation a year after. Life was really great, our dreams were starting to come true one by one, I was able to buy whatever I wanted and travel to places I only could dream of before. But the truth is, A wasn’t totally happy with all this because she only came to Dubai to be with me and make my dreams come true.
On our 3rd year, depression and home sickness kicked in hard for her and started to really affect our relationship. She wanted to go home and I wasn’t ready for it. She was losing her mind and I would do and say anything to remind her of how blessed we are and what we have accomplished. At this time I was desperate, I convinced A that we book a trip to Maldives to celebrate my 30th birthday. I told her that maybe we just need a break and getaway to paradise?? After crunching the numbers she finally agreed. (I will not go into details about our trip and maybe just have it on another post.)
Our flight was booked February 2017 though my birthday was January because it was the most convenient time for both of us. We finally arrived in Maldives and maybe it was God’s way that we met these awesome duo Mark and Dan who purchased the same holiday package as we did. We were the only Filipino traveler in that trip and so we immediately bonded. They made us laugh, specially Dan is a born comedian and we immediately realized that we have never laughed as hard as we did for a long time until we met them. I think it was on our second morning in Maldives that we sat in a dining table by the beach and just shared about our experiences. That was when Mark shared this book that he read years ago that helped him in his situation that time. That book was – The Secret by Rhonda Byrne which happened to be the book that taught us how to be grateful and changed both our outlook in life.
I purchased the first book and started reading it. To my surprise, the book has a daily instructions of things to be thankful for. It was easy to convince A to read the book too (although she was skeptical) and we both follow whatever it says for the hope that it will help us feel better. The book was supposed to be read daily in the morning but for the life of me I couldn’t wake up earlier and be fully awake to read a book. And oh, I should mention that reading books makes me really sleepy but if the book really interests me I can read it in one sitting! (I’m not sure if that’s something I should be proud of though..) Going back, we read the book before going to bed and do the instructions the next day.
The book did help, we took it one day at a time, we were happier and more thankful even for little things and things that we forget to be thankful- like the air we breathe, the water we drink and the earth we are living in. Those things that make us alive.. We started valuing moments, being more conscious on how we live and where we spend our time. That moment when we realized that we spend more time planning for our future and not being able to live in the present, in the now. It’s just a time wasted because the truth is, you will never know if you will be blessed to wake up with another morning
With a grateful heart and a new perspective in life, we ended up resigning from our jobs and we finally went home last September of 2017. We spent the first 3 months just catching up with our families, friends, neighbors, acquaintances. Making moments, just feeling every bit of the time we spend and making it our treasures. We Actually bought a second book from the same author- The Magic but we haven’t read it yet. We are not paid to endorse these books but it did help us to be grateful and be more positive.
The book will not be the answer to your problems in life for sure but it will guide you. It will still depend on the person I guess and what you believe in. What you believe will happen eventually, in His time. We didn’t become rich but we know we have more than enough. At the end of the day, we know that we gained more and we are in a much better place than we were a year ago.
Every night we still do our routine of thanking Him for our blessings for the day and that he may bless us with another blessed morning tomorrow. I hope this post helps our readers in any way possible, big or small.