Thankful Thursday

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So I am meant to be writing a Thankful Thursday post about breastfeeding.  Now I know as a rule I don't get involved in such a heavy topic here, but as I am concerned about the diversity in recent posts I figured it might be a good idea to broaden out a little.  Breastfeeding is something that I have previously written a few articles on but never really discussed here at APL.  Said articles can be found here, here and here if you are interested.  It is also something that I am incredibly thankful for and I will be sharing with you why that is bright and early next Thursday if all goes to plan.

When I went looking for the links to my collection of breastfeeding articles (three's a collection right?) I was reminded of how I got my writing fix before I discovered blogging.  One of the ways was by writing articles for a site called Helium I wrote my first article there way back in September 2007.  We had only had our computer a month.  I can't believe that before then I knew not of Facebook, blogging, Twitter or anything else that could be found on the Internet.  How did I ever get by? What did I do with my time?

One of the reasons we finally found the money for a computer was because I was of the belief that I could earn an income at home and ease some of the financial pressures that we were feeling.  At this time DD2 was around 13 months old.  DD1 had settled beautiful into school life and I was looking for ways to fill in the nap time.  You can imagine my disappointment when I discovered that making money with a computer was not as easy as some people would have you believe.

Always wanting to give it my best I stuck at spending hours online trawling for easy ways to make money.  I knew well enough to stay away from pyramid scams that were nothing more than cut and paste waste of times.  Instead I created profiles at numerous freelance sites and sat back and waited for my inbox to overflow.  While I was waiting I wrote articles for Helium and called myself a writer.  It felt awesome.  From there I found other places that would pay a pittance for four hundred words and felt even more like a writer.  I even toyed with calling myself a freelance writer as that made me sound even more professional than I really was.

Somehow I managed to actually make a little money here and there but as with most things in my life I neglected to make the required levels of effort to actually see great success.  (Alternatively I could say that being a mother to two turned out to be rather time consuming which only increased with the addition of DD3) Truth be told though I stupidly discovered Facebook in a bid to rekindle long lost friendships that may or may not have actually been worth it.

Thankfully though I also discovered, lost and then rediscovered the joy of blogging.  I have also found a way to curb my desire to idly spend my time (well most some of my time)  I am more than thankful for this and hope more than anything it is something I can continually improve on.  While my dream to make it as a writer feels rather faded at times it is still there.  The light within me will always flicker it is just the brightness that at times will vary.

With that in mind I have been making a strong effort to write here on a regular basis.  I may joke about being a non writing writer but I really would much rather be a writing writer.  The thing is I am a writer that needs to be read.  Without that it all seems a bit pointless to me.  So far it seems as if one of the main ways for me to feel like I am being read is by linking in with other great bloggers such as Kate and Thankful Thursday.

For me TT is right up my alley.  The silver lining is never usually hard for me to find and can easily recall many a time when I have been told that I am akin to Little Miss Positive.  Something I relish.

Lately though this is not the case.

Now before you pull out the violins and play a sorrow woe is me song I should say that my inability to not see the silver lining is not because life has been throwing me awful curve balls.  Because it hasn't.  Sure the kids have been sick, the weather's been hot and money looks a bit tight but that has all happened before and I haven't let it dampen my spirits.  I have just let it all get out of hand and am in desperate need of a serious attitude adjustment (or holiday).  Actually just a night of unbroken sleep would probably do it.

So I hadn't planned on joining in this week.  I didn't want to just make up some for the sake of it post where I was thankful for my daily blessings.  You know stuff like being thankful that Maccas had an awesome iced caramel latte and choc orange torte when I caught up with my latest blind mummy date.  Then also being thankful that said date was so incredibly awesome and was someone I felt I could catch up with again if she felt so inclined (no pressure though if you are reading :)  Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for all of that and a ton of other great things that have happened lately if I take the time to think about it, but when I write these posts I want it to be something special and thought provoking.  Stuff like this and this.  Hence why I thought being thankful for breastfeeding could be a good option, only somehow I got a little lost.

Which as it turns out I am a bit thankful for.

You see going back and having a read through some of my articles has made me remember that there is hope for me as a writer, and for that I am truly thankful.  Without hope we have nothing.


So thanks Kate for being such an awesome host and reminding not just me but the world at large how important it is to take the time to be thankful.

What are you thankful for?  Don't forget to swing by next Thursday to see why I am thankful for Breastfeeding.