This month’s health and lifestyle column from Corinne Yeadon, of the Being Better private therapy practice in Skipton

UNTIL recently I considered myself a practitioner of gratitude and thankfulness. I’m ashamed to say a series of unfortunate events shattered that belief. Within a 24-hour period, pipes upstairs and downstairs sprung leaks, electrics tripped out and the combi boiler was dead as a dodo.

While bemoaning my lot I realised not only did I fail to appreciate what I have but that my requirements and expectations to support basic daily living are another person’s luxury and for so many people not even on their radar.

We live in a society where information is a click away and services are instantly accessible, this impacts our expectations, understandably if we have a problem, we count on it to being solved immediately.

It saddens me that my daughters will never experience the week-long wait and anticipation of collecting photos from a shop. Talking of which, photo memories popped up on my phone as the universe clearly wasn’t done reminding me how fortunate I am.

What can I say I felt told off good and proper. Don’t get me wrong we can be ticked off with day-to-day issues that cause us disruption or inconvenience, a problem is a problem no matter how small. We feel what we feel, but how helpful is it to stay stuck until the problem is sorted? Taking stock of what we do have can support grounding, provide perspective and just feels better.

Going or doing without tends to jolt us into considering what we take for granted, the pandemic and lockdowns are a prime example. Good health is another, we don’t notice when our bodies are working well, but we question when our physical health lets us down.

I may not do a dance of joy every time I turn on the hot tap or flick a switch, but I am determined to check myself going forward and this includes keeping a daily gratitude journal.