It’s Twixmas, that languid time between Christmas and New Year when it feels as if time is standing still, and I thought I would grab this opportunity of putting into practice what I so insistently encourage each and every one of my clients to do: express my gratitude.
I am infinitely grateful for the support I received from my friends and family: my father, my brother Nicolas, Anscha, Theresa, Riet and Ed, Ginster and Peter, Cécile, Julie, Gilles, Arlene, Salomé, Jacqueline and Paul, Linda and Wayne, Rosie, Penny and Hamish, Diana, Jenny and Maurice, John and Joy, Kat, Caroline, Tia and Eyal, Patricia, Carolyn, Michaela, Joelle, Sally, Catherine and Richard, and especially Anne, my mother-in-law(list not exhaustive and in no specific order) as well as the members of the groups that I belong to: the Wordweavers, La Causerie, Writing Dynamics, the Gascony Ladies Club, Amis de Flaran…thank you for being part of my journey and for helping me stay on track as I worked hard to reinvent myself, yet again.
I am very grateful for the enriching lessons I have learned this year. It has been a year of forced growth – just when I thought I have had to cope with every challenge in the book, a few more popped up. I am specifically grateful for the life transition lessons, that have made me a better life transition coach/mentor, so much so that I now exclusively coach/mentor clients who are facing similar challenges to the ones I have faced this year.
I also want all of you who attended retreats here this year to know how grateful I am that you have shared your lives with me. I feel privileged to have met you. Thank you to all those who have written me such gloriously inspiring and motivating reviews. I am grateful to all of you who have trusted me enough to come and spend your precious holidays with me so I can do what I love doing most. A special thank you to Marianne, for continuing to support me and the horses.
To all my online friends, who liked and commented on my posts, who have shared my ups and downs, even those I have never met in person. Especially those who have contributed to my Facebook group We Live Purposeful, Meaningful and Fulfilling Lives: thank you.
To my readers, thank you for buying and reading my books, and thank you for writing book reviews and for encouraging others to read my books and adopt my strategies. Thank you for contacting me telling me how my books have helped you, and thank you to Caroline who still, after 10 years, uses my first book as a teaching aid.
I also feel blessed for the medical care I have received this year. Although my operation in June was not successful, many people, both medical and non-medical, have gone out of their way to help, notably after the operation when I was re-admitted and unable to care for my quadrupeds. This was the first year I have had to cope with going completely blind, admittedly not for a very long time, but it has been one of the worst experiences of my life and has marked me profoundly. A huge thank you to everyone who has helped me, and continues to help me, navigate this storm.
Without my faith, I would have given up somewhere during this year. The thought crossed my mind several times. I am most grateful for all that my Heavenly Father lead me when I could no longer see, helped me up when I fell and carried me this year during the times when I could no longer walk.
“Gratefulness is the key to a happy life, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy – because we will always want to have something else or something more.” – Br. David Steindl-Rast
I wish you all a purposeful, meaningful and fulfilling 2022 and an ever-getting-longer gratitude list.
PS. If you are interested in attending a Miracles MasterClass in-person/virtually, subscribe to Dr. Montagu’s mailing list and you’ll be informed when she hosts the next one.
Dr Margaretha Montagu 