As I sit and reflect on today I can’t help but think about how grateful I am for having the opportunity, ability and capacity to learn and grow. I am aware that not everyone has had the same opportunities as me, I am very fortunate and privileged to have the upbringing, friends, family, education, and experiences that I have had over my life. These have helped shape me, form my values and philosophy on life, and provided me the skills to continue to learn and grow. These are things that I know can be taken for granted.

The ability to read.
I am grateful for the ability to read and comprehend information. As I reflect over my life this ability has been fundamental in me being able grow and develop in my skills, knowledge, understanding, and practise. I am currently reading two books, both on different aspects of development and growth with one being on Grit while the other on working with boys in their teenaged years and helping support them to grow into good men through rites of passage. If I couldn’t read, I would not be able to integrate this practise into my day and would therefore my growth would be inhibited. I would not be the only person who lost in this situation as whatever I read I try to reflect and practise until a habit is formed in my life – those in my spheres of influence who I interact with everyday would therefore also be inhibited in their growth as I wouldn’t have as much to offer.

People and mentors.
The interaction with significant other people in my has directly influenced my ability to learn and grow. I believe that the saying the a man is not meant to be an island is completely true – we learn and are influenced by the people that we associate and live life with: “”as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”. It is important to note that this can be either positive or negative depending on who the people are which is why surrounding yourself with people who will lift you up, challenge you to be all you can be, celebrating the good times, calling out poor behaviours, and supporting in the heartaches of life is so important. It also means to be careful about who you allow to speak into your life and have those places of importance – not everyone’s opinion or feedback actually matters, there is a responsibility to “guard your heart for it is the well-spring of life”. I am thankful for the people who do this for me in my life, it isn’t something that I have said to them often enough but definitely an area I have been working improving indecent times.

Education.
My love for learning and wanting to grow has been born out of the education experiences I was provided as child. I went to a good school, had great teachers (I didn’t agree with all of them), was connected to good friends and had a family that set high expectations of excellence in terms of being the best that you can be which is different to needing to be the best. I believe that these set me up to be a lover of learning and has helped motivate me to continue to grow.

Today marked the second day back at school for Term Four which saw a slight increase in the workload from a face-to-face point of view due to recommencing of my bassoon students and being the first Concert Band rehearsal. While this does add an additional “busy” factor to my days, I am forever grateful for the opportunities that teaching music has provided to me – without it I wouldn’t be who or where I am.

Connection with students.
The first lessons back after a holiday for some music teachers can be a frustrating one due to having the knowledge that many students won’t have spent the consistent time practising over the holidays – even the most diligent can sometimes slip up. If we stop as adults and think about this, we’d realise that there are many adults who would fall into this same category of when routines change (such as holidays) habits can also be impacted. I find that this doesn’t bother me, rather I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to reconnect with my students, find out what they have done over the holidays, and encourage them to pick things back up and start working in partnership towards whatever goals they have.

Mentoring.
My philosophy of teaching is that I am not necessarily just teaching content, but rather life skills and providing an example of how to be a good person. Due to its nature of being either one-on-one or small group settings the instrumental teaching that I do provides me with a unique opportunity to be doing this. I am grateful for the opportunity to be able (hopefully) make a positive impact on the lives of the students that I teach by being a mentor to them. Hopefully I can inspire them musically, but even above that inspire them to develop excellence of character that will positively impact the word in which we all live.

Opportunity.
I am grateful for my school providing me the opportunity to continue to teach instrumentally. Due to the other duties that I fulfil throughout my day close look has needed to be paid to the number of contact hours that I can have. I am grateful to the leadership who have worked in supporting me and acknowledge the additional things I have done including learning new instruments to a professional standard to provide opportunities for students at school.

Today marked the return to school for the commencement of Term Four. I had already decided that this would be the ultimate test into whether I could keep routines and habits started during the holidays going – the next three weeks would be important for the mindfulness exercises, stretches, runnings, and looking for moments of gratitude and appreciation. All this inside the context of being a pastoral care leader in a school environment where you never know what could be coming next. Overall, I was amazed with the difference the habits made to the beginning of my day.

Connectedness.
The first thing that I find myself being grateful for today is the connectedness to community. I had several incredible conversations with colleagues today, but one stood out for me – the “excitedness” of one colleague when she asked whether it was true that they’d be joining Chaney House (the Pastoral House that I oversee) as a Tutor next year. their joy at knowing that they’d be coming into Chaney and working as a member of our team, the excitement and energy was amazing to share in and invigorating for me. I know that their excitement will flow over into providing amazing care for the boys in they are responsible for journeying with over their time in the Senior School. I a m grateful for colleagues so switched on and passionate about looking after our boys.

Stepping up and going beyond.
There are times that due to teaching being a vocation that teachers’ silliness to go the extra mile and step up can be overlooked. I was blown away today by another one of the pastoral staff in Chaney. They started with a new group today due to necessary staff changes because of someone taking another job opportunity. Not only were they willing to step up and take on this group (a commitment for the next two years) but the level of care they showed right from day one with these boys makes me grateful to know they are in good hands. I am grateful for being able to work with this colleague and can’t wait to see the continued growth in them as they pastorally care for this group of young men.

Parents taking the time to say thank you.
One of the jobs that I have in my role is organising some of the additional events for various year groups, this includes the Year 11 Mother and Son Dinner which is occurring later this month. I received a beautiful email of appreciation from a mum who has bought her tickets and looking forward to the evening with her son. The appreciation she showed in her words for all the staff at the school for putting on these additional events to partner with parents just made my day. The power of thanks and appreciation.

It may seem a bit funny to title a diary entry “reflection” when really that’s what every journal entry, a reflection on what has happened throughout the last 24 hours. However, I really feel that this theme as the school holidays come to a close is an important one in itself that shouldn’t be missed.

School holidays at a close.
Today marked the last day of school holidays and I am grateful for this. Not because of the going back to school, but rather because the experiences that I have had over this time off has given me a chance to stop, look inward, reflect, and take action into how I want my life and, as a result, the impact I can have on those around me to be. This is especially as I start the next term.
I am grateful for my colleague and good friend John giving me a copy of “The Resilience Project” and me making the time to read it over the holidays – it really resonated and rekindled a number of thoughts I have regarding wellbeing and how to live well.

Growth and celebration.
I am grateful for my wife and her playing soccer this year. The example that this has set for our kids into it being important for both mum and dad to have things in their life which they love and enjoy and that we celebrate the successes of each family member. This culminated yesterday with her team winning the Cup in their division. It was against the odds with the team they were playing a division higher and having been undefeated the entire season. A test of character, resilience and discipline as they managed to win it on penalties after being one – nil down. I am so proud of the achievement and grateful she has gotten to experience this with her team mates.

Family conversation.
My kids at dinner time have now jumped on the gratitude band wagon themselves. They have started sharing the things they are grateful for every night when we gather. Tonight was a bit of changed version with every member needing to list the five things they were grateful for that occurred during the holidays. I feel like there’s already some wins happening there – now to keep it happening during school term when things get busy!

This post is the final post in a week’s worth of recording three things that I am grateful for from the last 24 hours. Already, there seems to be a theme arising on me really appreciating the people there are in my life, those that I get to live and experience life with. Today has been no exception to this.

Generosity.
I am grateful for the boundless layers of generosity that people have continued to show towards both me and my family. Recently, there have been two birthdays that we have celebrated inside the house. A couple of uncles who didn’t get to catch up with the the birthday celebrants on their day messaged and asked to come over to wish happy birthday and drop off some gifts. I had thought that the gifts would be just for one of the birthday celebrants, however when they arrived there was a wonderful card from one written for me (yes my birthday was mine) with a heartfelt message – and words can mean so much more than a gift at times. The other visitor also had a gift for me as well – both unexpected surprises. While these gifts were nice, it was more the time and desire to want to connect and say in their own ways “I appreciate you and you being in my life” which means more.

The love of children for uncles.
I am grateful that my kids get to grow up knowing and being able to connect with their extended family. This is a two way relationship though, as it only happens from having adults wanting to connect with kids where they are at and on their level. Today I got to see that in action in two different ways with two different uncles, both authentic and loving. How can I tell this is the case? Well it’s from the reactions of the kids, wanting to show them what is important to them to the adults and then the adults reciprocating by making time and being fully present in that moment. How often in today’s world these moments get missed – what a special opportunity to build relationships.

What I have loved best.
In the car on the way home from Mass we all shared what we have loved best from the holidays. There were lots of conversations around activities and experiences but then it was summed up best by one of the family members: “I just love that we all got to spend time together”.

I think that says it all, what is truly important in this world and as we live our lives interacting with those around us.

Today’s gratitude journal again focuses on the people around me and the thought they continue to have towards me and my family.

Heartfelt Messages of Love.
I am blown away by the love people continue to poor out through messages of kindness. The authentic and loving words people send when thinking of others is something that I think we take for granted at times.

Gratitude at the dinner table.
We’ve been doing the whole “three things that we’re grateful for” and “one thing we’re looking forward to” around the dinner table throughout this week. I have loved hearing everyone’s reflections and the thoughts of things that we have to be grateful for.

Night swims at the local pool.
We took the family for night swim followed by apple pies on the way home. Such a simple small thing, but the delight in the faces while enjoying a late swim and then the enjoyment of apple pies = total win.

Today has been a great day, and one that I am very grateful for having experienced. All of the things that I am highlighting today revolve around family and the blessings that they bring into my life.

Dinner time shenanigans.
My first moment of gratitude is for dinner tonight with the kids and having funny silly laughs. We were eating dinner and then randomly one of them started singing the alphabet song but with the letters jumbled up and the need to spot the difference. This game just got sillier and sillier with each turn a person had. The sheer joy and laughs that were had over something so random is a huge highlight for me, I am grateful to be able to share those moments with the kids.

The work done by my wife behind the scenes.
I am constantly blown away by the things that my wonderful “partner in crime” does behind the scenes. Firstly, she puts up with me, and secondly the care that she takes in preparing lovely meals for us to enjoy – even if she is going out. I learn a lot every day from the amazing things that she continues to do to look after our family.

Quality time.
I am fortunate with the job that I have. While I work hard throughout the term and there are many nights that I am away, late or need to work additional hours once home due to incidents that occur needing my attention I am fortunate to then have the time on holidays to spend with my family. I am aware that not everyone gets the benefit of the downtime that I do. I try to stay grateful for this time, cherishing it and the opportunity to be fully present in the now instead of distracted by things to come in the future. Today this looked as simple as having my eldest come up to me while walking through the shops and deciding to hold my hand while walking through the shopping centre, having a conversation with the youngest about what he’d enjoyed about today, or listening to a great riddle that the middle one has made up and so proud that no one could actually get it.

Today’s gratitude revolves around loved ones – particularly family and friends. Too often in life we don’t take time to stop and acknowledge those special to us, those that we do life with everyday and who make it worth living.

Hot chocolate, churros and beach walks.
My first moment of gratitude is getting the time to go out with my family today and enjoy a treat of hot chocolate, churros and a walk along the beach at Hillary’s Boat Harbour. This has become a little bit of a tradition in our family on holidays and one that I really cherish. The additional bonus today was the stunning weather, despite only being a month into Spring it really was turned on today in Perth with a stunning warm day in the high twenties.

Sharing moments of gratitude at dinner.
Tonight, I tried something different at dinner. Instead of asking the kids for one good thing and one challenging I asked them to think of three things they were grateful for. Love listening to their insights from the day and the reflection afterwards from one of the kids that we probably don’t take as much time as we should thinking of what to be grateful for because there’s always things to be grateful for when we stop and think, but we take it for granted. How true she is. I think I might try to make this more of a tradition each night for the kids.

Dinner with a good friend.
As I sit here writing this I am looking forward to being able to go out and have dinner with one of my closest and oldest friends. I haven’t had the chance to properly hang out and spend time for about six months so know I will have a great time. I am grateful for my wife supporting me in spending time with my friends as well as having friends who I can not see a lot of but always pick things up as if we have not been apart.