G-time.

 Source: Me, myself.

I don't think people, including myself, take enough time out of our daily lives to really stop and think about how lucky/grateful/fortunate/thankful we are for what we have. Or, in other words, we don't pay enough graditude (G). 

I'm feeling pretty down, depressed and pre-menstrual right now and thought that reflecting on how lucky I actually am might help me get my A into G (pun intended). Especially when there are henous acts happening around the world all the time, wars, poverty, female circumcision, rape, acts of terror etc... who am I to get down and depressed because I don't understand Norsk?!

Two recent news stories here in Norway have made me want to really stop and reflect on my life, just for a few moments... here's a bit about them in summary (pls forgive me if I got anything wrong,  they were sort of translated to me as I couldn't understand the local news reader on TV): 

- the first was a murder of a girl who was in her early 20s (I think), who worked at Oslo City's (a mall close by) H&M store (which I have been to numerous times- without purchasing...fyi) who had been abducted into the boot of a car by a taxi driver, phoned the Politi (Police) and told them of her abduction but they were never able to find her...a few weeks later her murderer confessed and showed the cops where her body was. She was dead, burried in the snow out in the woods. It was a premeditated murder and one commissioned by a man who was (aparently) obsessed/in love with her... but who aparently did not know her... and act of 'love'? How f***** up. 

- the second just happened 3 days ago. An SAS Airhostess and her fellow colleague were staying in a hotel in Copenhagen, as they had just flown there as part of their work and were doing a routine stay-over. Guests heared screams and thudds coming from a woman but no one did anything. The next morning the cleaning lady found her body dead and the murderer also confessed to murdering her...(I don't understand???). It was a random act of brutality, wrong place, wrong time. He wanted money, knocked on her door and she opened. She spoke to her husband on the cell phone just minutes before her murder. She also had two teenage children.

I know things like this, and others (don't me started on wrongly accused criminals...see www.innocenceproject.org) happen all around the world, all the time, I guess why these ones really gave me the chills was because they were so close to home (my current home) and could have happened to me or any one of my friends here... and these poor women are now dead. So quickly and without warning... 

So, I'm going to take a few minutes out of my morning to list some of the things I feel really grateful for, because we really don't know how good we've got it. If I were to die tomorrow I'd rather go feeling that I did not take anything for granted and greatful for how good my life was. I'm not saying that I think my life is uber amazing or anything, but it's those times where you read a sad book, hear about terrible murders and henous acts on humanity that make me think- gosh, how lucky am I?  Because really, I have no right to feel down when I'm still alive. I am greaful for:

- my Mother moving to New Zealand so I could have more opportunities, better quality of life and a good education

- having amazing, supportive and caring parents

- being bi-lingual, and hopefully soon tri-lingual...

- my awesome, lovely, hilarious, fun and caring BFFs (you know who you are) 

- my wonderful boyfriend who, along with myself, face the daily language barriers (Norwegian)

- having the means and opportunity to do what I'm currently doing here on the other side of the world

- having nice clothes and good food to eat everyday ie, I'm not living in poverty

- having had a good job/career in New Zealand before moving to enable me to do this (!) 

- having completed my degrees (don't wanna go through that again...)

- having homes all across the world: NZ, Norway, Dubai, China
- friends who stay in touch with me and write me long emails

- having a camera a.k.a. my 3MP brick
- having my cell phone stolen from me in a non-violent fashion
- having had 2 amazing pussycats (Maxie and Freddy), bless their little paws
- having made some nice new friends here in Oslo
- my boyfriends friends and family being nice and welcoming
- being able to travel

- being alive.

I guess you could say that this is sort of a tribute to those two women and their short lived lives.