Gratitude is such a beautiful practice, as it helps us stay in touch and in presence with the beautiful things in our life. Though I've had my fair share of anxiety and depression, I think noticing and being thankful for the amazing things in my life is something that's always kept me grounded and stopped me from sinking into the quagmire too much. It's something very real in my relationship with my husband too - we've always tried to express gratitude toward each other because we know how it feels to be in relationships with people that take you for granted or that don't see you. I guess in that way it's an empathetic practice.

There's been so many studies of in the last few years that suggests giving thanks is an important ritual or habit for our health. It's meant to be better for our immunity, our sleep, a sense of optimism and joy in our life, feeling more connected and being more generous and helpful toward others. I find it remarkable that sometimes we have to practice these things, like children, but I guess if we lose our attentiveness to others, and the good things in our life, we can easily feel a sense of despair and disconnection.

Hive account@phoenixwren's post asks us to write a post about who we're grateful for on HIVE as part of the International Day of Happiness challenge - read her post here. So, here goes! I don't think I can think of HIVE users without feeling all gooey and warm - you all truly rock and there's so many of you I feel such gratitude for, but here's three I don't think I've thanked enough for all they do and are.

Three Hive Users I'm Grateful For

Hive account@phoenixwren, of course! He's been around for ages but has recently started to engage more with the Natural Medicine community, and writing more posts that are centred around mindfulness, social justice, natural medicine and all things health related. I've really appreciated Wren's insights as he's so darn well read on all kinds of topics. I really appreciate his open mindedness - he's such a flexible thinking and willing to challenge himself in order to grow. He's also always got the little guy in mind, and is really thoughtful about who might be missing out, left behind or unvoiced, such as the people who live on their own on Valentines Day. I also appreciate him picking up on my mistakes when I've rushed through a post for Natural Medicine and he notices my oversights and typos - ugh - and engaging with the community, making sure he notices and comments on the people writing on natural health topics that might not always be heard or read. Thanks, Wren!

Hive account@thelogicaldude & Hive account@richardcrill

Okay I've cheated and put these guys together, because they've both helped out enormously with progress with our community. Rich has been helping out with tokenomics and helped us create the miner, and Adam's created naturalmedicine.app, a bridging site that is designed to introduce non HIVERS to the platform, and also hosts LOTUSCHAT, a chat that anyone can sign up for. It's not just that they've done these things though, it's how they've done them. I can be a bit of a scatterbrain trying to do too much at once, which means I sometimes miss details or don't understand things because I haven't put my attention on them. Whilst some people might be impatient or give up on me entirely, these guys have been so patient and warm with me, making me feel like I'm not an idiot after all. They've helped because they see the project as worthy - not just Natural Medicine itself but it's place in the HIVE Ecosystem. They're always happy to help if I ask and I can't thank them enough for being there when I've got an idiotic question. It really does take people of all sorts of talents to run a tribe and I'm more than grateful these guys have brought their unique talents to Natural Medicine.

Hive account@ravenking13 & Hive account@kaliphae

Oh look, here's me cheating again - who knew - bahaha! You know I always cheat at these things because I can't stop at the limit and don't like following rules if I see a reason to break them. I'm really appreciating the enthusiasm which these guys are injecting into the blockchain at the moment - Hive account@kaliphae's new to HIVE and is bringing her A GAME - wow - her post on honouring the sisterhood melted my heart this week. Hive account@ravenking13 used to post on HIVE but he's returned and brought his love and wow - what a power couple these two are! Creative, intelligent, practical - and they've got a vision for creating space together that has a bit of an impact on the world. Thanks for being around!

Now, this sucks, because I'm grateful for so many people, so I'm going to add a few more here. If I don't include you, you know you are appreciated anyway - like all the Lotus Curators, who are truly amazing. So here goes a few more 'gratitude' bombs - to Hive account@eonwarped, for fulfilling all my requests for changes to the front end at short notice and when he often doesn't know what I'm talking about, to Hive account@crosheille for coming back to HIVE and helping me understand the rules of OCD curation when I get it wrong yet again, for Hive account@livinguktaiwan for making me laugh with the new The Loo Loo community and helping me understand the rules of OCD curation when I get it wrong yet again, to Hive account@goldenoakfarm and Hive account@nateonsteemit for updating me with #homestead stuff, to Hive account@whatamidoing for whirlwinding through once in a while with your uber enthusiasm and disappearing in a puff of idea fairy smoke only to come back again with zest and vigour, to Hive account@vincentnijman for being such a creative soul, to Hive account@holisticmom for finally coming back to GRACE HIVE with her presence, to Hive account@anggreklestari for your beautiful, colourful photographs, to Hive account@julescape for your Bhagavid Gita wisdoms and insights, to Hive account@sreypov and Hive account@carolynstahl and Hive account@blackberryskunk with your UTTERLY inspiring recipes and to Hive account@angryman for the great posts you've written in our community of late and the engagement you offer which is always awesome, and of course Hive account@galenkp for being the engagment king and for sending me his Friday posts because I'm so forgetful I need him to.