A Month of Gratitude

Keeping a gratitude journal has always sounded like a good idea - like it's a good idea to say thank you before I eat. I know I should be grateful for the food in front of me, but I often don't feel it. Keeping a gratitude journal struck me similarly - in the head, not the heart.

Yet, for whatever reason a day or two ago I had an impulse to keep one. I could figure it out myself, but I looked for ideas on the internet. It seems 5 items a day is pretty standard. I also came upon a suggestion that I am grateful for - no repeats! I can't just go into boring rote- every night be grateful for: my bed, rest, health, quiet, warmth... I can be grateful for those things but then I've used them up. This requirement for specificity opens the door to much more fun.

My goal is to spend a month in gratitude. The month of March. Five items a day. No repeats. I might not record them on the computer every day, but I will still write them.

So here I go.

#1. This Idea - both the gratitude journal - which was a seed planted years ago maybe by Oprah (?) - and doing it as a blog. While skate skiing today I got to that place where my mind was quiet and fresh ideas could enter. A blog never appealed to me, this however feels like exactly the kind of energy I would like to share. It doesn't need to be read, it just needs to reverberate.

#2. Snow - more specifically the great snow we've had for skiing this year.

#3. Skate skiing - after watching people whizz by me on my traditional skis for years. I finally am learning to skate ski.

#4. A Hug - given by Mayu this afternoon when there was a little tension in our house.

#5. Quote - I got a little nervous when the first thing the blog asked for was a title. I had no idea what I was going to call it and this seemed important! Thankfully I headed to my box of journals and started looking at quotes I'd written on the covers. I easily found exactly what I was looking for. "First you pray, but eventually your life becomes the prayer." Stephen Levine