One of my best habits is writing down things I’m grateful for. It’s something I began last year, when I found myself with a negative attitude that was—for some reason—really hard to shake. So I started keeping a night-time habit of counting my gratitudes. Some of you might think of it as prayer or simply counting your blessings. I wanted it to take a little more time than just saying a quick thank-you to the universe, to be a bit more…conscientious, if you will.
Some days, I was thankful for a million wonderful things: A work opportunity, a kind email from a student, or seeing my work in print. Other times, I noted the things I can easily take for granted, like trams running on time, clean sidewalks and fresh water. And I won’t lie: Sometimes, I was just thankful that the day was over and I could try again.
Here’s how I kept my gratitudes:
Divide a piece of paper into seven sections, one for each day of the week. On each day, list your daily gratitudes in that section. Remember, nothing is too big, and nothing is too small. When you’re done, keep the page in your journal or post it someplace where you can get a reminder of how many gratitudes are possible.
This page was made using Creatacolor water soluble oil pastels. I scribbled with a few colors onto an A4 (slightly bigger than an 8 ½”x11”) piece of acrylic paper, spritzed the sheet with water, then let it dry. When it was dry, I wrote and doodled with a fine-tip pen.
I found one of the most inspiring things for me wasn’t necessarily writing down all of my gratitudes as much as going back and re-reading them…and seeing what came up, and which things came up more than once. It was both a good reminder of the big things that I appreciated, and the everyday patterns of the small things.
Happy Wednesday!
