Category Archives: grateful

Grateful for the Littlest, the Biggest, & One Thing in Between

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It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to write a post about gratitude! 

Feel free to click here (or below) to learn more about our Gratitude Project. 
Okay – now for today’s post:
One of the best things about starting a gratitude practice is you quickly realize just how much there is to be grateful for. You can practice gratitude everywhere – and anywhere you look you’ll see something that you’re thankful for. These are great things! 
For today let’s narrow it down to just three things that we are grateful for: 
the biggest, the littlest, and one thing in between.

And when you write these down – take some time to really feel your gratitude and appreciation. If you have the time and are able to, write an entire page on each one. Write about why you are grateful and how this affects your life in a positive way. 

Focusing on just three of the millions of things in our lives that we are grateful for will help you to really appreciate them even more, which will lead to even more gratitude. 
***
Speaking of gratitude, we have a new Soulful Journal that we are excited to introduce!
Here is the description:
Feeling and expressing gratitude on a regular basis can lead to a happier, healthier life. 
In this book, we give you 50 prompts that encourage you to express your gratitude.

Sample gratitude prompts:

Who is one family member you’re especially grateful for? Write about them, including one special memory that embodies what about them you love and appreciate.

What is one aspect of your daily life that you don’t always take time to appreciate, but that you’re actually very grateful for?

What is one experience from your childhood that you’re especially grateful for? Write about how it felt at the time and, in retrospect, how it’s affected your life.

We hope that these questions stimulate positive responses and help keep the grateful feelings flowing–throughout your day and throughout your life!


Have a great day today expressing your gratitude! 

Being Grateful – Even in the Hard Times

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It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to write a post about gratitude! 

Feel free to click here (or below) to learn more about our Gratitude Project. 
Okay – now for today’s post:
We can all feel grateful when things are going well in our lives, but can we still be grateful and find the good in the seemingly not-so-good parts, too? That’s where the real soul searching comes in and the challenges begin to surface.
Here is an example to show how this can work:
Imagine that you are in a job you really can’t stand. You get up each morning and begrudgingly get ready for work and make yourself drive there – you know that the work itself isn’t your passion, the people you work with aren’t who you would normally choose to spend your days with, and this is certainly not the vision you had for your life. But you do it day in and day out because you have to pay your bills, right?
Sounds pretty hopeless, doesn’t it?
But… take this same situation and imagine seeing it through a lens of gratitude and positivity. Each morning when you wake up you express your gratitude for having a house to wake up in, a job to go to, the security of a paycheck, a car to drive you there. Then when you get there, you express your gratitude for knowing that working at this job brings clarity to you for your future. By seeing what you don’t want to do, you can be more clear about what you do want to do by contrast. And having this knowledge gets you one step closer to living the life you want to live. And that is something to be grateful for! And you can start empathizing with your coworkers and imagine that they might just be in the same boat you’re in – just biding their time and clarifying their vision until they find the courage to take the leap toward pursuing their own passion. And this will make them more relatable to you, which will make the days much more enjoyable.

Can you see the difference?
We choose how we react to every situation in our lives. 
And it doesn’t mean that we’re seeing through rose-colored lenses at every given moment, but it can make your life much easier if you begin to show your gratitude for everything around you – even the tough situations where gratitude doesn’t seem easy to find.

Take some time today and think of something that’s not going as well as you would like in your life (your job, relationship, health, emotional wellbeing, etc.). Write about the situation as specifically as you can. For the first part of the assignment, write about it without censoring yourself – gripe, whine, get it all out. Then in the second part, rewrite it through the lens of gratitude and appreciation. Write about all of the positive things that are happening in your life because of this situation. Keep in mind that you may have to dig really deep to come up with things you are grateful for. But I guarantee it will be worth it, you will feel better, and you will see the situation in a whole different light.

And wouldn’t that be great?

A Day of Peace

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I received an invitation on Facebook for an event called, “A Day of Peace.”
That day is today! I’m excited to be a part of it, and I hope many of you also received the invitation and are practicing this today as well. 
Here is what it’s all about
(taken directly from the event page):
One day, March 4th, we all stick to three simple rules that will make the world a little bit more bearable. 

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Rule #1.
Say not a single unkind thing about anyone or anything. If at all possible, try not to even think a nasty thought. If we do, reflect on why it was that we thought to say it in the first place.

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Rule #2.
Show everyone we cross paths with some genuine human compassion. Be it with a smile or kind words, just spread some love.

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Rule #3.
Make not one person the exception to the rule. Not everyone deserves to have roses thrown at their feet and have a holiday in their honor, but nobody deserves to feel alone. Reach out. Talk to someone new. Care about them, and we will be cared for in return.

I love this idea for every day, and every day starts with the first day, and then the next, and so on…
So let’s think of ways we can be more peaceful today with ourselves and others. How can we show our compassion and empathy? How can we pay our good fortune forward to someone in need? How can we be easier on ourselves today? How can we switch any negative thoughts to positive ones? 
Beware – this peaceful feeling is contagious! Once you start feeling this way and spreading love and good vibes, it will start rubbing off onto everyone you come in contact with. And the more positive, peaceful thoughts you feel, the more you will continue to feel. It’s just the way it works.
Have fun today – this is a great assignment! 🙂