Gratitude - A Simple But Mighty Practise

For what are you grateful?  Do you know? Seriously, when was the last time you took stock of just how many things there are in your life for which you have to be thankful? 

I am a very positive person, and I think that is a combination of my inherent attitude and good fortune.  My glass is always half full and sits in expectation of a top-up! I have so much to be thankful for that I'm not sure where I would start. I could go back to the beginning and thank and mom and dad for being so damn awesome: loving unconditionally, funny without meaning to be, forgiving, hard-working, determined to give our family the best life possible.  I could add my siblings and extended family and friends who encouraged me and gave me complete support over the years.  I could also include a growth mindset that developed from observing peers and mentors throughout my career.  The list goes on!  I better not forget the opportunities that came out of my ignorance but ended up as life lessons.   I am grateful for them all. 

However, I have not yet been able to practice gratitude regularly. I have tried multiple times in my life to start a gratitude journal, even going so far as to buy a beautifully decked-out book from Chapters explicitly designed for that reason.  Ask me if I have written in it. Nope, I think I re-gifted it.  How sad that I re-gifted my unique gift to myself!  

I have tried adding a few lines of gratitude to my diary over the years, but it never took.  I did not grow up in a religious household that said prayers at the dinner table, nor as I went to sleep. I understand that prayer is a form of gratitude. I wonder if acknowledging my good fortunes today would be easier if I had that practice in my past.  

What I do regularly, however, is the complete opposite.  I journal my drama.  I take time most nights to record all the things that I am not happy about or that went askew in my day.  That comes easily! Unfortunately, I suspect that it also comes with a price; self-sabotage.

For some reason, I struggle with the simple act of writing down the things that I understand to be joyful or that please me. It's not that I don't believe in the power of gratitude because I do! I have lived my life understanding the power of intention and the power of language. I know that I feel better when I take a few moments to think about good things, simple things that make me smile.  So why, then, do I struggle with practicing gratitude?  As an answer, these thoughts come to mind in no particular order; it's silly, unnecessary, too simple, boring, and of no consequence.  I should stop there before I get annoyed with myself. 

Maybe I need to start fresh and reexamine the reasons to practice and how you do it. The consensus is that practicing gratitude leads to a happier and healthier life, and it can be as simple as recognizing one thing each day for which you are thankful.  Ok, that is simple enough and entirely doable.

I want to live a happier life, and I am good with simple.  Here is my plan:

instead of cataloguing all the negative things that have happened in my day, I will commit to writing instead, a catch-all sentence like, "Today had some challenges, but they are not worth putting in writing."  Next, I will include at least two things that I recognize have brought me joy in the day. Furthermore, I will not repeat the list from one day to the next, so I will identify, at the very least, seven things I am grateful for by the end of one week.

I know enough of setting goals that I need to start small with this one. Little things repeated and again will lead to big things, and I am ready for some big things in my life!  

What about you?  Do you have a gratitude practice in place?