GRATITUDE
When the kids were young, we did a great job going around the table at family dinners and asking everybody what they were grateful for that day. We watched the answers evolve from: “I gwaytfel fo dada,” to “I’m grateful for cheese!,” to our personal family favorite “My grateful fo Quincy’s gymnastics.” (It didn’t take us long to realize that Olive’s daily gratitude for her sister’s once-a-week gymnastics class existed simply because it meant she got to play games on Mommy’s phone for 30 minutes.)
Of course, as the kids continue growing and getting older, their responses grow along with them. Although, I’d be lying if I said we don’t still get plenty of days where everyone’s grateful for cheese…
I’m sure you’ve guessed it by now, especially given the holiday of last week. This week’s journaling theme - drumroll please - GRATITUDE.
If you celebrate Thanksgiving, you’ve probably already had a chance to ponder over things you’re thankful for this week. But if that’s the case, you’re not off the hook or excused from journaling about it! This is certainly a topic that can’t be emphasized enough.
At a time in the world where it’s so easy to look in any direction and find things not to be grateful for, it’s more crucial than ever to keep the positive things as our guiding light. And let me assure you - those positive things don’t have to be grand or profound in order to “count.” I’m sitting here writing this while cuddled up in my favorite sweatshirt, and you better believe I’m grateful for that!
It’s one thing to talk about things we’re grateful for, but the power of it takes on even stronger legs when we write it down. We tend to be more intentional in thinking about what we’re thankful for that way. There’s also something magical about solidifying the idea onto a tangible piece of paper. And we’ll take it all one step further by following this week’s specific journaling prompts about gratitude. That will help push you past where you might normally stop otherwise, and really stretch your heart open more. Ah, the sweet, sweet power of journaling.
With your gratitude journaling this week, I also invite you to put aside an extra minute or two after you write to just really sit with what you wrote. To feel the fullness of how amazing this world is, and how incredible it is that we get to experience being here. How miraculous it is that our bodies function as well as they do. And how cool it is that we get to enjoy all of this side-by-side with others who are on a similar, albeit completely unique journey.
It’s just cool.
Happy Journaling!