Thankful

Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 8:19 am (life, thoughts)
Tags: thankfulness

With Thanksgiving just behind us and Christmas coming quickly, I’ve been thinking about the things I’m thankful for. Sure we all think about those things on Thanksgiving, but how often do we take time to acknowledge the good stuff on a regular day?

Off and on in the last few years I’ve written daily gratitudes in my journal- just listing a few things that I was thankful for each day. It helps me focus on the good instead of dwelling on the hard. It’s a practice I’ve fallen out of lately and it feels like it’s time to bring it back.

As I blog here, you may see me add a “Thankful” section in my posts to encourage me to give thanks for blessings big and small.

To kick things off, today I am thankful for the “love ya’s” and “miss you’s” and “love and friendship” that my friends use to close their email messages. I am thankful for the kicks and movements and wiggles that my baby does which let me know he’s okay in these final months of pregnancy. I am thankful for Gretchen Rubin’s book The Happiness Project, which I took way too long to buy, but from which I am gaining so many ideas on the simple things I can do to increase my own happiness and that of those around me.

In Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, Amy Krouse Rosenthal includes an entry called “Thankful” that includes some conventional and not-so-conventional gratitudes:

I’m thankful for my health, my childhood, and spell-check. I’m thankful for our new hot water tank and how we no longer have to coordinate our dishwashing with our bathing. I’m thankful for the wide range of flavors potato chips come in–mesquite barbecue in particular.

What are you thankful for today?