Friday, March 8, 2013

Thoughts on Gratitude

Wow. It has been a really, really long time since I last wrote a post of substance. I have a huge list of excuses, but I'm guessing no one really wants to hear – er, rather, read – them! One small comment: No one warned me that kids become more time-consuming as they get older! I expected a bit more free time, but that's so not the case! LOL

As the title of this post suggest, I wanted to talk about gratitude. You see, I recently read a book, Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolates by Debora M. Coty. (Click on the link to read my review over on Proud Book Nerd.) Not surprisingly, it talks a lot about how to handle – well, more overcome than handle – your fears. It deals with many, many different fears many women face: death, losing a loved-one, failure, and many more. There are many strategies for working through such fears. I might implement many of them to my life. I might forget. But, one in particular caught my interest. A gratitude journal. A place where one can regularly focus on the positives in life. Coty specifically the people in life who make small, positive differences. The other driver who let you into the busy traffic lane. The helpful clerk at the store. The barista at Starbucks who shared some friendly chatter with you. The random strangers who kindly paid your bill when taking your children out to eat. Your mail carrier, who always handles your mail and packages with care. Or anyone else who's made a positive impact in your life.

I'm not sure I could daily do that. Maybe, if I sat down at the end of the day and ran through my day. Maybe not, though. As a stay-at-home mom, I have a somewhat regular (maybe even sometimes dull) routine that doesn't give me a huge variety of people I come across. It's just about the same people I see when I go by my daily life. Still, I know each one has made a difference at some point or another. So, I'm going to attempt to focus on the people. But, when I'm drawing a blank or feeling repetitive, I might just count my blessings. Either way, it's got to help me have more of a positive, grateful attitude.

I can't promise I'll do this daily. I'd like to, but I've rarely been able to really follow through on such endeavors.

So, for today, I want to express my gratitude to my parents. They did a small thing for my family that made a big difference. My 5-year-old daughter had her adenoids out a couple of days ago, and today a present arrived in the mail – just for her. A feel-better present. It brightened her day and made her happy, which in turn warmed my heart.

With any luck I'll be back tomorrow with more. Or at least sometime soon. Whatever the case, thanks for reading.

I do have a Posh review coming soon, so look for that.

Photobucket
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...