“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” – Anonymous
This spring I had the opportunity to hear Auntie Oprah speak in person!!!! Let me just say that she did not disappoint, she was everything you would imagine and more! After she spoke, I just wanted to run on stage and give her a tight hug, you know one of those childhood hugs that you give your mother when your head is nestled against her chest. However, if I wanted to make it home safely to my husband and children that plan needed to stay in my forever vivid imagination. Any-who, I digress, the nugget that stuck with me the most was a point Auntie O made about gratitude. I’ve heard many mentors, ministers, motivational speakers all talk about practicing daily gratitude, but never really put it into practice. Some benefits of exercising daily gratitude include; a heightened level of joy and a greater appreciation for your life. In a world where we often see other people’s highlight reels on social media, we tend to go to sleep with our own obstacles and leaving us with comparison syndrome.
Auntie Oprah suggested, like many others whom practice daily gratitude, to start your day every morning writing 3-5 things you’re grateful for.
I am happy to say it has been 5 months and I’ve been consistent in writing 5 things I’m grateful for everyday. My circumstances did not have to change for me to feel more joy and satisfaction from my current life. Below I’ve listed some of the benefits that I’ve personally found in keeping a gratefulness journal.
- The ability to see my blessings as blessings.
You’re probably wondering how is this possible, a blessing is a blessing, how could it not feel like it. Well, when your blessing comes with a ton of responsibility it can sometimes feel like a burden. For those of you wondering if I’m crazy let me paint the picture for you. I’m lucky to have a really good corporate job which for the most part I enjoy and work hard at. Each morning I’m the first person up in my home, getting everyone ready for our day. I also live in a nice safe community with good FREE schools, this community happens to be 45 mins from my good corporate job. After working 8-9 hours a day my family and I head back home with an hour commute because now there is more traffic. Then after getting home my children want all of my attention while I’m cooking dinner. This is when my real job starts. Not to mention all of the nighttime routines and then finding additional energy to spend time with my bae. However, if I’m honest sometimes it takes every drip of self-control left in my body to make sure there is grace left to give the most important people in my life attention. After all it can be hard not to feel like my life is filled with responsibility after responsibility, task after task. So, to all of my readers, that is how a good corporate job, wonderful family, and a good FREE school district can turn into a burden.
Once I started writing things I was grateful for, everyday my attitude changed from “huh, I still need to” to ” Thank you lord, my children are safe each day, we have food to eat, and I have a job that is flexible with my start and finish time.” It was like even though things were still the same my joy increased. I was able to see the Lord’s blessings and provisions in my life clearly. Seeing clearly has opened my mind and spirit up to receive more blessings :-).
2. My self trust increased
One of my core beliefs is “my word is my bond” and overall I am really true to this. However ya girl falls short when it comes to sticking to routines and goals for myself. I’ve recognized over the years that I am great at starting things, but once the passion and fire has died down the routine/goal has been kissed buh-bye. It’s like there is a little voice in my subconscious haunting me… telling me “you’ll never stick with it, just give up while you’re ahead”. But I realize this is only fear, fear of change and the unknown. The type of fear Marianne Williamson talks about…
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
I was tired of letting this fear cripple me and better yet, what type of example was this to my children. Why was I not considering myself important enough to be consistent and dependable to? It was time to kick that little voice to the curb like Tyrone, one day at a time. Each day I woke up and wrote things in my journal. Even on days I didn’t feel like it I pushed myself to practice gratitude. Gratitude for things like my bomb red lipstick I bought to wear in Jamaica, deep conversations with my husband, coffee with the perfect blend of cream and sugar, or belly hurting laughs. My days of journaling turned into weeks of journaling which turned into months of journaling. Next month will mark a half a year of consistency and I am both proud and grateful for that accomplishment. It might not seem like much, but to me it symbolizes a new commitment to myself. A commitment that says I am worthy of my own time. My self-trust muscle has grown and it’s given me confidence to accomplish other life changes. My family and I previously ate fast food 3-4x/week and we wanted to scale back to 1x/week if at all. And because I was faithful in journaling everyday, I felt like this too could be done, #ITWASDONETOO. *This is where I insert a little praise break.
Ok, I’m back.
3. A moment of Gratitude turns into a life of Gratitude
My daddy use to say practice makes perfect. Which I translated into, if I practice something consistently then I could do it well enough to make it as effortless as breathing. Each day that gratitude is practiced the more it spills into the rest of my day. I’ve found myself during frustrating or overwhelming times thanking Jesus for my blessings. Not always immediately but definitely the same day my emotions change from negative to positive. I’m reminded that I am in control of my emotions not the other way around. So many times we let our bad moments turn into bad days when we don’t have to. I want to live a life where I view the glass as half-full and not half-empty. I believe that if I continue showing gratefulness the first thing in the morning that I’ll get to a place where I have the optimism of a child. Life will still happen, but when you live a life of gratitude your perspective changes.
So I leave you with the cutest story ever! Last summer we took the children to Legoland. And of course it rained the entire time, it was July in Florida. The weather could’ve ruined our trip, so much so that the park gave us free tickets because it literally rained for hours. This was disappointing since we had driven 13 hours to get the amusement park. Due to rain we got the chance to take advantage of the little indoor activities and rides they had for children 6 years and younger. When we returned to the condo I was kind of in a funk. Makenzie looked at me while I tucked her in and said “Mommy, today was the best day ever!” “Even though it rained” I replied. “Yes, it was like dancing in the rain and we didn’t even have to wait in lines.” And just like that my funk turned into a warm heart, I was feeling like the grinch when his heart grew. Later that night I pondered on that thought for a bit. What I was turning into a pity party, my daughter was creating a core memory of happiness. All that time I was feeling negative emotions because I was looking from the wrong perspective. I was counting everything that went wrong instead of the things that went right. Makenzie was indeed right, we didn’t wait in any lines, the rain ran the crowd off, and we kind of got our money back with the free tickets. That night I went to sleep with a changed mind. And this grateful journal is helping me change my mind everyday. The very thing Christ encourages us to do.
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2 NIV
My hope is that if you haven’t started your gratitude journal already, that this post encourages you to start right away! If you’ve started, please share your experiences, I’d love to hear it!
As always with love,
Lucy Smalls&Co. 