What are you grateful for?

Now that Thanksgiving is far behind us and we’re in the thick of the holiday season, let’s focus on gratitude. It’s easy to get grateful for Thanksgiving. But can we concentrate on being grateful all year round? Can we experience gratitude during this season too? Yes, we are busy with holiday prep, parties, and family. But that’s no excuse not to find moments of gratitude. Sometimes, we need more than just a moment.

Let’s talk the basics. Let’s talk the micro and the macro!

Here’s your first assignment. I don’t care who you are.

Make a list of 100 things you are grateful for.

This is the most amazing exercise to me. I think we can all come up with a handful of things daily. But 100? That takes time. It will show you how out of tune with the feeling of gratitude you may be. Or it will show you this isn’t a weak area for you at all.

Don’t show it to anyone else. It’s private. It’s yours.

You deserve to see the list of the 100 things you are most grateful for. Working on this is a gift to you. It’s a tool that adds to your life.

When you make this list, filling it becomes a mission. It comes down to being as grateful for your pillow as you are for the roof over your head. When I see someone who has trouble creating the gratitude list, I tell them, “Let’s start with the basics: food, water, shelter.” Let’s just be grateful for what we do have. Being in gratitude fights feelings of lack. When you catch yourself slipping into the abyss of lack, start making your gratitude list.

Not everyone feels blessed during the holiday season. We tend to miss lost loved ones, stress over bills, and panic over tight schedules. Not everyone feels abundance during this season. The antidote to those feelings if you’re there is this list! Exercise your gratitude muscle. It’s a way to create more positive thinking in your life.

No item is too great or small for this list!

Some of my gratitude list:

• My step-grandparents are still with us.
• All the kids are healthy.
• I love what I do for a living.
• Mint-Chip Gelato Tcho Chocolate bars (trust me)
• My sweet kitty, Meeko
• It’s been a good year!
• It’s also been a year of crazy -- and I survived it.

Leave some gratitude in the comments!

  The Gratitude Diaries: How a Year Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform Your Life By Janice Kaplan  Buy on Amazon