November is the month of gratitude and with Thanksgiving just a couple days away, it’s the perfect time to be more thankful.
Even though we’re bombarded with reminders to be thankful this time of year, it’s probably a good thing, because it’s so easy to forget how blessed we are.
Hey, we’re busy! Who has time to write in a gratitude journal when you’re going to have 25 people over for Thanksgiving? How does Oprah do it? She must be the busiest woman in the world yet she’s always talking about her gratitude journal and how she starts and ends her days being thankful.
If you’ve got a gratitude journal (or two) and you’re a SHE (Sidetracked Home Executive), it’s probably like any journal-type pretty book you’ve ever owned. It has enthusiastic entries from
Now when you see them they either make you feel guilty or you shift into “I should,” mode. STOP!
It only takes thinking about what you’re thankful for to lift your spirits. If it has been a while since you had a little rampage of gratitude, here are some thoughts to jumpstart your gratitude. You could actually execute the EXTREME actions, but really just being thankful is all you really need to do.
So thinking these thankful thoughts will take you about two minutes.
1. Hold your breath for a minute, or just be thankful you can breathe.
2. Turn the television volume up too loud, or turn it off and be thankful for the silence.
3. Put your arm in a sling for an hour, or just be thankful both your arms work.
4. Shut the electricity off for an hour, or just be thankful you have all the blessings that go with having electricity.
5. Walk around the block barefooted or just be thankful you have shoes.
6. Sleep on the floor, or just be thankful you have a bed.
7. Lock yourself out of your house, or just be thankful you have a home.
8. Tape your mouth shut, or just be thankful you can eat and talk.
9. Shut off the water to the house, or just be thankful you have pure, running water.
10. Turn the book you’re currently reading up-side-down and try to read it, or just be thankful you can read.
11. Scotch tape or eyes open, or just be thankful for your eyelids.
12. Wear mittens for an hour, or just be thankful you have fingers that work.
13. Plug up your nose holes with cotton, or just be thankful you can taste.
14. Put a blindfold on for an hour, or just be thankful you can see.
15. Skip eating today, or just be thankful for the abundance of food we have.
There are a million things your body does to keep you alive and being you! It’s stuff you don’t even know about unless you’ve got a doctorate in anatomy.
Right now, some part of you is monitoring the stars and the tides.
Right now, something in you is keeping your potassium balanced and is turning your food and water into energy to run you.
Be still and be thankful you’re a freakin’ miracle!
If you'd like a thankful game the family can play, read this blog I wrote a few years ago. http://blog.cluborganized.com/the-thankful-games
Love,
P.S. Here is a great Christmas idea. You'll be delighted when you read my Lettuce Bee Silly book to your kids or grandkids. It'll make a great Christmas present, that you'll get thanked for over and over! Check out my Grandma's Special. Four books for the price of three.