Gratitude Challenge
This blog post is introducing the gratitude challenge I am doing this month. I am doing it for myself and I invite all of you to join in with me. This has been a long time coming and through a series of events over the past few months, I knew this was something I had to do.
I have a dear friend, Ruth Mills, who went through some really awful and unexpected events earlier in her life. I am not going to share the details because she is writing a book that you will definitely want to read and she tells her story far better than I do. We have talked quite a bit about how she overcame the deep darkness she found herself in as a result of these events. One of her greatest tools was gratitude. Ruth has a YouTube channel and is on social media and I have linked all of her information here so you can follow her to look out for that book!
Last month I was blessed to attend a conference and I was in a session with Lisa Parkey and Thettus Tenney. These are 2 amazing women of God. They both spoke of how we get to adjust our atmosphere. We choose the things we focus on and the direction in which we think.
I have also been watching Lois Greene’s YouTube videos on 10,000 things. She shares with us each week the things she writes in her 10,000 Things journal that is thankful for. You can follow her HERE. It is so inspiring and beautiful!
I know I can find myself focusing on the negative. My personality is one that is constantly looking for ways to make things better, and it’s probably one of my best qualities. However, it has a downside. I can’t just focus on what needs to change. I have to be content and be thankful for where I am, no matter where that might be.
All of these things have been swirling in my mind for a while and I can’t get away from this. Many time we can easily be grateful for the mountain top experiences, but real life happens in the little moments throughout our day.
I was recently riding in the car with my husband and he gave me the most beautiful compliment on how proud he is of me and the work I have done for The Goodness Margin. It meant the world to me. I am so thankful for that.
My son is very intelligent and school has been pretty easy for him up to this point. But he just started high school and all of sudden has discovered that he needs to work a little harder to make those As. We had some struggles, but I watched him study for an hour after dinner the other night and then rush upstairs to tell me he made a 95% on a test in the subject he has been struggling in the most. I am thankful for the good grade, but I am most thankful that he is learning the value of time spent in study and hard work.
We have food to eat each night. I remember the panic I felt in 2020 when I went to the grocery store and shelves were empty. I am thankful for food.
We recently finished the landscape in our front yard. It was a DIY project that I was unsure about, but it’s done and is beautiful and I am so thankful.
My 5 year old has the best hair! Her curls make it so easy to fix each day and I am thankful for that!
I’ve been sleeping through the night for a few weeks now after months of waking up in the middle of the night for hours. I am so thankful for a full nights sleep.
I could go on and on. Here is my challenge for myself and for you. Each day I am going to write 5 things down in my planner that I am thankful for that day. Each day I will share with you the 5 things from the previous day. You can keep this list in your planner or on your phone or wherever it is easiest for you. Some days I might keep one or 2 of the things to myself if they are something I don’t want to share, but I will share each day.
I invite you to join this challenge with me. 5 things a day. 30 days in November. That will be 150 things that I say thank you for. We are so blessed, but we can lose sight of it.
I look forward to seeing your thankful posts on Instagram. Please be sure to tag me. I hope that as I share it will inspire you as well.
Another thing I am thankful for is margin for the good things in life.
P.S. If you want a daily reminder, you can upload these graphics to save to your phone and desktop.
