What the…

…hell.

I can’t believe it’s seemingly been a bazillion years since I’ve written anything here.

I truly can’t believe it. There was a time when I loved writing this blog and then there came a time when apparently I didn’t because I quit writing it.

So here we go. I’m going to commit to writing something here every day for the next 30 days. You might even get tired of me and for that, I forgive both of us.

So how about we talk about doing a gratitude challenge?

Is coming up with something to be grateful for tough for you these days? After the year we’ve had, it can be challenging to find something to be grateful about so how about if we start it off, right here on December First, with a bit of gratitude for just being able to read this. A lot of people aren’t able to read, whether it’s because they’re blind or don’t know how to read, but if you’re reading this, it means you have sight in your eyes and someone taught you to read at some point in your life.

I first heard about “gratitude lists” way back in the 80s, some 35 odd years ago, from a friend who challenged me to start every day thinking about something I was grateful for and ending the day with a thankful thought for something that had happened during the day. She told me it didn’t have to be anything big… even being grateful for a hot cup of coffee was enough to make my gratitude list. Once I got in the habit of finding one thing to be grateful for, she challenged me to find ten things to put on that gratitude list. Oh yeah, some days it was difficult to find ten things but every day, it became easier – until one day, I realized I was recognizing things to be grateful for all day long. Yes! All day long! Grateful for a sunny day. Grateful for enough money in my checking account to pay my bills. Grateful for a kitty sitting on my lap, purring. Grateful for enough gas in the car to get me to work that day. Grateful that my son put the clean dishes away. An attitude of gratitude had invaded my life!

I wish I could say that I’ve kept up that gratitude list for the last 35 years but what I can tell you is this: gratitude is the bottom line for making whatever is happening in my life feel better to me. I don’t need to be grateful for “bad things” in order to be grateful for whatever’s going on but trust me when I say there’s always something to be grateful for. Always.

Finding the silver lining may be the thing that makes whatever is going on tolerable: if I’m not feeling well, I can be grateful for a chance to rest; if my car has broken down again, I can be grateful I know some really good mechanics; if the plumbing under the bathroom sink comes apart at the trap and water is now flowing everywhere it shouldn’t be, I can be grateful I know how to fix the plumbing. It’s really an attitude of gratitude, not a Polly-Ann-ish “nothing is wrong here” outlook on life. Attitude is everything, right?

Ok. I think I’m finished here. But first I want to challenge you to start your own Attitude of Gratitude practice. Right now. Find one thing you are grateful for today and leave me a comment below telling me what it is. Here’s mine: today I’m grateful for all of you who spent a few minutes with me here on this page, reading the words that have fallen out of my fingertips. Tomorrow’s another day and once again, I’m going to be right here with you all.

Cheerio!

PS. I’ll be updating the blog pages since I haven’t done any updating for quite awhile. You know, life happens and sometimes things fall through the cracks. Onward and upward!