Flash Back

I was thinking about my old Gratitude Journal today and tried to find it, but I couldn't seem to locate it. Hopefully, it will turn up at some point.

I remember one day sitting on my bed writing in it, and my son came over to me to see what I was doing. On that particular day I had written in the journal that I was grateful for what a wonderful day he was having that day and how his behavior was improving. He was pretty young at the time and had always been a very impulsive and extremely active child. At that point in time he had been giving me a run for my money.

When he found out that I had written about him in my gratitude journal, he was very excited, and proclaimed, “I feel like I just won an Oscar.”

I have to say, it was very cute and I was surprised that his reaction was so intense. But he found it very motivating to be on my list and decided that he wanted to make it again. So for awhile, he was trying especially hard to make good choices so that he would make it into my gratitude journal.

As far as parenting goes, sometimes it helps to go with the flow of the child, and it may surprise you where it leads!

Simple Abundance

A few years back I saw Sarah Ban Breathnach on the Oprah show talking about her new book, Simple Abundance: A Day Book of Comfort and Joy. One of the chapters in her book talked about keeping a gratitude journal everyday. She suggested that in the journal you should write down 3 things a day (or more) that you are grateful for. I used to do that every night before I went to bed and it was pretty amazing to see that when you take the time to write about the positive things going on in your life, how much there really is to be grateful for.

As with most things, my good intentions did not last and I let that good habit slip away. As I was thinking about Thanksgiving today while listening on the radio and TV and reading in blogs what people are thankful for, I remembered my gratitude journal of a long time ago and vowed to begin keeping it again. After all, one day a year is not hardly enough to think about the things in our lives that we have that we are grateful for. It can even be something little in our day, like passing up the potato chips!

I pulled out my Simple Abundance book to begin reading it again. I have read it over a few times. It is written in essay form one for every day of the year and takes you on a spiritual journey to help you to discover your authentic self, which Sarah says is the Soul made visible.

So I am going to curl up now with one of my favorite books and read the essay for today, and begin a new gratitude journal. I can't think of a better day to start.