When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears.
-Tony Robbins
One of my favorite daily practices is the keeping of a gratitude journal. To be honest, I have a few journals devoted to this endeavor, sprinkled around the house to ensure that no matter where I find myself with my morning coffee, there too will be a journal. With no specific agenda, I spend one to two minutes writing in list format whatever jumps into my mind that I appreciate about life that day. This practice of gratitude journaling often turns into a thanksgiving journal of praise to God, which has truly been soul-transforming. Simply put, life is just better when you live with an attitude of gratitude. As is often said, it’s not people who are happy who are thankful, it’s thankful people who are happy.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year, so to honor it this year, I am pulling random entries from the pages of my many, scattered gratitude journals. Here are 100 thanksgivings … and 100 reasons why I am truly happy.
- The opportunity to learn something new every day
- Free samples at a grocery store when you’re hungry for a small snack
- The euphoric feeling of empowerment and clarity I get mid to post workout once I have a good sweat going
- The way in which reading a book slows me down and opens up my mind
- How holding hands with someone makes the world feel like a safer place
- My 90-year-old grandfather’s pure love for my baby and how he calls her an angel
- Painful experiences that God has used for good and to grow me
- A marriage that feels like an adventure with my best friend
- The infectious joy of Ellie’s smile
- The smell of coffee grinds when I open the bag to put them in my Keurig.
- Unexpected kindness of strangers.
- Ellie’s sweet and sound sleep at night
- Opportunities to practice patience when Ellie cries
- A husband who yearns and works to understand my heart
- God’s faithful love and favor
- The beautiful outline of the Blue Ridge Mountains we can see from our house
- Deliciousness of thin crust pizza with extra mushrooms and olive oil for dipping
- My parents’ deep love for me and their long-lasting marriage
- The bubbles and crisp sensation of Club Soda
- Ellie’s name tribute that carries the legacy of kindness and faithfulness of her two great-grandmothers Ellen and Lucia
- That everyday is an opportunity to become a little bit of a better version of myself
- How hard my heart beats when I run up a hill….and the reward of cruising down that hill afterwards and feeling absolutely free as as bird
- Mentorship and coaching from people in my life who care about my growth
- Podcasting as a medium of communication, connection and community
- Howard Publishing / Simon and Schuster who believe in my writing and have made the dream of writing Insecurity Detox become a reality
- The luxuries of living in modern-day America and the ease at which we get to live our lives
- Getting to choose to be happy each and every day
- How much I have grown from simply writing down my thanksgivings each day in this gratitude journal
- Crisp Fall mornings that make you want to snuggle up and bundle up
- Ice cold drinking water
- Candlelit nights with a glass of wine and my laptop
- The beauty and power of words
- People who live with intentional kindness
- Sunsets over the ocean and skies that are painted with pinks
- That through Christ I am a new creation and fully cleansed
- Libraries that invest in their communities, and in particular, our Loudoun county library story time for babies
- Music that makes me want to dance
- Snow covered mountain slopes that yearn to be explored by my snowboard
- Kitchen dance parties with my husband, baby and dog
- The happiness that comes from sharing experiences with others
- Audiobooks
- The swooping sounds of my snowboard cutting through banks of freshly fallen powder
- Predawn quiet times at the house
- The changes and challenges that come with moving
- Long and deep conversations with the wise and strong women in my life
- The sweet connection of love and closeness I feel while breastfeeding Ellie
- My C-section scar and the beauty of childbirth it represents
- Running on the treadmill and having the ability to zone out and re-set my mind
- Our gift of choice – the fact that we can choose our thoughts and types of thinking and that it’s something we get to do on a daily basis
- That life can be lived beautifully if lived through the right eyes of perspective
- Dark chocolate of any type, but in particular with sea salt, espresso beans, walnuts or mint
- Opportunities to express creativity through new recipes
- The fun of pursuing Pintrest
- Skype and how it connects me to clients around the world
- Getting to dream big dreams of exploring the world with my husband and family
- The beauty of diversity
- Beautifully wrapped presents
- Unexpected snail mail letters or gifts
- That love is everything, and that it never fails
- The hearts of compassion and service so natural to medical professionals, and in particular, nurses
- Having friends walk through the highs and lows of motherhood with you
- Emoticons and how fun they make texting
- Camaraderie experienced during large athletic races and the opportunities I have been given to be able to participant in such events
- Adele’s hauntingly beautiful vocals and the way they sing to my heart
- The contagious euphoria experienced from sharing giggles with Ellie
- God’s divine orchestration of my life and my path and His perfect timing in everything
- A fridge and pantry filled with food and local grocery stores with everything my heart (and tummy) could possibly ever desire
- Beautiful vineyards that are now local to me where I can share an afternoon or picnic with a friend and drink up the beauty of the vines on the rolling Virginia hills
- Lazy days on the couch with Netflix and a glass of wine or cup of tea
- Restful conversations held on rocking chairs at night with my husband
- The unique personalization of hand-writing and the comfort seeing the writing of people I love brings to me
- Colorful pens that make writing in my planner not only fun, but beautiful
- How great my body feels after doing my morning ritual of five sunset salutations
- My love for the state of Virginia and our four full seasons
- Wonderful gym staff who love on my baby and allow me the freedom and liberty to exercise daily
- The incredible complexity and strength of our immune systems and how blessed it feels to feel healthy after you have felt sick
- Friends who will laugh with me over ridiculous mom stories
- The wonder of pregnancy and the promise of life that it brings… and the opportunity to celebrate and share in the joy of others who are expecting
- The abundance of absolutely adorable baby girl clothes and how putting Ellie in a cute outfit can bring my heart a smile
- Fast boat rides with my Uncle Joe on the Chesapeake Bay
- Getting to talk about being a mom with mom now that I’m a mom
- Navigation and directions that are always available on my phone, and apps that tell me where the traffic is and isn’t
- When I get a free drink at Starbucks
- The deep pleasure I feel at the first bite of a Starbucks cake pop
- Seeing the words I have written for a book all together on paper
- The amazing editorial team who have helped make my book beauty and my stories effective and uplifting
- Creative ideas that come to my mind unexpectedly and spontaneously and the opportunity that I get to write and podcast about them
- The #BeMore Community
- That God’s love for me is all I need
- Marie’s homemade coconut cake
- Ellie’s discovery and love for my mom’s homemade pumpkin bread
- The fact that my husband always drives us where we need to go – and how I get to read, write and just enjoy the drive without responsibilities
- Long walks in the woods without purpose
- How my fingers feel “at home” when typing on a keyboard
- Pink bicycles
- Companies like Beautycounter who have a true mission of making change in the world
- Our abundance of drinking water and the blessing it is to have so much water wealth
- The opportunity to play a coaching / mentoring role in the lives of other people and to be a rock of encouragement and accountability for them
- Being debt-free
- The way peppermint bark makes my taste buds absolutely dance
Give thanks!
Be thankful for what you have and you’ll end up having more.
Gratefully,
Trish