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Day 30. Be Grateful for Friends
On the last day of our Attitude for Gratitude Challenge, we will simply appreciate our friends. What is it about certain people that makes you want to have them as a friend? Do you keep a “collection” of people that you enjoy adding to as you go forth and experience life? Much like a coin collection, you’ll want to hang onto people who provide value for you. Since everybody is different, that value could really be anything you want it to be. Often, we become friends with people based on shared special interests. It’s way better to attend a Pink Floyd cover band concert with your good ole friends, than…
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New Year, New You- Reflecting on the Holiday to Make a Plan for Next Year
There’s something remarkable about the new year. The promise of change and a clean slate gets everyone excited about the possibilities. There’s no other time when people are more focused and willing to make changes to enhance their lives. Gym memberships soar and more storage containers are purchased at this time of year than any other. The promise of a new year brings the promise of a new you too. What could be better? Everyone wants to do better, be better, and experience something better than the year before. The thing is, it takes intention and effort to make that happen. A new year and a new you is possible…
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Day 22. Be Thankful for Friends Near and Far
There’s nothing quite like a good friend to bring a smile to your face and lighten your heart. Today we’re talking about the ways that friends enrich our lives and bring us joy. Friends are different from family because we actively choose to make them a part of our lives. Friends… Ones We Can Depend On* Today, spend some time reflecting on your relationships with friends. How often do you make time to be with friends? Are most of your friends on social media? Or do you also nurture friendships in the flesh and face to face? For many of us, Facebook is owed to the ease in which we…
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Day 20. Challenge Yourself to Live in the Present
Today for our gratitude rumination, we will expand our mind to living in the present moment. It’s easier to feel thankful for the simple gifts of life when we are mentally able to remain in the present. Most of us have a lot of trouble living mindfully, or staying present. While our children talk to us, we look down at our phones or scroll through messages. While we cook dinner for our families, we think about how we’ll soon have to run out the door for our next planned activity. During activities that we signed up to participate in, our minds forward us to even more activities that we might…
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Day 19. Honoring Your Mother and Father
On day 19 of the 30 Days Blessed Challenge, we’ll talk about honoring our parents. This can be a touchy subject for some. You may be spending your holiday without Mom or Dad, or both. If so, please feel free to skip this exercise if it’s too painful for you. Some people grew up without a mom or a dad. For them, maybe it’s a Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt, or another stand-in parental figure who took on the job of raising them. In this rumination, you can spend time formulating good thoughts for the person or people who helped shape you. We’ll just call them Mom or Dad in this exercise,…
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Day 18. Grateful for Creature Comforts
For today’s 30 Days Blessed Exercise, we’ll be ruminating on creature comforts. That is, those things in life that we almost take for granted but yet they enhance our enjoyment greatly. If you’re too comfortable right now to participate in this activity, that’s okay. Come back to it when you’re in the mood. As stated before, gratitude cannot be faked. It’s your right and privilege to express yourself in your own way and in your own time. If you’re reading this, you probably live in a developed country. So, home heating and cooling, clean drinking water, indoor plumbing and cars that get us where we want to go are things…
