Gratitude Journal

I bought a new blank book today to re-start an old practice: keeping a Gratitude Journal.

It’s a practice I started several years ago at the urging of my therapist. The challenge is to write down three things each day that I’m grateful for, and try not to repeat any one thing throughout the book. It’s both harder and easier than it seems!

I kept the old book for quite a while before I lost it. It brought me up to write in it daily because even when I was in a horrible mood I could think of three grudging things. And I often found myself putting into words emotions I was feeling but hadn’t recognized, and putting them down in black and white brought out and highlighted little joys in my life.

That book was wonderful reading when I was down. I would find myself laughing about how grudging I sometimes was, and remembering good things I’d forgotten. It always served to make me happier about my life.

My therapist was right. She usually is.

So I’m starting fresh, after a little break from the practice. Today’s Three:

1. I am grateful for the wild hair I got up my backside more than 6 years ago, to become a foster parent. It’s something my husband and I had discussed many times over the years but all of a sudden I got the urge to Just Do It. And I’m grateful for whatever inspired me to take that plunge. 14 kids and 6 years later, my heart is far bigger, and a lot more tattered than ever. All the cracks from places where it’s broken when we’ve said goodbye to kids are the places where the light shines through now.

2. I am grateful every single day for indoor plumbing. Hot and cold running taps, a toilet that flushes, and a hot shower are daily miracles to me.

3. I am grateful for the woman who stopped when I did this morning, and scooped up a tiny, frail, wobbly black kitten from the road where we had almost hit it. I don’t need a 7th cat. Really. I don’t. I love my lunatic animals – all 6 cats and 2 guinea pigs. I love them hard, especially the most recent addition to the family who just up and moved in one day. But I can’t afford more! And have trouble keeping track of the ones I already have. Seth mutters about having to clean guinea pig cage and litter boxes, while I guiltily thank him for doing it. That’ll be a future gratitude… that my husband scoops all the poop!