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| Watching the sunset at Reddish Knob |
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| Hiking Blackrock Summit |
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| Watching the sunset from Bearfence Mountain |
I'll be honest - I have a major tendency to fixate on the negative, get caught up in comparison, and I can often be downright pessimistic. It's something that I recognize about myself and am constantly working on. Last November (in honor of Thanksgiving month - my favorite holiday) I challenged myself to be more intentionally grateful in my everyday life, and the outcome was better than I could've expected. (See? There's that pessimism at work. 😂)
If you’ve been on TikTok this year, then chances are you’re familiar with “lucky girl syndrome.” I think a lot of these TikTok trends are silly, but this is one that I absolutely love. I would compare my "30 Day Gratitude Challenge" to lucky girl syndrome in that the more grateful you are, the more fulfilling your life will be. Since it worked so well for me last year, I plan on starting again in a few days and wanted to encourage you to join me!
The premise of the "challenge" is simple - every day for a month, write down everything that made you happy or that you appreciated throughout the day. I also like making a note of the time that each thing happened just to see how they are distributed throughout the day. I do this in a note on my phone out of convenience, but you can also do it in a journal or planner if that's more your vibe! I like doing it in my phone so that I can write things down as soon as they happen so I don't forget. It takes a little practice the first several days to remember to record the occurrences, but even one per day is great.
So what types of things do I write down? It can be something as small as seeing a beautiful fall tree of someone holding a door open for you. Actually, the "smaller" the thing the better - the more you can express gratitude in your life, then the easier it will become. It truly is the little things in life and I find that I am so much happier and less stressed when I make a conscious effort to express gratitude for every little thing that I can.
I hope you will join me in the gratitude journey this month - I will follow up at the beginning of December with my list and final thoughts! It's a great thing to do any time of year, but especially heading into the holiday season which should be a happy time but can sometimes be overshadowed by stress or grief. It's a small (and free!) step toward self-improvement, and I truly believe that gratitude is a major ingredient to happiness.
xoxx, Laura
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