Put the Great in Grateful

A tale of two characters…

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Are you more of a Pollyanna or Al these days? With all that’s going on in the world, it’s easy to be cynical like the dear ol’ Bundy patriarch. Let’s change that up a bit. Be better than Bundy.

Recently, Kat and I did a post about our favorite podcasts. One that I love listening to is 4 Things with Amy Brown. A big focus on her podcast is gratitude and how to cultivate and maintain a grateful heart.

I’ve heard her discuss many times about how research shows that when you practice daily gratitude and acknowledge what you’re thankful for, it changes your attitude. I’ve been listening to her podcast for a while and thought, “Yea. I should do that,” but I didn’t. Enter….Covid.

She encourages writing it down. Putting the pen to the paper and then being able to look back and see what you’ve written helps change your perspective. So for my “experiment” to open my eyes, I ironically purchased a gratitude journal from the site that has made the whole world extra greedy. I realize I could just do this on a piece of paper, but I knew I’d be more inclined to try it if I had a cute motivator. I’m aware of how dumb this sounds because it takes me all of 45 seconds to complete this.

I jot down 3 things every night that I’m thankful for that day. The journal I purchased has it divided up by days and 3 slots for each day. When I first started doing this, I thought that some days I would only write down one thing. That was the Al Bundy talking.

When you actually take a minute to think about your day and what was good about it, it’s pretty eye-opening to see how fortunate you are. Now, some days I write down things like cookies, clean sheets, and walks with the dog, but I think that’s kind of the point of doing this: to remind you of the little things that make life so great. I’ve quoted Miss Beesly before on this blog, and I never said I wouldn’t do it again.

I’ve only been consistently doing this about a month, and nothing tragic or dreadful has really happened to me during that time, so it’s obviously a little easier to think of things every day. However, I hope by continuing to do this, it will continue to make me more aware of God’s blessings, even the small, chocolate chip-filled ones.

By doing this, here is what I’ve noticed:

1. I’m more aware throughout the day. I feel like I notice more to be grateful for rather than just take it for granted like I normally would.
2. My days become a little happier. I don’t see unicorns flying by my window and rainbows every time I go outside, but they’re still good.
3. I don’t complain as much. Now, I’m lit’rally no Chris Traeger from Parks and Rec…
   

I definitely still have my moments. However, when one twin screams for a 50 minute car ride and then the other throws up all over her car seat right before we get home, I groan for a quick second and then move on.

Maybe I gave you a new idea today. It’s worth trying out even if you just write something on a post-it and put it on your mirror. Everyone could use a little more Pollyanna and a lot less Bundy.