Gratitude Journal

Sometimes too much reading and research is a bad thing. When it comes to gratitude journals a simple google search will turn up a lot of questions: should you write every day, only a few times a day, how many items should you include, how do you turn your negatives into positives, does writing daily turn gratitude into a habitual thought and your brain leans not to appreciate the good?

I confess, I've abandoned more journals then I have room for. I begin each year with the best intentions but slack off. Mid-year I panic and try to start back up again but never make it a full year. I beat myself up about the lack of progress and always end the year on regret over not completing the process.

This year I am going to make changes. I have my dedicated "journal" but often get derailed, I am going to implement write where you are. I keep a to do list in my Filofax, why can't I just add a gratitude at the top of a page? I am already using it, it is available most days and I continuously look at it. The change seems easy!

What I need to remember:
1.  Add a paragraph, describe the happiness in detailed. Write about the one happy event and capture as many details as possible.

2. Write whenever! Start the day with gratitude. Why does the time dedicated to gratitude have to be in the evenings.

3. There is no wrong way, it just needs to be done.

4. Stop worrying about things I don't have or things that have not happened.

measuring gratitude

simple abundance

ny times - let us give thanks article from 2007

understand your mind

2012 in Review

2012 has come and gone with much enthusiasm. It was filled with interesting highlights and memorable changes. As I look back at 2012, I wonder about the small moments I missed and forgot about, all the good little moments that were lost in the shuffle.  I did a bit of searching to ramp up my gratitude journal process and found a Year Full of Blessings Remembered. It doesn't seem difficult or high tech; a jar with written slips of paper in it that can be pulled out in 2014...I hope my jar is over flowing next year!

I often fill the need to start the new year with shiny new resolutions that reflect on how I want my world to change. This year my resolution list has turned into a mini Goal List. Ideas and ways to make improvements in my life. But most important, I need to learn to live in the present, focus on today and stop worrying about yesterday and tomorrow.

2013 is the year to live in the now.

links i'm contemplating

random acts of kindness checklist - free pdf download

10 things to make you happier at home - maybe there is something to making the bed

the difference between goals and to-do list items

Organized Space

I am looking for new ways to organize my space. I have a few areas that need some love and attention, namely my desk area, bathroom cabinet, mail center and closet.

I would like the areas to be functional, easy to sort out and find items and contain all the items within. For example my under sink cabinets explode and items find their way to the top of the counter tops and never get returned to the home underneath. After a week of this, my bathroom is a messy hodgepodge, so grimy a picture would scare people away.