For the past two years, I have made a bucket list. I really don't think so much about accomplishing everything on the list, but I use it more as a guide or reminder of things I've always wanted to do. Unintentionally, though, it all seems to fall into place once I put it in writing.
So, I'm about halfway through my Golden Birthday bucket list and halfway through my year of finishing it, and I've decided to switch gears a little bit and add something special into the daily motivations and bucket list agenda to help me stay at peace in times of uncertainty.
Beginning August 1st, 2015 , for the next 365 days, I am writing down at least one thing, every single day, that I am grateful for and I invite you to do the same.
It can be something as simple as the weather, the breakfast you eat in the morning, the clothes on your back, or the sunflowers that everyone is so impressed with in Ohio ... whatever it is you're grateful for, account for it. When people count their blessings, they're more likely to live in the present and really take in all that life has to offer and living in the present is the best way to have a meaningful, fulfilling, happy, peaceful journey.
When we forget about the simple things we have to be grateful for, we create a blockage on our path. Like unhealthy attachments, which become obstacles, we also have to remember that we can't be both grateful and nervous ... if we say we're grateful, but our actions reveal something different, like nervousness, we create challenges that keep us from all we have to receive. We can't be at peace and still have worry. We can't feel both happy and sad. We have to condition ourselves and our minds to only let in the best and to do that, we must practice gratitude.
It's a struggle at times, yes, but when we have something to be grateful for and put it in writing, we hold ourselves accountable for feeling those feelings of gratefulness. The best thing about the journal is having the ability to refer back to our entries when we may feel ourselves drifting off, down a different path, maybe toward anxiety, or negativity, or hardships.
Being grateful starts with ourselves and our blessings. Count them each and every day.
If you don't have a journal, just start a log in your phone, or write it on regular paper or sticky notes, or use your imagination and build a poster of just words signifying what you're grateful for. Be creative ... there ... your first entry ... your creativity.
Happy Journaling, everyone!! =)
